Resources
Plant of the Month: I heard it through the grapevine
To my mind, there’s three kinds of people who read “The Scoop”. There’s those who would have read the title of this month’s Plant of the Month and immediately thought of the late, great Marvin Gaye, there’s those who would have thought of the original version by... read more
Birds of Prey Guides
Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc. have a suite of resources to educate the community about birds of prey. They aim to have a positive impact on raptor rehabilitation in Australia by improving the techniques employed by wildlife carers, boosting successful... read more
Vine, vine, everywhere a vine
“Climbing over the scenery, breaking my mind…”. Having had a haircut a couple of weeks ago I don’t currently fit the category of “long haired freaky people” (or person) but I am reasonably good at reading the vines. Ok Paul, cut it with the random 70’s musical... read more
Bat Society Grants
The Paddy Pallin Foundation provides annual Australasian Bat Society (ABS) Grants of up to $3000 to support ABS members to provide research that promotes the conservation and knowledge of bats in Australasia. There will be two grants on offer, with an application... read more
Terry and the Garden Escapees
Have you heard of Terry Inkson? Terry is a bit of a local celebrity in the weeds world, being a passionate advocate for the environment through his knowledge, experience and expertise on weed identification and treatment. With over 40 years in the horticultural... read more
No worries with Weeds!
Not sure what the name of that weed is? No worries! Did you know that the Weedwise website has the option to Search by Plant Characteristics where a series of drop down boxes allow you to select options regarding what the plant looks like. For example: Plant type:... read more
Plant of the Month – By Gum, That’s It!
Finally, the column you’ve all been waiting for, the last of the Eucalypt keys. Now all I have to do is put them all together, rewrite them so it’s all a fairly standard format and get more photos. Sigh! Obviously I’ll have made a few errors and things may not be... read more
IFAW Wildlife Rescue App
If you have found a sick, injured or displaced animal, this app connects you with the closest licensed wildlife rescue group at the touch of a button. It also helps identify roadkill hotspots to inform preventative measures. This free app is available nationally in... read more
Stringybarks, Part 2. The madness continues!
So, did you manage to survive the last Plant of the Month? Slightly more manageable this time, still working on the full barks but the adult leaves are discolorous, that is, they’re different colours, or at least distinctly different shades, on each side. Eucalyptus... read more
It’s here, finally! Keys to the Stringybarks (Part 1)
Ok, first off I apologise for how long this has taken, if I’d known just how epic an undertaking developing a key to the Region’s stringybarks was I’d never have attempted it, and secondly apologies for the lack of pics, that will be an even more epic task getting... read more
Plant of the Month: Bolwarra
Plant of the Month: Not Just a Suburb in Maitland We’ve previously discussed plants named after locations but there’s also plenty of locations named after plants, there’s Geebung in Bris-Vegas, Glossodia in Sydney, Bungwahl up on Myall Lake and locally we have... read more
Birdlife Australia Volunteer Programs
“Regent Honeyeater 2” by Mark Gillow is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Landcarers with an interest in birds may be interested in the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) Guardians project. For this citizen science project volunteers carry out health checks of key areas... read more
Plant of the Month: Call me Ishmael
“Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off... read more
Plant of the Month: Not those blueberries?!
For those of you waiting for the thrilling conclusion of the key to the Eucalypts of the Hunter Region you’ll just have to wait a little longer as I wade through the stringybarks, but I’ll get there, eventually, probably. You may have seen some stories on the Hunter... read more
Plant of the Month: The Littlest Aliens!
There are times I, and many others, question my sanity, deciding to write up a key to the Eucalypts of the Hunter has been one of those times. It was all going well till I got to the Stringybarks and Mahoganies. I’ve been wading my way through it for the past couple... read more
Mistletoe Resources and Further Reading
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Mistletoe Propagation Manual
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South-eastern Glossy Black-Cockatoo Field Guide
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Plant of the Month: Red Gums
Last month we looked at the Grey Gums and Blue Gums, this month we’re on to the Red Gums, the defining characteristics for the Red Gums is smooth bark, gumnuts (fruits) with raised discs and exserted valves and the leaves same colour on both sides (concolorous). The... read more
Help Track Bogong Moths
Bogong Moth image with key identifiers. Image credit: Zoos Victoria – Moth Tracker – The Royal Society of Victoria (rsv.org.au) The skies were filled with insects a few weeks ago in many parts of the Hunter region. HRLN uploaded a photo of one of 100s of... read more
Plant of the Month: All the colours of the rainbow!
Well, not really, that’s reserved for the Rainbow Gum (Eucalyptus deglupta) which is a native of the Philippines but we are getting into the “coloured” gums, Blues, Browns, Greys and Reds. So, we’re on the smooth barked, valves “exserted” (sticking out) from the... read more
The Wanderer Butterfly
Danaus plexippus plexippus Also known as Red Wanderer or Monarch Butterfly This well-known red/orange with black markings butterfly was first observed in Australia in Sydney in 1858. Prior to that it was well known in North America where it bred up in huge numbers... read more
Plant of the Month: By Gum, that’s it!
