All Events

Wednesday Wildflower Wander, 8th October 4pm, 2025, Sinclairs Lane, Muckleford

Our Wednesday Wildflower Wanders will continue this week with a visit to the Muckleford Forest.  In addition to a magnificent show of different wildflowers including several orchids, we hope to see the rare Grevillea micrantha. Meet: in the Car Park north of the Railway Goods Shed in Kennedy St ready to car-pool and leave at […]

Wednesday Wildflower Wander, 8th October 4pm, 2025, Sinclairs Lane, Muckleford Read More »

Leaders: Judy and Philip Hopley

Monthly Meeting:  Friday 10th October 2025, 7.30pm, Uniting Church Hall Lyttleton St., Castlemaine

Drawing on a biography she is translating, club member Cathrine Harboe-Ree will talk about the extraordinary efforts the Norwegian field naturalist and polar explorer Johan Koren made to study fauna in north-eastern Siberia in the years 1909-1919. Koren survived shipwrecks and other maritime disasters, winters as cold as minus 65 Celsius, frostbite and isolation. He

Monthly Meeting:  Friday 10th October 2025, 7.30pm, Uniting Church Hall Lyttleton St., Castlemaine Read More »

Speaker: Cathrine Harboe-Ree “A field naturalist in Siberia”

Excursion: Saturday 11th October 2025, 1.30pm,“Creating a wetland environment”, Chewton.

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 »

Leader: Cathrine Harboe-Ree

Wednesday Wildflower Wander, 24th September 2025, 4pm at “The Monk”

Our second September/October late afternoon excursion to explore the wonderful wildflowers in our local Box-Ironbark woodlands will be on Wednesday 24th September at The Monk, South of Chewton.  We will enjoy those wildflowers that favour a higher terrain, and maybe even see some stunning spiders! Meet: In the Car Park North of the Railway Goods Shed

Wednesday Wildflower Wander, 24th September 2025, 4pm at “The Monk” Read More »

Leader: Cathrine Harboe-Ree

Wednesday Wildflower Wander, 10th September 4pm, 2025, Kalimna Park

During September and October, we will enjoy fortnightly late afternoon excursions on Wednesdays to nearby sites to enjoy the wonderful wildflower show in our local Box-Ironbark woodlands. Our first wander will be in Kalimna Park on 10th September. Meet: in the Car Park north of the Railway Goods Shed in Kennedy St ready to car-pool

Wednesday Wildflower Wander, 10th September 4pm, 2025, Kalimna Park Read More »

Leader: Peter Turner

Monthly Meeting:  Friday 8th August 2025, 7.30pm by Zoom

Linden Ashcroft is an award-winning climate scientist and communicator from the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on historical climatology, using pre-1900 documents and weather observations to improve understanding of Australia’s past climate so we can better prepare for the future. The impact of human-induced climate change is

Monthly Meeting:  Friday 8th August 2025, 7.30pm by Zoom Read More »

Speaker: Dr Linden Ashcroft “What will climate change bring to Castlemaine weather?”

Excursion: Saturday 9th August 2025, 10.00am,“Grassland treasures”, Baringhup

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 »

Leader: Kerrie Jennings

Roadside Clean-up: Monday 11th August 2025, 9am

Our club checks a section of the Pyrenees Highway four times a year, west of Castlemaine from the top of McKenzie’s Hill to Woodman’s Road. It is always a pleasant walk along some interesting roadside bush as we do our bit for the community.  Meet: 9am near Tait’s Decorative Iron, corner of Willy Milly Rd

Roadside Clean-up: Monday 11th August 2025, 9am Read More »

Help keep our stretch of the Pyrenees Highway clean!

Reminder:  CFNC weekend at Wedderburn, 12-14 September 2025

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 »

Monthly Meeting:  Friday 11th July 2025, 7.30pm by Zoom

Dr Adrian Marshall is the Facilitator of the Grassy Plains Network, which is program of the Victorian National Parks Association. He advocates for the greater protection of Victoria’s native grasslands and runs a range of community engagement activities to raise people’s awareness of our extremely threatened grassy ecosystems. He co-edited “Land of sweeping plains: managing

Monthly Meeting:  Friday 11th July 2025, 7.30pm by Zoom Read More »

Speaker: Adrian Marshall, “Our endangered grasslands: threats and ways forward”