Friends of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP Newsletter 270 March  2018

Dear Friends 

The March gathering of Friends involved refurbishing the cleared area at Bartley's Block.

This area was previously occupied by a large patch of Blue Periwinkle, Vinca major, that was rapidly expanding until it was sprayed and resprayed over a period of a year.

Recently, many other plants were found to be taking advantage of the cleared space. David King came up with a plan to revegetate the area as well as install some barriers across the water course so that more of the local plant species would be encouraged to fill the vacant area.

Three coir barriers had been purchased and these were fixed in place with stakes. Caper Spurge and a few Vinca plants were quickly removed, some dried remains of the Vinca were spread to act as mulch and a few nearby Juncus sp. were divided and planted in the vacant area. 

 The group of twelve soon accomplished the allocated tasks and we all gathered in the shade for some bun and a good chat.

 Photos of the above work by Neville Bartlett.

It was simply lovely to have a pair of Red-Capped Robins (Petroica goodenovii) as company along with a flock of Varied Sitellas (Daphoenositta chrysoptera) in the upper reaches of the trees.Thank you Neville for this report.  Thanks to David for organising the materials for the project at very short notice. 

Sitella photo by Dean Ingwersen. 

From Egg to Butterfly

When one is presented with a life history in the garden monitoring it is easy. The Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly chose the tip of the new growth on my lemon tree to lay a single egg.

This soon hatched into a very small caterpillar with a big appetite for tender lemon leaves shedding skins as it grew until it reached maturity.

It moved down into the more woody section of the tree where it pupated, constructing a little slinglike thread to attach itself to the stem.

After five  days the beautiful butterfly emerged

and soon found the nearby Eremophila on which to feed.

As each stage was reached Neil was on hand to take the photos. Just a bit of team work!
Exhibition

There is an exhibition at the Brindley Family Galleries, MAMA in Albury that may interest members. It is a collection of photographs of ten 'inspirational and forging women through portrait and story, from the North East Victorian and Murray regions' by Nat Ord entitled 'Arise!' from 22nd February to 8th April 2018. Eileen Collins is one of the women featured. 

Upcoming Exhibition and Event

One of our members - Stephanie Jackovac has an exhibition of her paintings 'Regenerate' at the Arts Space in Wodonga from 16th March to 28th April 2018. Opening: Friday March 16 at 5:30pm by Fleur Stelling.

Stephanie will also be participating in a Regeneration Forum on 28th March 2018 at the Arts Space, Wodonga. Stephanie will reveal her inspiration in creating this series of paintings. Guest Ian Davidson, Director of Regeneration Solutions, will talk about healthy environments and restoration following bushfires.

Naturalist Karen Retra will share her particular interest in the habits of native bees.

Date: Wednesday, March 28, 6pm to 8pmCost: $10, bookings required, refreshments included.Book online: thecubewodonga.com.au/tickets

Next Meeting Change of Date

The usual meeting date for April occurs on Easter Sunday this year so we will now hold the gathering on Sunday 8th April 2018. Meet at the Post Office at 9.0am

BYO chair, gloves, lunch,sunscreen, hat and binoculars. Contact in the field  0407 486 480

The activity will be decided closer to the date by which time the autumn break may have arrived.

Clean-up Australia Day

This year Friends did not partake in this activity, however clean up did take place along our roads. Landcare under Helen Carse cleaned roadsides and the town entrances. Matt from the Post Office cleaned the Howlong Road from the town boundary out to Mt Pleasant Road and was astounded at the number of cans and bottles he collected. A deposit scheme is badly needed in Victoria. 

Rainfall  for February 

17.8  mm over  4 days. Year to date :  56.8. mm