Working on our Muckleford survey

Work is still underway on our recent Muckleford survey up in the Maldon Historic Reserve. Here is a PDF of the powerpoint images I put together to present at the last LEAF meeting (LEAF is a local network on Living with Fire and Ecology). I was keen to share what we had done with this network.

Valuing Muckleford Forest

And a great article about Tuans in the Midland Express – that’s our forest! Remember how few hollows there are above ground level too so many of these creatures will be using ground and stump hollows.

Tuan article Midland Express 28 may 2013.

Photos points – monitoring change

Yesterday two of us went out to see if we could establish some photo points to monitor recovery after the 2011 ‘burn’ that DSE ‘prescribed’ for a large areas of the Muckleford forest.

In the crazy few weeks between seeing the signs posted on trees in the forest, learning about the zones and putting in submissions, taking photos was not a priority. As the burns proceeded several of us started taking images of ash, burning stumps, tree falls, and then a little later of resprouting eucalypts.

So, the question was, could we go out again, 18 months later and re-find where those photos were taken, with the aim of establishing some photo points that we could monitor over the next few years? The result? So far so good – we refound and rephotographed a number of the post-burn photo points and took new images, marked the point and took a GPS reading. Next time we’ll try and relocate some places where the images were taken from before the burn too.

Here is one of the new images – a 360 degree compilation created by Janet Barker (with me taking notes). More soon!

Nature Search day success

It was a beautiful day – sun shining, birds calling and a gathering of people keen to learn about and document the qualities of this lovely patch of forest. At the Gowar School ruin, set amongst a patch of tall Yellow Gums, the bird life was really rich. Out with the binoculars!

A large Yellow Box from survey area 3

We decided to try out two techniques:

1 – Habitat hectare assessment using a simplified technique (the ‘half monty’ technique).
In a group of 4 or 5 we did a ‘line survey’ across a hectare of forest, recording large trees, canopy cover, understorey species and recruitment, weediness, organic litter, and amount of large logs. We surveyed three different sites: one near the school ruin along the mined gully area, one mid-slope, and the last on a ridge. What we observed and recorded was then compared to the 3 Ecological Vegetation Class ‘bioregion benchmarks’.

Key observations in all three areas were:

• the lack of large trees – and therefore tree hollows
• the available hollows were predominantly in dead stumps and the bases of living (often coppiced) trees
• limited amount of logs lying on the forest floor – again an important measure for habitat
• two areas had a high number of understorey species
• there were few weeds, even in the mined areas.

We heard that a recent survey for Tuans (Brush-tailed Phascogale) across these forests had revealed a significant population, suggesting that they are using ground-based hollows. And we realised that our assessment of weediness was probably limited – it’s autumn and it has been very dry. There also seemed to be limited recruitment of local species – again possibly linked to seasonal conditions.

2 – Bird survey
We started off using the 2ha – 20 minute search technique (recommended by BirdLife Australia) for the bird surveys. This method seeks to record species of birds and their abundance in a 2 ha area over a 20 min survey period. We used a rectangle 100 metres wide and 200 metres long for the survey. The low numbers of birds forced us to modify the method and we extended both the area and search time in order to detect as many species as possible. We’ll have a think about future methods as to what might be most suitable to document natural values (from a bird perspective) across these areas.
Key observations were:

•  Both species diversity and numbers were highest in gully areas with higher densities of large trees – no real surprise there.
•  Ridges and more elevated areas were poor in terms of numbers and diversity although we did get some interesting species in these areas including Scarlet Robin and White-eared Honeyeater.
• The gully area to the east of Gowar Track produced a nice list including Brown, Buff-rumped and Yellow Thornbills, Red Wattlebird, White-eared and Fuscous Honeyeaters, Scarlet and Flame Robins, Varied Sitella, Grey Shrike-thrush, Grey Fantail, Dusky Woodswallow, White-throated and Brown Treecreepers, Crimson Rosella, Whistling Kite and the highlight a Speckled Warbler.

