HIRRAKEE November 1984 _ Vol.5 No. 10 Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. VBH4462 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE BENDIGO FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB WHIRRAKEE VOL. 5, No.10 . NOVEMBER 1984 Monthly Newsletter of the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club. Whirrakee takes its name from the Whirrakee Wattle (Acacia williamsonii) which is virtually endemic to the Bendigo Region. CONTENTS AUT HOR PAGE Editor's Pages 25e7 "My Oporum" Peter Ellis 3-6 (the story behind replanting of the Whipstick form of Creeping Boobialla in July this year.) Wildflower hunting around Inglewood Margaret Watts 7 Willie’ Wagtail - Rhipidura leucophrys Compiled by 8 -Bird Observers Group Bird of the Bill Flentje Night Discussion for September 1984 Bird Notes and Observations, October '84 Bird Observers Group 9 Committee Report « 10 Notices 10 Information Page pare. ' : ue 11 Diary 12 COVER PHOTO The fifteen foot diameten specimen of Myoporum parvifolium, Whipstick fornty which is referred to in Peter Ellis' article, "My Oporum", on pp 3-7. This photo by Tom Patullo appeared on the a OE 'The Bendigo Naturalist", Vol.5, No.1, April 1972. Although this plant has since died, it was the source of the cuttings which Frank Robbins propagated, and indirectly, via one of Frank's propagated plants in Tom Patullo' s garden, the source of the cutting grown plants which have been re-introduced in a nearby _ location, (See map On Dp. 7). (The person admiring the plant is Bob Allen). Cover design: Graham Hill. Cover printed by Bendigo Modern Press. Typing by Diane Hill, Duplicating by Tom Patullo. Deadlines for next issue are Wednesday 21st November for articles, and Wednesday 28th November for notices. (Typed contributions are preferred, but if this is not possible, then please make every effort to use neat, legible hand writing or printing. ) Articles from Whirrakee may be reproduced, but permission should be sought from the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club, and acknowledgment given to the author and the club. All back numbers except Vol. 3(10) are available, at a cost of 50 cents each. Completé sets of Vols. 1, 2, and 4 can be supplied at a cost of $5.00 per volume. (Postage is not included in the above prices.) 2. - EDITORS PAGE - Along with many other people, I fell victim to a dose of 'flu in early October, and had a week of bed rest, and sitting around. When I’ had recovered to the stage of being able to sit outside in the garden, I looked at the weeds growing while I watched (or so it seemed). Too weakened by the virus to do much about pulling them out, I decided that it was an opportune time to put to use’ a book I had purchased earlier in the year, "A Field Guide to Weeds in Australia" by Charles Lamp and Frank Collet, and started on a census of the weeds in our garden, This book has 283 r entries, arranged in alphabetical order by generic names, from Acacia armata to Zygophyllum apiculatum, with the great majority illustrated by colour photographs. Fortunately we do not have all 283, but the result . Fs was something of an eye opener never ~the-12°s.We have about 25 species of grasses, and about 35 non-grass species identified so far, with a fair _ residue where the photo was not clear enough to be sure of the identification, or where the plant appears not to be covered by the book. In the process, Mary and I have learnt a lot more about our weeds, and can now name many more of them. Not all of them are introduced species either. I think we all tend to think of weeds as introduced exotics, and most of them certainly are, but quite a few Australian plants have proven vigorous enough, and adaptable enough, to make it to weed status. Some of the introduced weeds are really very attractive plants, and got their start in life in their new country by being brought out as ornamental garden plants by the early settlers. Others are escapees from herb or medicinal gardens. The whole topic is full of interest, and could perhaps be made a syllabus item some time. I would certainly like to learn more, and can only express regret that a regular work commitment in Melbourne prevents me from attending Botany Group Meetings, where, no doubt, there would be opportunity to advance beyond’ my present knowledge of weeds, as well as other plants. - 8 rele Se ake . f & te tee ters v M ote ha Satire rgry Ste x at, Australian plants which would not be classed as weeds featured in this year's Native flower Show, put on by the Bendigo Native Plant Group in Strathdale Hall. From personal observation, I know that quite a lot of Field Nat. members visited this beautiful display. All the plants on show came from the gardens of Native Plant Group members, as I was proudly told, and the range of species grown is a credit to their collective horticultural skill. The feature display of local native species was very colourful, and showed that most are worthy of a place in.a native garden. (A..truly local native . garden would be a worthy objective, but who could resist the temptation to add the rather more spectacular. 