Sunny winter days make for perfect weather to head out to explore local wetlands, with the recent rain and a hint of spring around the corner seeing them come alive with birdsong and frog calls. On a recent Sunday, members of Avon Plains Banyena Landcare and the wider community did just that, heading out to the Rupanyup area on Wotjobaluk Nations Country. Mutton Swamp is a short drive south of Rupanyup, and was originally set aside to be the town’s water supply. Brown Treecreepers, a species listed as vulnerable, were seen hopping along Black Box trees, many of which were planted when the area was declared a wetlands in 1987. Mutton Swamp receives environmental water from the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline, benefitting local vegetation and wildlife. An Australasian Grebe met us on the water in the middle of the reserve, where the group heard from local birding expert Ian Morgan, who said that critically endangered Swift Parrots had been seen at Mutton Swamp this time last year. Euc. leucoxylon subsp. macrocarpa The next stop was Rupanyup Reservoir, situated on the northwest corner of town, where the decommissioned water supply area has been converted into a thriving forest and space for the community. Rupanyup Landcare member Adrian Tyler, who is largely to thank for turning the reservoir site into what it is today, lead the group on a leisurely walk around the circuit track. Brown-Headed Honeyeaters and Singing Honeyeaters were observed enjoying a landscape filled with thousands of native trees and shrubs (both local and non-local species), many of which Adrian propagated from seed he collected. Adrian continues to undertake planting and weed maintenance of the site, and over the years has spent countless volunteer hours improving the area, including building a footbridge and spreading tonnes of gravel by hand. Nardoo After a picnic lunch at Jack Emmett Billabong, the group headed to Jack’s Track, which meanders through Black Box and Lignum toward a wetland and woodland area. Beginning behind the old Rupanyup Flour Mill, where the first concrete silos in Australia were built, Jack’s Track is on private land that has been opened up for the benefit of community and environment, with Adrian Tyler again playing a large role in its establishment, planting and ongoing maintenance. Converted from a site that in 2005 contained only a single Black Box tree, and where a sand quarry was once used to source materials for the town’s concrete silos, it is now a revegetated wetland that serves both ecological and community purposes. A White-Faced Heron, Australasian Grebes, Eurasian Coots and Pacific Black Ducks were observed enjoying the series of dams, which help filter water on its last stop in the town’s water treatment journey, before being put to use on the local footy oval. Pacific ducks at the water treatment reservoir Weather conditions are ideal at the moment for getting out in the winter sunshine to appreciate our local environment, or to get plants in the ground, and there are many Landcare activities happening around the district that community members are always welcome to attend. The next Avon Plains Landcare event is a visit to Dalki Garringa Native Nursery in Wail on Wednesday 22 July at 10am, all welcome. Contributed by Alana Rivera Kingston, Yarrilinks Landcare Network

The St Arnaud Field Naturalists Club hosted a “Natural Seed Collection and Storage” Workshop at the St Arnaud Raillery Hub Community room on Wednesday 15th April. The Buloke and Northern Grampians Landcare Network kindly sponsored the event. The Workshop was presented by Mr Lindsay Ezard, a well-known St Arnaud resident, who has been in the native seed collecting and selling business for over 20 years. Lindsay gave a very informative presentation and later back at his shed, showed us some methods and demonstrated tools and equipment he uses to separate, store and scarify seeds. A couple of examples of the interesting information gained from the workshop: Buloke and casuarina seeds are only viable for three months after harvest. Sow with a very light covering of sand. The commercial value of seeds is notable. Orange picking bags make good seed collection bags. You need to know the common and botanical names of the species you pick seeds from. Ethical seed collection requires permission, if it is not from your own land holding. If you missed this event and need more information about this and other events that the St Arnaud Field Naturalists will organise in the future, please contact the St Arnaud Field Naturalists Club by email starnaudfieldnats@gmail.com .