All in all it was a great chance to try out these recording techniques, testing out how to work together as a team of volunteers with a range of knowledge and skills. It was a great chance to learn more about this forest, and everyone enjoyed the experience.  Next we’ll assemble and map the data, and work out the best approach for our next Nature Search Day.

Thanks to everyone: Geoff, Carol, Peter, Amelia, Chris, Daryl, Terri, Neville, Kate, Pat, Tom and Reuben. And extra thanks to those who brought equipment and lead us in our recording tasks.

Nature Search – Don’t forget!

Tomorrow – Sunday 14/4 – is our day to record some of the natural values up in the Maldon Historic Reserve.

Please come – we’ll start at 9 at the Gowar School ruin, lunch 12-1 and then afternoon 1-4. Come for half the day or all day.

Dress for the weather and bring your own food and water. And PLEASE let us know you are coming – mucklefordffg@bigpond.com

See you there!

Sunday 14 April – Nature Search Day Maldon Historic Reserve 9am – 4pm

Come along and help map some key natural values in a section of the forest proposed for a ‘prescribed burn’ in autumn 2014. By getting to know the forest and documenting its values, we can really engage with DSE as they plan the burns, helping make sure the most valuable areas are not damaged.

A grassy, box forest with many mining relics

We’ll look at an area of around 180 hectares in the Maldon Historic Area just north of the Gowar School: it’s on the Castlemaine-Maldon Road. See the map on page 3 of the Park Note at the end of this posting.

You don’t need to be an expert – although experts are very welcome – and everyone will get a chance to try at least two of different recording methods.

You can come for the whole day – or just the morning or the afternoon. The morning recording session will be 9am to 12 noon, lunch 12 to 1 and afternoon recording 1-4pm. We will meet at the Gowar School ruin at 9am, or at lunch time if you are just coming for the afternoon. Dress for the weather and bring your own food and water. And PLEASE let us know you are coming, and if you have field recording skills or equipment you can bring – email mucklefordffg@bigpond.com

Our plan is to record:

•  Big Trees – we’ll photograph, measure and GPS big trees – including coppiced trees with big hollows in their base – such hollows are often the only hollows available for a rang of animals, but are very vulnerable to ‘burn out’ during prescribed burns
• Birds – we’ll record birds we see and hear under the guidance of Geoff Park
• Understorey – we’ll do a series of transects and sample the amount and diversity of understory plants to get a sense of vegetation quality
• Fuel load – we’ll use the DSE method to sample and record the amount and form of fuel

We’ll be testing approaches that we hope can then be applied to other parts of the Muckleford Forest – and to other forest areas as well. If you have ideas for other documentation that could be done on the day, please let us know by email.

Brought to you by the informal Muckleford Forest Friends Group.

Stop press!

To give us more time to prepare and to let everyone enjoy the Castlemaine State Festival and all its many off-shoots – we’ve postoned the Muckleford Forest Friends Group nature survey to Sunday 14 April.

Keen to know if you are interested and might be able to come.

Please let us know by emailing mucklefordffg@bigpond.com or watch this space!

And have a look at many a mickle makes a muckle posting for more about this idea

Many a mickle makes a muckle …

Put Sunday 24 March in your diary and come out into the forest and join in our first Muckleford Forest Friends Group nature survey. Our aim is to map out some key natural values in a section of the forest proposed for a ‘prescribed burn’ in autumn 2014. By getting to know the forest and documenting its values, we can really engage with DSE as they plan the burns, halping make sure the most valuable areas are not damaged.

The plan is to look at an area of around 100 hectares in the Maldon Historic Area just north of the Gowar School, and we are keen to get about 6-12 people along. It will be fun and you don’t need to be an expert to join in!

Many a mickle makes a muckle is supposed to mean that many small things together make something big … a perfect match for what we are proposing! (Though there are disputes about this meaning).

More information soon! Interested – let us know by emailing mucklefordffg@bigpond.com or watch this space!

Everlastings