• Home
    • About Us
    • About the Park
    • Contact Us
    • Merchandise
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • News Archives
    • Reports
    • Albury Wodonga Field Naturalists
  • Biodiversity
    • Acknowledgement of Sources
    • Birdlist Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
    • Galleries
      • Beetles of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Birds of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Butterflies of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Flora of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Frogs of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Fungi of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Insects of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Mammals of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Mosses and Lichens of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Moths of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Orchids of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Reptiles of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Spiders of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
      • Scats of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
    • Flora of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
    • Search
  • Friends
    • Login
    • My Profile
    • Membership
    • Friends on Facebook
Chiltern Valley No 1 Dam
Chiltern Valley No 1 Dam

Great bird watching spot. Enter via Pit Road. Photo E Collins

Woolshed Falls Track
Woolshed Falls Track

Photo E Collins

View from Mt Pilot in spring
View from Mt Pilot in spring

Photo N Bartlett

Brittle Gums Old Coach Road Mt Pilot
Brittle Gums Old Coach Road Mt Pilot

These magnificent gums are only found the Mt Pilot section of the park. The understorey is bracken. Photo E Collins

Stone wall  Old Coach Road Mt Pilot
Stone wall Old Coach Road Mt Pilot

A relic of the past which has stood the test of time. Photo E Collins

Tuan Track Walk
Tuan Track Walk

Guided walk through different habitats with leaflet provided.All season walk but excellent in spring. Photo E Collins

Bartley Plaque Sept 14th 2013
Bartley Plaque Sept 14th 2013

The plaque tells some of the history of this block.Funded by Friends group. Photo R Collins

Frogs Hollow revegetation
Frogs Hollow revegetation

A willing band planted over 300 shrubs and trees in August 2013.

Albino Swamp Wallaby
Albino Swamp Wallaby

A delightful portrait of this unusually coloured animal. Photo N Bartlett.

Grey Grass Tree Xanthorrhoea glauca ssp angustifolia
Grey Grass Tree Xanthorrhoea glauca ssp angustifolia

This species has recently found to be confined to Chiltern, Killawarra and the Warby Ranges. Photo E Collins

Sunburst Lichen Xanthoria sp
Sunburst Lichen Xanthoria sp

A spectacular lichen which can bee seen on the old fruit trees in Bartley's block. Photo E Collins

Speckled Warbler
Speckled Warbler

This delightful little bird is most easily seen at Bartley's block. Best spot to look is at the southern end. Photo N Bartlett

Amazing balance
Amazing balance

Just one of the many interesting rocks in the park. Photo E Collins

Chiltern Valley No 2 Dam
Chiltern Valley No 2 Dam

Another good bird watching spot. Pleasant picnic spot with good viewing site. Picnic table provided by Friends group. Photo E Collins

Barnawartha Bushfire
Barnawartha Bushfire

After crossing the freeway the fire entered the park along Barnawartha Depot Road. Ridge Track and a large area of the reference area was burnt. Photo by R Pritchard

Grasstree Track
Grasstree Track

Life beginning to return. Springtime will be interesting where the ground has been lightly burnt. Photo B Pritchard

Aerial attack
Aerial attack

Water bombing over the Chiltern Reference area. Parks crew cut a firebreak through this area..

Pilot Reference Area and Hartigans Gap
Pilot Reference Area and Hartigans Gap

This aerial shows the extent and pathway of the fire. The Pilot reference area suffered badly with 11,000 ha being burnt. Many large old trees were lost. Photo B Pritchard.

Woolshed 27th July 2016
Woolshed 27th July 2016

Photo N Blair Another spectacular cascade of water.

Magenta planting June 3rd 2016
Magenta planting June 3rd 2016

In 2016 Parks redesigned the Magenta Mine carpark and barbecue area to improve the area,The surrounds were ripped and mulched and in June Friends planted 200 understorey species.

Interperpretive plaque, Rutherglen N F Reserve
Interperpretive plaque, Rutherglen N F Reserve

Photo M Webster. The Great Southern and Chiltern Valley mine is situated in the Rutherglen Natural Features Reserve. Friends obtained a grant to restore the reserve and mine site. This was completed in 2016 by an enthusiastic group with support from Parks Victoria.

Clear Creek Cascades July 2016
Clear Creek Cascades July 2016

Photo M Webster. The rains have produced some spectacular sights. This waterfall brings the rock formations to life.

Friends of Chiltern Mt Pilot NP Newsletter #317 June 2022

FRIENDS OF CHILTERN MT-PILOT NATIONAL PARK, Inc.

President : Neville Bartlett

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  Ph: 0412 399 239

Correspondence to: Tony Murnane Secretary/Treasurer: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Newsletter: Neville Bartlett:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dear Friends,

The June field day activity was cancelled due to the wet weather. For the remainder of the year, if the weather is forecast to be too wet, we will automatically re-schedule field days to one week later. We do not want to delay any of the re-vegetation work any longer than is necessary.

The planned audit of the signage on the White Box Walk will take place once the weather warms up a bit more. Some of the interpretive signs have faded to the point where they are extremely difficult to read and new ones will most likely be needed.

 

Star Psyllids– Protyora sterculiae – Eileen Collins

Psyllids are known as lerp insects because of the lerp’ covering they construct for protection. However, the two psyllids that occur on Kurrajongs do not have this fixed covering. The Star Psyllid lays its eggs on the upper surface of the leaves and the young nymph that hatches can be recognized by a red stripe which extends, on the upper surface, from the head to the tip of the abdomen. These psyllids produce wool-like filaments from the tips of their abdomens and when clustered give a star-shaped appearance. The adult psyllid is 2 to 3 mm long, has red eyes and is green with darker green stripes across its body,.