'exotic' natives from other parts of Australia, and especially the Western Australian species?) My only real complaint about the show is that, having been inspired by the beauty of some of the rarer plants, only a few of those species were on sale at the plant stalls outside. However, we were able to add some interesting plants to our collection, and at least we have seen a lot of plants which I had. only seen in books previously. If you didn't make it this year, make sure that you do next year. It is well worth the effort. Continued on page 7. 3. "MY _OPORUM" by Peter Ellis. During my early years in the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club, I enjoyed many extra outings , virtually every weekend, with Bob Allen and Tom Patullo, and in later years, as an ardent camera sharp with Reg Smart. Also dunine that time I had the privilege of accompanying Frank Robbins on many of his famous "Whipstick Surveys". It was on one of these trips during the "Summer of '71" (by ea it was hot) that Frank, Tom, Bob and myself were nosing around the Bagshot. North Road, in the Talents of what has become known as the "Big Desert". This was the vast area of eastern Whipstick that had been by ill-fate cleared. by a speculator some four to six years earlier, and has remained of dubious value to anyone since. It was this action, coupled with applications by the same speculator to alienate and develop the Whipstick Crown Lands, that sparked the. commencement of Frank's mammoth Whipstick survey. ("Black Jack McDonald", the infamous Little Desert development scheme promoter was Minister for Lands at the time, and was also extending a. sympathetic eye towards the destruction of the Whipstick.) Meanwhile back on the Bagshot North Road, four Field Naturalists were minding their own business as usual, doing a little botanising, a little © cartography, and a lot of talking. But Frank, in fact, was trying to get a scientific documentation of the botanical record, for future reference. At*that time he considered a lot of the Whipstick would later be cleared by developers. At any rate, he had a query waite to his mapping, and also wished to pinpoint the exact locality of a very rare plant for this area - the "Creeping Boobialla", Myoporum parvifolium, of which only two or three plants were known. So we ended up at the house and property of Mr Les _. Thurrowgood, who has since moved ‘to Marong, and become a Councillor of that Shire. After an extensive inspection of Mr Thurrowgodd's newly planted native trees and shrubs around the house, we eventually allowed Frank to home in on his query - the locality of a very large plant of Creeping Boobialla. I can't remember the exact details now, but the_large plant was, I think, a new find, although one or two smaller plants had been known for many years. Red. Eddy had told me about them back in the 1960's. Whether Frank had found the 15 foot diameter whopper a week or two earlier, or whether it was Les Thurrowgood that found the plant and wished to direct us to the spot, I can't recall, but Frank, Bob or Tom might like to supply this information to Whirrakee. (It would be in club minutes somewhere). Anyway, I was naturally keen to see it, Tom wanted a photo, Bob required a specimen: for the herbarium, Frank needed to check his map location, and Les Thurréwgood was eager to lead us in the right direction across a paddock or two, so there we lobbed by late afternoon. The Creeping Boobialla plants were spread along a disused roadway which lay north-south extending almost to the far south-eastern tongue jutting out of the Egerton Forest in the Parish of Egerton, with most of the plants actually just in the Parish of Goornong. One plant in the Parish of Egerton was situated only about a quarter of a mile from the tip of the Forest Park, which was recently proclaimed the 'Kamarooka State Park". The roadway was purely gazetted as such and nothing more. It was simply a strip of land of grasses and sparse native shrubs and large grey box trees, stretching across cleared paddocks north almost to the Egerton Forest tip. There may have been.an old track at one time but it is not visible now, and is