Dr. Lawrie Conole has been a dedicated naturalist since his 1960s Geelong childhood, eventually “book-ending” decades of ecological field work with a PhD in urban bird ecology. In the 1970s and 80s, he was at the forefront of biodiversity mapping in Western Victoria—including the Otways and Wombat State Forest—at a time when electronic bat detectors
Monthly Meeting: Friday 13th November, 7.30pm, 2026 Read More »
Enjoy the late spring wildflowers, butterflies, beetles and bugs while gaining experience in photographing for the Great Southern Bioblitz (27-30 November). Learn from other field naturalists how to photograph key characteristics of fauna and flora to maximise the likelihood of getting your observations identified from photos submitted to iNaturalist. Whether you prefer to use a
Excursion: Saturday 14th November 2026, 1.30pm Read More »
Join us for the last of our four checks this year of a section of the Pyrenees Highway, west of Castlemaine from the top of McKenzie’s Hill to Woodman’s Road. Many hands make light work as we enjoy a pleasant walk along some interesting roadside bush and do our bit for the community. Meet: 9am
Roadside Clean-up: Monday 16th November 2026, 9am Read More »
You are invited to join with the Friends of Kalimna Park and the Eltham Copper Butterfly team from North Central CMA to learn more about and help with the Eltham Copper Butterfly project in Kalimna Park. We will be planting Sweet Bursaria to create more habitat for our special butterfly, the Eltham Copper (ECB). Staff
Eltham Copper Butterfly Project – Bursaria Planting, Walk and Great Southern Bioblitz Read More »
Our club leaders have been busy this month preparing to host the spring SEANA gathering in October, so there will only be one Wildflower Wander this year on 23rd September. This walk along Sinclairs Lane never fails to delight. We should find a few orchid species and the locally rare Grevillea micrantha amongst other wildflowers
Wednesday Wildflower Wander: 23rd September 4pm, 2026. Sinclairs Lane Read More »
Combined meeting with 2026 Feathery Festival, Connecting Country, and Birdlife Castlemaine Anthropogenic litter poses a significant global threat to birds for example by ingestion and entanglement. Hannah will tell us about her project to better understand bird–litter interactions through a citizen-science based image collection study. She found some unexpected interactions, revealing a broader range of interactions than
Guildford Upper-Loddon Landcare (GULL) has invited our club to undertake an excursion along their proposed Nature Trail on the Loddon River and the Big Tree, an ancient Biyal (Red Gum) in Guildford. The purpose of the excursion is to harness our expertise in a survey of the flora and fauna to assist in promoting the
You will, no doubt, have heard that Avian Influenza (H5N1 Bird Flu) has reached Australia and is already having an impact on some species. The North Central Catchment Management Authority undertakes surveillance for bird Flu across our local catchments as part of State and National programs to protect people, industry and wildlife. They have provided
Avian Influenza update Read More »
Donald Hobern is an amateur lepidopterist and Vice-President of Moths and Butterflies Australia. He is also an internationally recognised biodiversity informatics specialist and was the inaugural director of the Atlas of Living Australia. Donald has a particular interest in the beautiful plume moths (Pterophoridae) and many-plume moths (Alucitidae). Their name derives from the fact that
Monthly Meeting: Friday 14th August, 7.30pm, 2026 by Zoom Read More »
This interesting walk will encompass the ANZAC Circle – a circle of 32 Yellow Gums planted to honour some of the local men and women who died in WWI. We will also visit the location of the WWII Air Observation Station and the Mount Tarrengower Tunnelling Company tunnel. Bev Phillips, President of MULGA (Maldon Urban
Excursion: Saturday 15th August 2026, 1.30pm Read More »