Join us for a ramble around the grassy woodlands near the summit of the Rock of Ages, Maldon. Spectacular views, soaring raptors, some special granite-area plants and interesting geology. Easy walking. Finish with afternoon tea. Meet: for car-pooling and 1.30pm departure at the northern end of the Car Park north of the Railway Goods Shed, […]
Visiting Geelong Field Naturalists Richard and Margaret Alcorn will join us for a walk along Sinclair’s Lane and down the track alongside the Maldon railway line to the trestle bridge. A morning walk to favour bird sightings. This is an excellent area for a wide diversity of bird species and a chance to enjoy some
The Mount Alexander region is generally quite dry, but Chewton residents Mikael and Helle Hirsch have transformed a dry, weedy paddock of about one hectare into a biodiverse wetland in a remarkably short period of time. Drawing on the expertise of local ecologist Karl Just and others, and making use of a natural spring supplemented
Excursion: Saturday 11th October 2025, 1.30pm,“Creating a wetland environment”, Chewton. Read More »
At our July Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club meeting, Adrian Marshall (Grassy Plains Network) reminded us that less than 1% of Victoria’s native grasslands remain and they’re rapidly disappearing without recognition and protection. Small patches remain, often with just a few plants, but knowledge of grassland species and locations is limited. Our first of three roadside stops
Excursion: Saturday 9th August 2025, 10.00am,“Grassland treasures”, Baringhup Read More »
As advised earlier, there will be no regular monthly meeting or excursion in Castlemaine in September. Instead there will be a weekend of events at Wedderburn. Registrations (see below) are required by August 8th to confirm attendance and organise car-pooling. Speakers and excursion leaders – ecologist and Mt Korong fauna expert Professor Michael Kearney from
Reminder: CFNC weekend at Wedderburn, 12-14 September 2025 Read More »
Rain at last! So for our July excursion we will go on a fungi search with Joy Clusker, co-author of the excellent guide to identification of the “Fungi of the Bendigo Region”. Joy will give us valuable tips on identification and where to find fungi. Since the light drops early at this time of the
In July 2024, arborist Sue Luke together with Rosemary Turner led a Castlemaine street trees walk taking in Kennedy Street and Goldsmith Crescent. Sue will lead a second walk along Greenhill Avenue, from Greenhill Place to the Pyrenees Highway, looking at over thirty Australian tree and shrub species. In addition, the Forest Creek Revitalisation Project
An opportunity to join with expert field naturalists to gain experience in photographing fauna and flora species including key characteristics to maximise the likelihood of getting your observations identified from photos submitted to iNaturalist. Whether you prefer to use a smart phone, a point and shoot digital camera or a digital SLR camera with interchangeable
This excursion is rescheduled from March due to the high temperature. Christine will take us for a walk along the Great Dividing Trail path beside Forest Creek (now named Leanganook Track) to see first-hand the remarkable transformation of a gorse-infested, tree-less valley to a productive native riparian strip following over 20 years of work by
Unfortunately, due to the high temperatures forecast for Saturday, we have decided to postpone our walk along Forest Creek with Christine to 12th April 2025. However, members and visitors are reminded of our AGM and Monthly Meeting as detailed in our previous update. Friday 14th March, 2025, 7.30 pm, Uniting Church Fellowship Room, Lyttleton St