Ben is an amateur arachnologist and nature lover specialising in Sparassidae (Huntsman spiders) of Australia. He is a member of the Entomological Society of Victoria and is their spider specialist. Ben is currently working on a field guide for huntsman spiders of Australia. His talk, delivered by zoom to a live audience at the Uniting […]
Annual General Meeting: The 2023 AGM will be held before the usual monthly meeting observations and talk. The AGM agenda will include the Annual Report for 2022, the Treasurer’s Report, and the election of office bearers and committee members for 2023. All positions on the committee will be open, so you are encouraged to consider
Rescheduled from last October when floods prevented our speaker travelling here. Learn how to look after this unique and rare plant found only in our backyard. Georgie Custance, an ecologist from the Threatened Species Conservancy (TSC), will talk about a locally endemic plant, the Fryerstown Grevillea (Grevillea obtecta). Although locally common in small areas, it
Your turn! A chance for you to share your interesting nature sightings and stories from the year. You can show photos, a video or a short power-point presentation, recite a poem or sing a song. An informal but informative and entertaining evening. Please email your photos to Euan Moore at calamanthus5@bigpond.com by noon on the
Mycobacterium ulcerans is a bacterium causing ulcerative skin disease (Buruli ulcer) in humans and animals, mainly in tropical regions, particularly in West Africa. However, the organism was first isolated and described in Gippsland, Victoria, and became known here as Bairnsdale ulcer. Clinical disease continues to occur in some coastal regions as far west as Barwon
Sadly due to flooding and road closures we have had to cancel tonight’s meeting and Saturday’s excursion. We plan to reschedule these important events in the new year.
Deakin University’s Powerful Owl Research Team have been involved with Powerful Owls for over 20 years. At the core, the research aims to understand how increased urbanisation and landscape modification impacts this threatened apex predator, whilst also identifying solutions that can contribute to the conservation of the species. PhD student Nick Carter will describe how
Speaker: Tanya Loos, Nature writer and science communicator “Window strike: when birds hit windows” Combined meeting with Birdlife Castlemaine District Window strike is a huge problem for common birds – as well as threatened species such as the Swift Parrot and Powerful Owl. Many of us have had the unfortunate experience of a thud or even a crash
Monthly Meeting: Friday 12 August, 7.30pm by Zoom Read More »
Because it contains the best moss beds on continental Antarctica, Casey Station is dubbed the ‘Daintree of the Antarctic’. Individual plants have been growing here for at least 100 years, fertilised by ancient penguin poo. But our new research shows that these slow-growing plants are changing at a far faster rate than anticipated. The healthy green
8th July, 7:30 by Zoom – The Old-growth Moss Forests of Antarctica – Dr Melinda Waterman Read More »
Understanding the behaviours of native and introduced bees How do we ask a bee a question? Can you train a bee? What types of tasks can they solve? Can they acquire concepts? What is the limit of intelligence in a miniature brain? Scarlett will answer these questions and more using examples from the European honeybee
Monthly Meeting: Friday 10th June, 7:30pm via Zoom Read More »