Migratory shorebirds are considered our most endangered group of birds. Described as ‘brown birds in a brown landscape’, they are notoriously difficult to identify and are adept at remaining hidden in their threatened habitats..
Tag: conservation
Discovering Strathbogie to invigorate the imagination
Once there was a time when more of us knew the language of wild places, when we could hear the songs of the wind, the language of birds, when we could follow the braille of tiny marsupials wending their paths, when our vision was wider, when we were immersed within the great conversation of the wild...
Magic amidst a multitude of stems
Victoria’s box-ironbark forests are magic. Whatever time of year you visit, their beauty is evident. The rugged, gnarled trunks of the ironbarks stand black as if they’ve clung to their night-time colour scheme despite the breaking of day...
The farmer’s friend: a friend in need
The paddocks near my place in Porcupine Ridge are busy with visitors. Almost a hundred Straw-necked Ibis may be seen there each day, first on one paddock then in the other; busy probing the soil with long bills and stalking through the grass tussocks...
Forging community connections: the benefits of Landcare for people and nature
The positive impact Landcare groups have on the environment is well known (and can be easily measured by things like total number of trees planted). But Landcare’s contribution to a community’s social fabric has remarkably less awareness...
Nursing a Green Thumb: The Restorative Powers of People and Plants
It soon became apparent to me that, in the most beautiful sense of irony, the nursery was in fact nursing people and not just plants. The enthusiastic and energised atmosphere coupled with the therapeutic act of gardening was providing feelings of wellbeing that lingered well into the week, permeating each person’s daily life...
Life on the Merri
The Merri Creek meanders through Melbourne’s north, running from out past Craigieburn through to Dights Falls in Abbotsford where it joins the Yarra. It’s a wildlife hotspot for Melbourne, running through some of the last remnant native grasslands in Melbourne and providing habitat for platypus, echidnas, endangered frogs, and all manner of birds and other critters....
Getting to know Gariwerd
Back in 2006, a major wildfire burned approximately 85,000 hectares of the Grampians National Park. Lightning sparked the blaze and a burning question – how will the system respond to this large, high intensity fire?...
To bee or not to bee: a guide to our native pollinators
The thought of a bee with a blue bum may be a bit surprising. Bees are yellow, right? Actually, the iconic Honey Bee only became part of the Australian landscape as recently as 190 years ago.