While it’s common to refer to all Eucalypts as Gum Trees when it comes to identification “Gum Trees” generally refer to Eucalypts and closely related (Angophora and Corymbia) with more or less smooth bark on their trunks and branches. Within the “gums” there’s a lot... read more
New Resource: Koala Smart Website
Exciting News! Koala Smart is thrilled to announce the launch of their brand-new website! Koala Smart is an educational program designed for Primary and Secondary schools. The website equips teachers with classroom-ready resources like Lesson Plans and Worksheets to... read more
Plant of the Month: What’s in the Box?
This month I’m back to our rather slow series of keys to the Eucalypts of the Hunter. if you’ve missed (or forgotten) I’ve previously done keys to Ironbarks, Scribbly Gums, Mallees, Bloodwoods (Corymbia) and the Apples (Angophora). This month we’re looking at the... read more
Plant of the Month: Not a Murder Chicken!
Despite being named for their leaves resemblance to the feathers of the Cassowary Casuarinas are unlikely to attempt to disembowel you should you startle one while out bushwalking, unlikely, but no guarantees. While they may look like pine trees, Casuarinas (and... read more
What’s in a Name? Critter Time
So far we’ve looked mostly at plant names and what they mean but as an equal opportunities columnist I figured I’d better do something for the critter lovers amongst us and translate a few animal names Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus Tachy – fast, -glossus... read more
Plant of the Month – Grains
Sigh, I was wr….. Not exactly right…. You know how you’ve been telling people stuff for almost 30 years and no one’s ever corrected you and finally you get around to trying it and…… Grains have been quite a common food item across many cultures, high in carbohydrates... read more
News from Dungog Common Landcare
Dungog Common Landcarers were able to capture a very rare sight while out on the common this month- not only the Cynanchum elegans (White-flowered Wax Plant- Endangered under the EPBC Act) in flower, but wait…. also the caterpillar of the moth that lays her eggs on... read more
Bird of the Month: Eastern Koel
The Eastern Koel- previously called the Common Koel is not so common in its rearing behaviour. It’s called brood parasitism and I personally find it fascinating. This photo was taken recently of a fledgling koel squawking for food from the little wattlebird surrogate mother.
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Plant of the Month: Lotions and Potions!
I generally keep away from the medicinal uses of native plants as there’s a lot of cultural significance and sometimes ceremony attached to the use and preparation of them, but there are a few I refer to as “first aid plants” which I find are quite useful to have a... read more
What’s in a Name? Where am I?
Plant names can often refer to the location where the plant grows or was first found, given that many plants were traded well before they were ascribed scientific names it can get a little confusing.
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Ask a Plant Nerd: Grass
Grasses and lots of other plants can tell us a lot about soil type, fertility, moisture, land use, fire history, salinity and so on, it’s not an exact science but knowing plants and some of their ecological requirements helps us to understand our sites better and to better manage them.
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Plant of the Month: Arr, me scurvy dogs!
Ok, so it’s a little early for International Talk Like a Pirate Day but one issue for pirates, other seafarers and more than a few landlubbers was the disease of scurvy brought about by lack of Vitamin C in the diet, this was a big issue in the Royal Navy till young Jimmy Cook had lemons, limes and sauerkraut as mandatory dietary items for his underlings as they bobbed about the world’s oceans (“no dessert for you till you’ve sucked on a lemon”).
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What’s in a Name? In the lap of the Gods.
One of the more common practices in botany and zoology is to name a species after a Greek or Latin god or figure of legend, here’s a few of them.
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NSW DPE Koala Survey
The NSW DPE would like to invite Landcare community members to participate in the first field-based, statewide koala baseline survey in NSW.
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Growing Together: A Flourishing Month for Landcare Plant Distribution!
In the heart of Muswellbrook, our Landcare nursery has been buzzing with activity this month as we proudly distributed a whopping 1150 plants to eager Landcarers. The green thumb community is thriving, and the total number of tubestock plants shared among Landcarers... read more
A Koala Tree Effort
Deloitte Ltd has recently donated a few thousand trees to Aussie Ark and Hunter Region Landcare Network. The trees donated to Aussie Ark will be used to enhance the mid story areas in their enclosures providing habitat for the smaller critters Aussie Ark is breeding,... read more
Plant of the Month: Looking for some hot stuff…
If you’re a late Boomer or early Gen Xer you’ve probably now got this earworm going (Millenials and Gen Y or Z should watch as well to see what cool music really is), this month we’re looking at some native herbs and spices (some of which have been used in our current... read more
The Marvels of Australian Mistletoe: Busting Common Myths
Australian mistletoe plays a crucial role in supporting biodiversity, punching above its weight in ecological significance
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Plant of the Month: Would you like a cuppa?