Star Psyllids were named by Froggat in 1901.

According to the literature "control is seldom required since predators and parasites keep their numbers in check."

However in the case of Jan's infested tree there is serious leaf drop.

These notes were condensed from an excellent article written by P Milthorpe and G Cunningham in a 2006 issue of a NSW DPI newsletter.

Kurrajong Star Psyllids Protyora sterculiae 2 (Jan Heywood)
Kurrajong Star psyllids Protyora sterculiae  April  (Jan Heywood)

Star Psyllids (Protyora sterculiae). Photos: Jan Heywood


Ranger’s Report – Brian Pritchard

The wet winter has seen the best display of fungi in the park for a very long time, but the downside is it also negatively impacts on the condition of roads and tracks. Works have been undertaken to clear and clean culverts and will continue over the next few weeks.

A compliance operation conducted over the long weekend resulted in a number of infringements notices being issued for timber removal and off-road vehicle use. However, these activities were probably less than expected and there was a good awareness amongst most visitors.

Swift Parrots are still using the park and are being seen in the nearby Warby Ovens NP. Birdlife Australia have completed another program to control noisy miners to assist with threatened species recovery.

A fox control program in the Barambogie has been completed and monitoring and control of other pest animals is continuing.

Just another reminder for volunteers to ensure they are registered in Park Connect  and also record their Working with Children checks so that they can be part of any approved volunteer activities within the park.

Working With Children

A while back the Victorian Government passed a law that requires anyone working with children to have passed a ‘working with children check’. This seemed quite a reasonable requirement until it became evident that all people volunteering for Parks Victoria would have to pass this check regardless of how unlikely it was that they would encounter children as part of the volunteering work. Our Friends very rarely have children attend our events, and if so, they are with their parents. This situation has led many groups and organisations of friends groups to lobby for less stringent requirements but such representations have been rejected by the government. To make matters worse, failure to meet this requirement is being implicitly linked to the provision of insurance cover while volunteering.

Some of us have already gone through the process of applying for and receiving this check. It takes a few weeks to receive your card once the application process is completed.

Instructions on what to do can be found at: https://www.parkconnect.vic.gov.au/Volunteer/applywwcc.

You can get started by going to this web address: https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/. People who have recently gone through the application process, highly recommend the approach of doing it through a local Post Office. In my case, even though I attempted to do it completely online, I did need to go to a Post Office to verify my ID.

NOTE: the government has not indicated how it plans to police this requirement and Friends do not wish to act in a policing role in this situation. We believe that enough of our members have completed an application, or are proceeding with an application, to reduce the risk to children within the Park to absolutely minimal levels.

Anyone who comes to our field days in the coming months will be welcomed and respected regardless of whether they have performed a WWC check.

If you have any questions, concerns or need some assistance, please contact us.

2022 AGM

The 2022 AGM has been deferred slightly this year and will now take place at the usual time on Saturday 5th November 2022. It is hoped that it will take the usual format of an afternoon walk followed by a dinner, the AGM and a guest speaker.

Rainfall  May 2022:  71 mm. Total for year-to-date 2022: 434 mm.
In 2021 we had 298 mm up to the end of May.

The average annual rainfall for Chiltern is 689 mm.

NEXT MEETING – SATURDAY 2nd JULY 2022

There are two re-vegetation activities planned for next weekend. One group will head to the Rutherglen Natural Features Reserve and the other will head to the area behind Frogs Hollow off Barnawartha Road.

Bun will be provided as usual.

You will need: sturdy shoes, gloves, warm clothes, probably rain gear, water and maybe a snack.

It would help to have a digging tool (crowbar, shovel or mattock) and a chair.

Meet at the Chiltern Post Office at 09:00am

Upcoming field days:

Sunday 7th August 2022: Grasslands: Bush for Birds planting, 600 trees and shrubs. This will be a big effort, so all those who can come, can they please put this day aside.

Saturday 3rd September 2022: wildflower walks and a Wheel Cactus expedition.

Sunday 1st October 2022: wildflower walk, wildflower photography and a Wheel Cactus expedition.

Dates for 2022-23

 

For 2022: Saturday 2nd July, Sunday 7th August, Saturday 3rd September, Sunday 1st October, Saturday 5th November and Sunday 4th December.

For 2023: Sunday 5th February, Saturday 4th March, Sunday 2nd April, Saturday 6th May, Sunday 4th June, Saturday 1st July, Sunday 6th August, Saturday 2nd September, Sunday 8th October, Saturday 4th November and Sunday 3rd December 2023.

Rule of Thumb: For even months, the field day is held on the first Sunday of the month and for odd months, it is held on the first Saturday of the month.

Membership - It's time to renew

Membership will expire on June 30th 2022. Thank you to all who have taken out membership this year. We hope you will continue your support.  Friends have achieved a great deal during the past few years. Surveys for plants, birds and monitoring, maintaining and surveying mammal boxes, tree planting, weed control and provision of brochures, interpretive signage and park furniture are just some of our contributions. Your support for our activities is valued and your membership renewal is important to our cause.

Please ensure your contact details are current.

Please find enclosed my membership of $15 for 2022-23. The fee covers the whole family and includes 11 newsletters.

Name:.................................................................................................. Telephone:..........................................

Email:.................................................................................................. Receipt required: Yes / No

Address:…………………………………………………………………………………... Postcode: ……....

If you wish to use electronic payment the details are:

Acc Name: Friends of Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park

Bank: WAW Credit Union Co-operative Ltd (Cuscal Limited)

BSB number: 803070

Acc number: 81167

Please add your surname to the transaction.

Please advise treasurer, Tony (Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), when you have made the payment to help us keep track of payments.

 


Joomla template created with Artisteer.