not traversable by car because of fences and cleared land separating it at various points. uy, "MY OPORUM' continued At any rdte we followed Les Thurrowgood's directions and came upon the particularly large Creeping Boobialla, a prostrate mat plant sprawling a full 15 foot diameter under a large grey box tree, and in full DOCH (January or February 1972) It was a truly magnificent specimen. On subsequent trips Frank found another plant or two, but they were much smaller in size, and the total number of plants on his map is five marked with a number 13 in a square, not to be confused with 13 in a circle, which is a different plant altogether (Helichrysum bilobun. ) This: documentation: is to be’ found in 'The Bendigo Naturalist" Vol. 5, No, 1, of April 1972, Survey of the Whipstick Part 9 by Frank Robbins, Pages 9-13. A. photo of the plant. iis featured on the cover of the journal. (This ‘samé photo is reproduced on the cover of this "Whirrakee".) An additional article by Jack Kellam on the 'Myoporums of Bendigo" is on Page 14-15 of the’same Bendigo Naturalist. Another rare Myoporum, M. viscosum, the Sticky Boobialla, had just been found at the time, i bringing the Whipstick species number up to four. (M.deserti, Turkey Bush, and M. platycerpum, Sugarwood, are ‘the other two.) Now although the Creeping Boobialla was a rare record for this district, it is nevertheless: a common plant in some regions , for example the Mallee. It is also extensively cultivated in nurseries and grown in gardens and median strips as an excellent ground cover plants I had it growing at the time, and the first thing If morices different was- that the Whipstick plant had little brown spots in the throat of the white flowers, whilst the cultivated form at that time was pure white. Conversely, now the cultivated form often has spotted flowers, and there are several forms available; a fine leaf form, a purplish leaf form, .a shrubby-pink flowered form, and so on. Apart from thinking the Whipstick form should be brought into aula! I did nothing about it. However I recalled Frank taking some cuttings and finding them easy to strike, and he occassionally brought a iedieeirse to the general meeting to be ‘given away. — I thought: nothing more of the Myoporum until the North Central L.C.C. report and call for submissions. In both the B.F.N.C. submission and my personal, submission I suggested that part of the roadway be either created a small satellite reserve of the Whipstick proper, or as a separate reserve under Crown Lands Management. Nothing came out in the final reconmendations in that. direction. and the matter rested there. However, ‘late last” year in conversaticn: with ey Read of Eaoenone I mentioned the Myoporums, and, to my surprise, Ken was not aware of their existence. ‘As I also had.not seen the plants for over 10 years I arranged a quick excursion with Ken early in December. Well we both forgot our maps and wandered all over disused roadways and paddocks in the Parishes of Egerton and Goornong (well, it seemed that way) to no avail. The following weekend, armed with Frank's maps, we again tried to locate the plants. We walked the complete length of the ‘roadway from the southernmost locality of any possible Myoporum, to the northernmost point. As far-as we could reasonably determine, the plants had. been gone seyeral years. We located the circles of wire netting Frank had placed around ‘two of the plants for protection from wandering stock. But the plants were not there ‘either,and obviously had dissappeared well before the '82-drought,; as there was not a dead twig or butt or rcots or anything that should ‘still have been evident. The sites were badly choked out : with thick grasses and introduced weeds, and as the roadway. is stots now fenced it is subject to grazing at times. "MY OPORUM" continued The carcass of a sheep, with its foot entangled in the wire enclosure, made me wonder if human retribution had played a part in tre myoporum's demise. However, these plants were possibly remnant specimens from kinder times, and due to unfavourable conditions were on the way out regardless and the invasion of weeds, stock and change of land use tipped the balance further. My next thought was on reintroduction of the species into the nearest section of Forest Park. I recalled the painstaking troubles of the National Parks service at the Sydenham Organ Pipes Park, where the surrounding road edges of the Shire of Bulla were searched for possible local strains of indigenous plants to be propagated for revegetating the National Park. This. had to be the way in preference to a plant of the same species but of a different