When you’re out of tea (or coffee) you’ll pretty much use anything and that must have led to some interesting experimentation by the first colonists, I’m guessing many were tried with some very interesting results before settling on some more or less acceptable “tea” making species.
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Donkey Orchids at Greta Central Park
HRLN held its first working bee with volunteers at Greta Central Park this month. Greta Central; during the session, we discovered a beautiful patch of donkey orchids, Diuris punctata.
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Plant of the Month: Ouch, Spiky!
One of my favourite groups of plants are the Epacrids (recently lumped in with the Ericaceae), small shrubby plants with small spiky leaves, parallel venation and tubular flowers with five petals, these can be roughly divided into dry fruit and fleshy fruit with the fleshy fruited ones usually being pretty tasty.
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Cane Toad season is fast approaching, and we are on the lookout.
Think you have seen a cane toad? They can be easily mistaken for large native frogs.
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Plant of the Month: In the Grip of the Grape
You may not know it but Australia has quite a few native members of the grape family (Vitaceae). We’re all familiar with Vitis vinifera (and other table and wine grapes) but less well known is that Australia is home to around 30 members of the Vitaceae family, occurring in all mainland states except South Australia (though I think they make up for it with production of Vitis vinifera).
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Plant of the Month: Fruits of the Forest
Another vegetation type which is high in numbers of edible plants are the rainforests, we’ve previously talked about the Magenta Lily Pilly (Szyzigium paniculatum) and Sandpaper Fig (Ficus coronata) Plum Pine, (Podocarpus elatus) (Gurra-warra – Kattang) Also... read more
Flyways: The Story of Migratory Shorebirds on ABC iView
Flyways: The Story of Migratory Shorebirds on ABC iView Flyways tells the story of the world’s most incredible athletes – shorebirds – and documents the pressures placed on these birds by climate change and ever-expanding human development. Watch the... read more
Plant of the Month: Vegetable Chicken
Where there’s water there’s food, this also applies with salt water, saltmarshes generally having a few edible species either in them or nearby, generally growing in salt water are the halophytes, these plants suck up salt water and retain the salt in their leaves.... read more
Shorebird Feature: Winter Shorebird Count
Mid-May to mid-August is the Australian Winter Shorebird Count, with optimal sightings predicted for July 1st. Shorebird Guardians, twitchers and interested citizen scientists are encouraged to submit their surveys any time within that period, via the Birdata app or... read more
Woodland Bird Feature: Regent Honeyeaters Update
With the final Regent Honeyeaters that were being monitored as part of the 2022 captive release seemingly leaving the vicinity of the Tomalpin Woodlands, the hunt is now on to find where they have gone – and – where other Regent Honeyeaters are! Right now, as you’re... read more
World Migratory Bird Day
Saturday, May 13 is the first of two World Migratory Bird Days in 2023. These annual celebrations fall on the 2nd Saturday of May and October to mark the departure and return of migratory bird species, as they journey to their breeding grounds and back. World... read more
Plant of the Month: “You can eat it, but it tastes like…”
Following on from our recent Bush Foods day at Blandford I’m taking a break from trying to identify Eucalypts and looking at some of our local bushfoods. Within the Hunter there would be well over 200* species of native plant which are or have been recorded as edible,... read more
Woodland Bird Feature: Honeyeater Migration
Australia has the most complex array of bird movement and dispersal in the world. It is still poorly understood. Whilst other terrestrial continents have very clearly defined seasons with large-scale migrations of birds to go with those extremes of winter and summer,... read more
Plant of the Month: Lomandra longifolia
Member of Wollombi Landcare, Andrea Lang has written a short and entertaining article about how to gather and grow this creek-side helper, so please enjoy the article and get your Lomandra on! Lomandra is the backbone of many a revegetation project because of its... read more
Plant of the Month: Ironbarks
It was the man from Ironbark who struck the Sydney town, He wandered over street and park, he wandered up and down. He loitered here, he loitered there, till he was like to drop, Until at last in sheer despair he sought a barber’s shop. “‘Ere! shave... read more
The Woodland Plant Helping Regent Honeyeaters from then Brink of Extinction
With less than 300 birds left in the wild, the Regent Honeyeater is a bird in dire need of help. These stunning birds will travel vast distances in search of food sources that provide high yields of nectar. Spotted Gum, Broad-leaved Ironbark, and Swamp Mahogany are... read more
Shorebird Feature: Bar-tailed Godwit
Last month, migratory shorebirds made global news headlines for setting a new World Record for the longest continuous migratory flight. Previously held by another Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica subsp. baueri), the juvenile flew for 13 560km over the Pacific... read more