One of my favourite trees for our district is Eucalyptus woodwardii . Native to Western Australia, this species comes from dry inland regions with low rainfall, open sunshine and well-drained soils — conditions not unlike our own here in St Arnaud. Perhaps that’s why it settles in so comfortably and performs so reliably in our climate. With our hot summers, modest rainfall and often gravelly or sandy soils, it proves itself year after year. It establishes readily, grows quickly, copes well with dry conditions and tolerates frost without fuss. Its growth habit is both upright and gently drooping, giving it a graceful yet sturdy presence in the landscape. The large, glaucous grey leaves — beautifully powdery and bold — stand out against our dry country backdrop. Then come the flowers — big, brilliant yellow blossoms that light up the tree and provide valuable nectar for pollinators. At a time of year when colour can be scarce, they are a real highlight. What I admire most is its toughness. It is truly a no-nonsense tree: resilient, adaptable and dependable. For St Arnaud gardens and landscapes, Eucalyptus woodwardii  offers that rare combination of strength, beauty and practicality. It may hail from Western Australia, but it feels perfectly at home here. Carol.

This Spotted Harrier (Circus assimilis ) swept into our back yard on one of those 45° catastrophic days over summer. Looking stressed with an open beak, tongue extended and wings held off the body, it took it’s time before taking the plunge into the pond. So glad that we were able to offer it some refuge and relief on such a day.

Other places get autumn colours in the trees- ours remain dull, dun and dusty grey-green. The end of Summer is a hard, dry time with everyone looking for water and food; the arrivals at the bird baths show the change of season as surely as falling autumn-toned leaves. Even when the weather is still hot ,you know that Autumn has arrived with the appearance of these three birds. Zipping through the shrubs where it is feeding on eremophila flowers, the Eastern Spinebill is like a small missile. The amount of energy this tiny bird expends in flying, foraging and yelling out about it means frequent rest periods! Taking a spell from hunting insects, this Grey Fantail catches the early morning sun. A rival to the territory- the bird in the mirror is an aggravation for this beautiful male Golden Whistler, his whipcrack notes setting off the male Superb Fairy-wrens who think he is a challenge to them.

Autumn is here- and so is Boisduval's Autumn Moth- Oenosandra boisduvalii(Family Oenosandridae, super family Noctuiodea)) Only seen during Autumn, this handsome moth rests on fly wire screens and is very happy to have close inspection and photos. Playing dead is a tactic used by this moth to avoid predators. Night-flying, these interesting moths come readily to light. The white ear-tufts are a give-away identification and the wings are beautifully mottled with orange and black speckles. The antennae are held back along the wing edges and are difficult to see. This moth hears through thoracic hearing organs- that is,ears in its chest! 24 cm in length, these moths are thought to feed on eucalypts. This is an all-Australian family with 8 named species. All photos taken on 29th March 2018, Carapooee West, Victoria.

Autumn brings a shortage of water and food supplies in the bush and we see an influx of birds into gardens where these 2 commodities are available. On the left is the "owner" of the birdbath, year -round inhabitant of creeklines, the New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae. In the front we have year-round inhabitant of River Redgums, the White-plumed Honeyeater Lichenstomus penicillatus. The interloper at the back right is the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops whose usual habitat is the higher Ironbark ridges. All managed to get a drink and a quick flip in the water but the truce was short-lived and the poor old Yellow-tufted Honeyeater was chased away.

On last Sunday morning,13th May 2018, I walked through my new chookhouse, still under construction but looking like the Taj Mahal already. Three gates have cobbled together at the back to prevent (oh yes?) the chooks from accessing the work area. As I went to open the only moveable gate to let the chooks out of their sheds, I noticed a small greyish- brownish blob in the corner against the concrete tank. Taking a good look I realised it was an Australasian Grebe, Tachybaptus novaehollandiae, and a male, losing his breeding colours. Now, if you can approach and pick up a wild bird it means one of two things; either it is on the point of death or it has knocked itself silly. After the wild Friday and Saturday of galeforce winds and sleet I thought it was probably the latter- so I picked him up, suffering two rapid and savage bites from a rapier-like beak then rolling him into the front of my possum jumper. Warmth and dark prevented any more attacks on my person and I transported him across to our big dam, parking him in the sun in long grasses under a bush. After resting for a couple of hours, he took off straight into the water, diving and splashing around. I have never seen a grebe on land before. Here he is- the bare patch of skin at the corner of his beak confirms his identity. Heavy winds take a toll on wildlife; a young magpie suffered a heavy blow and had an injured wing on Saturday too- she recovered fast so at least the wing wasn’t broken. Big and unusually savage storms are another consequence of climate change What luck, to end up in my chookyard, in reach of help. How many others are not so lucky?