gene pool from another area. I pondered who might have grown on one of Frank's plants. A phone call to Tom Patullo paid off. "The plant hasn't fared that well, I'd better go and water it now!" exclaimed an enthusiastie Tom. Well, at the December social Tom came forth with the cuttings from his plant, which in turn Frank had propogated from the Whipstick original. (The 15 foot diameter one in fact.) I set about 30 cuttings in my propagating box, and took them with me on holidays over Christmas/New Year to the Nariel Folk Festival near Corryong. They struck while I was staying there at the Colac Colac (pronounced Clak Clak) Caravan Park, nursed meticulously under the shade of inagnificent willow trees and soothed by the (sweet?) strains of accord*an/concertina music. By the February meeting I had 27 plants potted up, with enough to spare for those who wished to establish them in their gardens to ensure a future source of cuttings. The next step was to obtain permission from the . Forests Commission to establish some of the plants in the little tongue section of Egerton Forest nearest the original locality of the Myoporums. (One plant was only a quarter of a mile from this point.) This permission was obtained, but an autumn and early winter drought delayed the proposed plantings. Eventually in July the rains came and after watering the plants with "difolaton" to sterilize the soil of possible pathogens, we were ready to embark on the project. With the assistance of Rob Moors, John Lindner, Helene Boon, John Burtonclay and Mr & Mrs John Allen we ventured out to the Egerton Forest on the cold and blustery morning of the 12th of August, and planted six Myoporums on one site, and seven on another, as indicated on the map. The soil was surprisingly dry underneath, but the help of a pick loosened it up, some top soil was mixed in, and plenty of water given to settle the plants. With kangaroos, rabbits, choughs, and hamo sapiens permitting, the long t-.e of the replanting of the Whipstick Creeping Boobialla endeth. Editor's Postscript: A last minute check with Peter produced the encouraging news that the plants are doing very well so far. See map on page 6 for location of original and replanted sites of Myoporum parvifoliun. iI 2 PA * .. 25 , heuaktags. 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WILDFLOWER HUNTING AROUW)D INGLEWOOD x set net ee Rae ane Dee by Margaret Watts Following the exceptionally wet winter of 1983 my husband, Fred, and I decided that while out bird watching we'd keep a sharper than ever look- out for unusual plants in our district. We had a certain amount of success, but also one or two slight disappointments. oe | To find plants of the Horned Orchid (Orthoceras strictum) flowering in three different areas of forest was something which pleased us most of all. We had found a few flower stalks of this orchid in a patch of forest on the Brenanah road about ten years ago, but despite hours of searching in late Spring almost yearly since then, we had never found a sign of them again. In the same forest Fred's sharp eyes found a number of plants of the pretty little mauve-pink flowered Heath Milkwort (Comesperma ericinum). Cliff Beauglehole lists it as occurring only in Fryers Ridge State Forest for North-Central Victoria, so we are delighted to be able to add it to the plants of Inglewood. Other minor discoveries included a plant of White Everlasting (Helichrysum baxterii) which Beauglehole lists only for A sector of the North Central area of Victoria; the Broughton Pea (Swainsona procumbens) and the Grass. Trigger-plant (Stylidium graminifoliumm). I realise the two last-named. plants are not at all rare in other areas, but lest Spring was the first time we. had seen any in our district. We knew of one Grass Trigger-plant on the roadside at Arnold West, but this disappeared some years ago. Our failure to find any Austral Ladies' Tresses ($piranthes sinensis) - or Hyacinth Orchids (Dipodium punctatum) were slight disappointments. We thought damp depressions in the.Caves forest would have been likely places to find them. Mr Fred Halls, in writing about the Mt Kooyoora - Melville Caves area, mentioned seeing the Hyacinth Orchid, but when we- asked him about it at last year's Archaeological Survey camp, he was. unable to recall the location, so we will just have to keep on searching.. By the way, the credit for most of these discoveries must go to Fred, whose eyes are so much sharper than mine and who seoms to be able to look up at birds and down at plants at the same time! J. 2, f . wok ok vow wen ve tse) dea cver erty: : EDITORS PAGE continued : My final thoughts for