Volunteers begin planting

Revegetation got under way at the ‘Hidden Valley’ site on the 26th of April, with a group of six volunteers from the ANZ bank. The ANZ volunteers, assisted by Chris Cobern (Upper Goulburn Landcare Network Fire Recovery Officer),  landholders Terry and Janet Hubbard and myself, managed to plant 230 seedlings at the top of the valley – made easier as a result of  John Hamilton’s precision ripping. Surprisingly, some of the rip lines had moist soil about 150mm down, despite almost non-existent rainfall. We would normally not commence planting in this country until June, but as the volunteers were available we decided to start. All seedlings were planted with a soil wetting crystal and were watered in with a litre of water per plant.

‘Watson’s Creek’ – included in Biodiversity Project

New Landcarers Wayne & Pam Watson, with their new fence!

On the 18th of January, fencing began on another site (Watson’s) which has added 11.8 ha of remnant woodland to the corridor being protected and revegetated between Mt. Disappointment State Forest and the King Parrot Creek. Watson’s site joins the lower end of ‘Hidden Valley’ and includes a riparian zone along the valley floor. The seasonal creek that runs here, drains out of the ‘Hidden Valley’ site into King Parrot creek and has erosion along the banks and heavy blackberry and some pussy willow infestation along the watercourse. The weeds are being addressed by Wayne & Pam and erosion will hopefully be arrested by some of the revegetation work.

Fencing begins on Striped Legless Lizard site

The 1st of February saw Terry out again on his trusty Fiat, going where only eagles dare. The land holder, Kay, couldn’t bear to watch, but Terry is well acquainted with his machinery and ability in hill country. This is the last property in the Project to be fenced and is also the property where Kay discovered the endangered Striped Legless Lizard last year (see our sister site Focus on Fauna for more) – what possessed her to pick up a creature that resembles a snake, we still wonder. And if anyone else sees these animals in our district, please let us know.

Dramatic prelude to a few anxious moments…

A dramatic sunset lit up the sky over the revegetation corridor at the Three Sisters in Flowerdale on Friday evening 15th of February. The heavy sky brought with it a tremendous lightning storm and about 2mm of rain to our thirsty landscape.

There were a number of lightning strikes in the area including the one pictured sending up smoke in the corridor at the back of the Three Sisters. This fire was called in by hang glider pilots flying off the Three Sisters and was quickly attacked by Terry Hubbard before back up arrived from the Strath Creek, Flowerdale and Glenburn Brigades. This was one of 3 strikes that kept the Hubbard’s busy – just what you need when you are hosting a National Landcare gathering!

 

 

‘Mystery Tree’ update – the plot thickens

Mystery animal

The mysterious incisions on the young Long-leaf Box that were pictured in an earlier post (click HERE) remain a mystery. On the 12/12/12 around midnight, the movement camera set up by our animal detectives from Focus on Fauna caught something. Opinion still remains divided. The picture portrays a ghostly image of something moving at speed, having leapt from the ground onto the tree trunk. It is hard to say what it is, but there seems to be a body and long tail mostly hidden behind the tree trunk. It looks too big for a Sugar Glider. It may be a Brush-tailed Possum.