After many weeks with very little moth activity at night, the last bit of rain (5mm here) has caused a rash of interesting creatures coming to the kitchen window- lacewings, green and brown, moths ranging in size from 4mm up to the whopping Ghost Moth (Trictena sp) at 95mm and click beetles of different sorts. Although these moths were photographed during the day, they are night-flying and come readily to a light source. Many of our moths and other insects have no common names and there are many species still to be discovered and described. I photographed the Toothed Anthelid Moth- Anthela denticulata on the windowsill at home- the beautiful antennae indicate that this is a male Another stunner is Thalaina clara-Blotched Satin Moth- with its silky white wings and orange and black lattice pattern. Its underwings are also silky white with two large blotches of black and orange,hence the name. Another moth wearing the white,orange and black livery is Utetheisa pulchelloides, a Noctuid Moth with no common name that I could find.

Several members of the Field Nats booked in for 2 nights at Ned's Corner Station in far north-west Victoria during late May. Ned's Corner is the star in the crown of Trust for Nature's conservation properties in Victoria, being the largest and also the largest freehold property. Details for Neds Corner : http://www.nedscorner.com.au From the sandhill, Ned's Corner Station stretches as far as you can see.The road in feels to be made of corrugated iron The 74,000acre property is mostly chenopod shrubland with native pine belts and of course the magnificent Black Box and Redgum woodlands along the Murray River. Its long history saw it grazed to bare dirt, its mid-storey destroyed and rabbits, rabbits, rabbits! Trust for Nature bought it in 2002 and 16 years of intensive conservation works- revegetation, direct seeding, removing old fences and stock troughs, removing weeds and tackling the rabbits, foxes and cats has seen it start to return to its natural state. Bare dirt still surrounds an old post and sheep and cattle tracks are obvious in this hard, harsh country Looking across the regenerating shrublands at the back of the shearers' quarters towards the very distant Millewa Ridge, just visible as a thin blue haze on the left horizon. The old homestead, cottages and shearers' quarters have been restored for accommodation for the many volunteers who arrive for all sorts of projects including bird, mammal, reptile, insect, cultural history and archeological surveys. Shearers' Quarters are still being restored after a white ant attack but those repaired are very comfortable despite their external appearance. Arriving at 2pm after a very early start, the week-long clouds cleared away and gave us 3 days worth of beautiful cool but sunny weather and 2 clear but very cold nights. A very big River Redgum and 3 very small Field Nats at its base. Checking the watering system for the new plantings on the sand ridge with Colleen Barnes- L to R Chris, Russell, Colleen, Anne and Joy. In the shearers' kitchen with the original IXL stove and bread oven still in place. Chris, Russell and his friend Ed, Kyle (Weed Warrior for Ned's and Parks Vic) and Joy. All mod cons, including refrigeration and air con are driven by a massive solar system backed up with a diesel generator. The old Dunlite wind generator is still in place but retired from active service now.(Old homestead to right and various river vessels)

Ned's Corner has an ambitious program of predator-proof enclosures for the release of some regionally threatened or extinct small mammals- Mitchell's Hopping Mouse, Fat-tailed Dunnart and Gile's Planigale. With funding from the Yulgilbar Foundation (Myer Family) an enclosure of 2000ha is being prepared for these little people. For more information check Trust for Nature's website www.trustfornature.org.au Gile's is a carnivorous marsupial also known as the Paucident Planigale(Planigale gilesi). It needs deep cracking clays- and vegetation. Photo- Australian Wildlife Conservancy website, photographer not given. Mitchell's (Notomys mitchellii) is in the genus Notomys(rodents) and has large back legs like a kangaroo-rat. It needs mallee scrub with triodia grasses on sand. Photo- Bush Heritage Australia website,photographer Steve Parish Fat-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) is a mouse-like marsupial which needs grassy tussocks. Photo - Zoos Victoria website, photographer not given. All are threatened by habitat loss and predation by foxes and cats. Removal of stock, both sheep and cattle, and ongoing rabbit control has allowed the vegetation to recover and vigorous replanting projects are replacing those species that were browsed right out in the past. To provide a safe environment for these tiny Aussies, a 2m high electric fence is being built to include many different vegetation and soil types. This is a serious fence, fellow Field Nats - double height netting with bottom skirt front and back and hot wires! Photo A Hughes Chris and Colleen admire the excellent results of a previous revegetation project in the big enclosure-wattles, native pines, sennas, bluebushes. Photo A Hughes. Part 3 coming soon