this month are on a topic which should concern every field naturalist. Road reserves frequently contain the last remnants of native vegetation where the roads traverse farmland, and as such play an important role in the conservation of plant species, including rare or endangered ones, Last week I had two contrasting experiences on road reserves in the Shelbourne area. In one case, I was pleasantly surprised by the colourful floral display along a back road through the granite country, and by the variety of species present. In the other case, I saw another road in the same area being cleared from fencé line to fence line, and the surplus loam being trucked away for road work. Road making material is getting scarcer, and dearer. The temptation to obtain cheap material this way is obviously strong, but the value of roadsides for habitat conservation will be lost if this policy is allowed to operate unchecked. The first stretch of road I mentioned is in the same Shire, and cbviously in danger of suffering the same fate. We should be documenting the stretches of road of conservation value, and pleading for their retention. More on this next month.’ iS sched : Eric Wilkinson ,Editor. REMINDER: Subscriptions are now due. WILLIE WAG AIL - Rhipidura leucophrys BEN DIGO BIRD OBSERVERS GROUP BIRD OF THE NIGHT SEFT EMBER 1984 Also called the Black and white Fantail or Fly-catcher, or Shepherd's Companion. APPEARANCE: Length about 200 mm, of which the tail is nearly half. Male and female are similar in plumage, mainly black and very dark brown above, with black throat, and the rest of the underbody white. The white eyebrows are not always conspicuous. It is believed that agression is demonstrated by erecting the white eyebrows to make them more conspicuous, and submission is indicated by concealing them. The legs eyes and bill are also black. The Willie Wagtail is readily distinguished from the Scissors Grinder (Restless Flycatcher) by its black throat, whereas the Scissors Grinder has a white throat. CALL: The alarm call consists of a repeated, short, harsh, rattling Series of notes. The song is a musical sequence of notes, often interpreted as "Sweet pretty creature". At times, single notes, and parts of vae song are given. Calls may be heard throughout the year, and are often heard for long periods at night. HABITAT: The Willie Wagtail is a common bird throughout the whole of the Bendigo District including forests, roadsides, water frontages, and open paddocks with some tree and/or shrub vegetation. It is also often found in urban arsas. HABITS: The Willie Wagtail is a well-known and popular bird, due to its friendly, fearless nature. and cheerful song. It has a habit of continually swinging its body and tail from side to side whilst perched or standing on the. ground. It is often seen perched on the back of livestock, such as sheep, cattle, or horses, while catching insects which are attracted to or disturbed by the larger animals. Like all other fantails, they have the ability to fan their tails in display. They also defend their nests and young fiercely, against intruders, whether humans, or predators, such as magpies, hawks, etc. FOOD consists of various insects taken in the air, on the ground, or in the foliage of vegetation. BREEDING; This may occur from August to January in the Bendigo District. Two or three clutches of eggs may be laid in one season, sometimes re- using the same nest. Both male and female birds help to build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the young. The nest is a very neat construction of grass and fine bark, well bound with cobwebs inside and out and placed on a horizontal branch or fork, usually within three to six or seven feet above the ground. The incubation and fledging periods are each about 13 days. Three or four eggs are laid, coloured buff-white to yellowish- white, with spots and marks from reddish-brown to olive-green or grey, mainly in a zone around the middle. GENERAL: They are sedentary, and are usually seen singly, in pairs, or Small family parties. When breeding, they. sometimes nest in the same tree or in the near vicinity with other black and white birds such as Magpie Larks and Magpies. They always appear to be active and busy. When breeding, the agitation call may often be a guide to the location of the nest. They often nest in exposed situations, and on one occasion were observed +o nest on the ground and successfully raise young. They often attack hawks and ravens. At night, they often call from the nest. As the young grow larger, the nest almost appears to be too small and overcrowded to contain the active brood. They have been observed to feed on grubs and worms dug up in a garden. Another observer noted three broods of three young birds successfully raised during one breeding season, by the one eB Oehe Glel as eee Compiled by Bill Flentje. BIRD NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, OCTOBER 1984 MEET ING Highlight - Greenshank at May Swamp The Meeting Three Club members each gave a short talk, which was followed by a discussion on the Striated Pardalote, the Bird of the Night. The speakers and their topics were: Mr Ray Wallace, "Australian bird artists", Mr John Kellam, "The Satin and the Leaden Flycatchers". Mr John Berry, "The Atlas of Australian Birds". Observations There were not very many bird observations reported at the October meeting, so it is hoped that all Bird Observers Group members will endeavour to hand in an observation form at future meetings. The Greenshank, while it has been recorded in our district before at Johnson's Swamp (7.2.82) and Tang Tang Swamp (1.2.82), was seen at May Swamp on 14th September. A solitary Greenshank was seen along with several Black-winged Stilts, one Avocet and 17 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. The Red-necked Avocet was last seen at May Swamp on 23rd February, 1982, but in both instances the bird(s) did not stay around May Swamp for very long. It is interesting to note that the water level on May Swamp was down by about six inches (14,.9.84) and there were several areas of exposed wet mud, and mud covered by shallow water, providing a suitable feeding area for waders. However, since mid September the water level has risen and many of the waders have left the area. A Red-capped Dotterel, now correctly known as a Red-capped Plover, was observed at Clear Lake, south of Horsham. A pair of Blue-faced Honeyeaters were seen on several occasions at Strathfieldsaye. Each time the weather was appalling, and the birds came close to the house, possibly seeking spiders and insects in a more sheltered position. A Black-shouldered Kite was observed at Comet Hill (21.9.84). These birds are moderately common, and may often be seen hovering over grassy areas, A pair of Red-capped Robins was observed attending a nest with young at the Eaglehawk Rifle Range on the 29th September. Woodswallows have not been seen in any numbers so far this season. The only observation reported was of a White-browed Woodswallow observed at Eddington on 29th September. A Sacred Kingfisher, the first record for the season, was reported at Lyal Glen on 3rd October. A Barn Owl, which was found beside the highway at Goornong, and which had obviously been killed on the road, was brought into the meeting. The beautiful pure-white under-wings and belly have resulted in this bird of prey being called Tyto alba, where Tyto means night owl and alba means white. This dead specimen provided an ideal opportunity for close study of the features of this magnificent hunter. While they are, at times, fairly common, they are not often observed because of their nocturnal habits. 10. COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT, 24/10/84 1. 4Oth Anniversary committee planning continues. Bendigo to host W.V.F.N.A. meeting 3lst Aug. - lst Sept. 1985. Any suggestions for speakers for club dinner and possible ti lecture? 2. Committee decided to purchase the following aTtene for addition to library - Reptiles of Australia (Cogger) R.A.0.V. Atlas of Australian Birds. ’ Set of Cliff Beauglehole's vascular plant lists. 3. "Eucalypts of Bendigo" sales are encouraging, and preliminary discussion has been held on the desirability of a reprint. 4, $500. is to be transferred from the general account to the SEE deposit account. kok kek Re Re NOVEMBER 14 GENERAL MEETING Insect workshop. This meeting will be organised something on the lines of the botany: workshop at the October meeting. Some of our members SARIN bere en talks on the life cycle of selected insects (Bob Allen, John Lindner, Derry Vardy.) However, membexs are urged to bring along any interesting insect specimens for the purposes of: 1. Display and identification, and perhaps a short talk on the insect. 2. Identification by oth 1er members if the specimen's name is OS ORE ek kok kik ek OK CENTRAL VICTORIA ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY Dr. Isobel McBride is to be the speaker For the November meeting of the C.V.A.S. Dr. McBride has worked extensively on the trade of Mt.William and Mt. Camel stone for axes, and this will be the subject of her talk. The meeting date is Monday 26th November 7.30 p.m, at the B. C.A.E. Student Union Meeting Room. (Edwards Rd., Campus). ARTICLES NEEDED! You may have noticed Whirrakee getting thinner. I need more material rather urgently , whether it be short notes or longer articles. Editor REMINDER! Subscriptions ave now due. BENDIGO FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB Address for correspondence, P.0. Box 396, Bendigo 3550 Office bearers for 1984-1985 Sc etn eaten PRESIDENT Laurie Leeson 76 Lawson St. Spring Gully 43 0521 SENTOR VICE PRESIDENT Rob Moors Sedgwick ; 39 6254 JUWIOR VICE PRESIDENT John Lindner Burns St., Axedale 39 7308 SECRET ARY Rod Fyffe 546 Hargreaves St.Bendigo 43 7673 ASSIST ANT SECRETARY Lyn Hamilton Marong Rd. Maiden Gully 49 6224 T REASURER Helene ‘Boon Kamarooka 36 9252 MEMBERSHIP OFFICER Win Demeo Kamarooka 36 9226 EXCURSION ORGAN ISER John Lindner Burns St., Axedale 33 7308 LIBRARIAN Glenise Moors Sedgwick 39 6254 EDIT OR Eric Wilkinson 7 Weatherall St.,Cal.Gully 46 8736 ASSIST ANT EDITOR Victoria Fyffe 546 Hargreaves St.Bendigo 43 7673 ekekk kek kik ke eee Membership of the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club is open to all those interested in natural history. The membership subscription rates are Single $10.00, Family $14.00, Pensioner and Children $6.00. Whirrakee subscription only, $10.00. ee General Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at the Conference Rooms, Department of Agriculture, Midland Highway, Epsom. Meetings start at 7.30 p.m., and conclude with supper. The Annual Meeting is held in September, Excursions The assembly point for excursions is outside the Special Services Complex in Havlin St. East, Bendigo, unless otherwise specified. Full day excursions normally commence at 10.00 a.m. (usually on a Sunday.). Half day excursions normally commence at 2.00 p.m. and may be either a Saturday or Sunday. Day or half day excursions are usually held on the weekend following the General Meeting. Campouts are held several times in a year, usually coinciding with long weekends or holiday periods. The B.F.N.C, has four stb-groups:- The BIRD OBSERVERS GROUP meets on the first Friday of the month at the Agriculture Department, Epsom, at 7.30 p.m. : ea ae ata. President: John Berry 22 Barrell St., Eaglehawk 46 9921 Secretary: Salli Dearricott. Burs St., Spring Gully 41 1113 The BOTANY GROUP meets onthe fourth Friday of the month at 7.30 p.m. at the Biology Lab., Applied Science 1 Building, B.C.A.E., (unless otherwise announced). : Convenor: Eric Whiting, 7 Aviary Crt., Kennington. 43 5965, The CONSERVATION GROUP meets on the third Tuesday of each month , at 8.00 p.m. in member's homes as announced in the monthly diary. meta einem pe Convenor: Chris Bunn, Averys Rd., Eaglehawk. 46 8141, The MAMMAL SURVEY GROUP meets on the third Thursday of the month, at 8.00 p.m. in member's homes as announced in the monthly diary. President: Graham Hill, 31 Curnow St., Golden Squave 42° 4016 Secretary: Bill Holsworth, Nabilla Cr., Kennington 43 4063 MEET IN GS Nov. 14 Dec.12 Jan.9 1985 EXCURSIGYS Sun .Nov.18 Sun. Dec.16 + . STS at 4 (MB Snes #OB ALLEN 1 aR aie - DIARY - Insect Workshop: Lecturettes, displays - details on p.10. CHRISTMAS SOCIAL Due to circumstances outside our control, the Agriculture Dept. rooms which we had booked for this night are not now available. Alternative sites are being checked out. An. announcement will be made at: the November meeting, and details will be in the December diary in Whirrakee. Film Night. Visit to Tom Patullo's garden in Maiden Gully. Tom expects his collection of bottlebrushes to be near their peak flowering by this date. B.Y.0. afternoon tea and chair(s). Meet at Havlin St. at 2.0 p.m. Boating on Coliban River and Lake Eppalock. Meet at John and Jean Ipsen's home, "Lyal Glen", at the N.E. corner of the junction of the Redesdale Road and Mangans Lane, Lyell, from 10.00 a.m. Barbeque Lunch, and then boating in afternoon. Please bring canoes or kayaks if you have them. BIRD OBSERVERS GROUP Fri.Dec.7 Sat.Dec.8 » BOI ANY GROUP Fri.Nov.23 Sat. .Nov. 24 7.30 p.m., Dept. of Agriculture, Epsom. ‘Bird of the Night - White -winged Chough. Half day outing to the Eaglehawk Rifle Range area of the Whipstick. If the weather is suitable, there will be a barbeque lunch for the last B.0.G. function of the year. Meet at Eaglehawk Town Hall at 4.00 p.m. 7.30 p.m., Applied Science Building B.C.A.E. Topic: "Plant parasites" Half day outing to South Mandurane: Meet at 1.30 p.m. at Mandurang Recreation Reserve. CONSERVATION GROUP Tues Nov. 20 8.00 p.m. at Rod Fyffe's home, 546 Hargreaves St. ,Bendigo. ' MAMMAL SURVEY GROUP Thurs .Nov.15 8.00 p.m., at Graham Hill's home, 31 Curnow St.,G.Square. COMMITTEE MEET ING Wed.Nov.28 8.00 p.m. at Rob Watkin's home, Marnie Rd.,Kennington.