Refresh and reinvigorate our community

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Our communities are doing it tough at the moment and, in the midst of a drought, it’s easy to lose sight of how great life in rural and regional areas can be. Watershed Landcare will be hosting three events in October to refresh and reinvigorate our community, share our stories and be inspired by people who are passionate about rural life.

We have invited Sophie Hansen, founder and creator of Local is Lovely and My Open Kitchen and 2016 National Rural Woman of the Year, to present two workshops. Join us for ‘Share your story on social media’ and ‘Create fabulous newsletters’ and learn how you can use social media and newsletters to share your message with the world and convert your customers into a community.

‘Share your story on social media’ will be held on Wednesday, 16 October from 1:30pm to 5pm at The Little Cooking School, Mudgee. Sophie will cover the basics of social media for small business; from setting your goals to figuring out what you are saying, who you are saying it to and what problems you are solving for them. Then we’ll move on to creating and sharing useful content and the rules of engagement! Bring along your props and products to take your own photos on the day.

The ‘Create fabulous newsletters’ workshop will be held on Thursday 17 October 2019 from 9:30am to 1pm at The Little Cooking School Mudgee. Sophie will cover why you need a newsletter (hint – placing all your content eggs in one social media basket which you don’t own or control at all is a bit scary when you think about it), how to set one up, how to build it and fill it with content that people will actually read and act on.

Numbers for both workshops are strictly limited. Tickets are $50 per workshop and include morning or afternoon tea. Tickets can be booked online, ‘Share your story on social media’ with Sophie Hansen: www.trybooking.com/BFQXG and ‘Create fabulous newsletters’ with Sophie Hansen: www.trybooking.com/BFQWU

We will also be hosting a Rural Refresh evening at Roth’s Wine Bar on Wednesday, 16 October where Sophie will be joined by Jillian Kilby, NSW Rural Woman of the Year winner and founder of The Exchange, an organisation to support business startups in rural communities based in Dubbo. This event is about refreshing us and reminding us how great it is to live in rural and regional areas. A Panel discussion, led by Jillian Kilby, will inspire us about the wonderful things that rural women are achieving.

Tickets are $20 and include an evening with Sophie and Jillian, canapes on arrival, 2 drink tokens and Roth’s wood fired pizzas later in the evening. Drinks will also be available for purchase from the bar. Tickets: www.trybooking.com/BFQUX

For more information or to RSVP contact Watershed Landcare Coordinator, Claudia Wythes, on 0412 011 064 or email: claudia.wythes@watershedlandcare.com.au.

These events are supported by Watershed Landcare through funding from Western NSW Primary Health Network.

Learn about local eucalypts and their defining features

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There are about 60 species of eucalypt in the Mid-Western Regional Council area. How many can you identify?

Eucalypts have a reputation for being difficult to identify. A ubiquitous feature in the higher rainfall regions of the country, the dominance of eucalypts lends a ‘sameness’ to our landscape. But once you look past the sameness, and start to notice the subtle differences in the eucalypt plant, you are well on the way to recognising some of the botanical characteristics vital in attempting the identification process.

The appearance of eucalyptus bark varies with the age of the plant. The bark can be smooth, rough, long and stringy or fibrous, it can completely cover the trunk and limbs or only the lower parts of the tree. The way the bark sheds can also provide clues; does it come off in large slabs, ribbons or small flakes?

Eucalypt leaves also change over a tree’s lifetime. The contrast between juvenile and adult leaf phases is a valuable feature in identification.

The reproductive parts of eucalypts provide distinctive features that aid in identification. The flowers, woody fruits or capsules, and the seeds themselves, vary in colour, size and shape and can be useful to distinguish between species.

Want to learn more about some of our local eucalypts and their defining features?

Watershed Landcare will be hosting a workshop on Eucalypt Identification on Friday, 27 September at the Cooyal Pub.

Join local ecologist, David Allworth, for a hands-on workshop to increase your eucalypt identification skills. David will take participants through the botanical characteristics to look for to allow successful identification, focusing on fruits, buds, leaf characteristics, including juvenile and mature leaves, and bark.

Using these key characteristics people will be introduced to a simple computer program that helps identify eucalypts of the Mudgee district. A nationwide identification computer program will also be available for people to try.

The Eucalypt ID workshop will be held at 6:30pm on Friday, 27 September at the Cooyal Pub. Admission is free, with dinner provided. All welcome but please register for catering purposes by Monday, 23 September to Agness Knapik, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0435 055 493 or by email:info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

This event is supported by Wateshed Landcare through funding from Landcare Australia and Michael King.

What Eucalypt is that?

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The distinctiveness of the Australian landscape results more from the extensive domination by eucalypts, and their close relatives, than from any other single factor.

There are about 60 species of eucalypt in the Mid-Western Regional Council LGA/Watershed Landcare area, many of which are economically important as timber, nectar for honey production and for shade and shelter within pastoral areas.

To some there is a superficial sameness or similarity about the eucalypts, but to those that spend a little time getting to know them, there are subtle differences that all add up to give each eucalypt a distinct character.

It is extremely difficult to identify a eucalypt without a combination of these subtle differences. However, once you know what to look for, identifying eucalypts, or ‘Gum Trees’ becomes a lot easier and becomes more so with practice.

Watershed Landcare will be hosting a workshop on Eucalypt Identification on Friday, 27 September at the Cooyal Pub.

We have invited local ecologist, David Allworth, to run a hands-on workshop to increase your eucalypt identification skills. David will highlight the basic features to look for to allow successful identification.

Local ecologist, David Allworth: Come along, meet other Watershed Landcare members and be introduced to some of the local eualypts.

The workshop will focus on the key characteristics of eucalypts, such as fruits, buds, leaf characteristics, including juvenile and mature leaves, and bark.

Using the above characteristics people will be introduced to a simple computer program that helps identify eucalypts of the Mudgee district. A nationwide identification computer program will also be available for people to try.

Come along, meet other Watershed Landcare members and be introduced to some of the local eualypts.

The Eucalypt ID workshop will be held at 6:30pm on Friday, 27 September at the Cooyal Pub. Admission is free, with dinner provided. All welcome but please register for catering purposes by Monday, 23 September to Agness Knapik, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0435 055 493 or by email:info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

This event is supported by Wateshed Landcare through funding from Landcare Australia and Michael King.

Birds, Bats and Biodiversity

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September is Biodiversity month, so what better time to celebrate Australia’s incredible biological diversity? A couple of events held in Mudgee this week did just that.

On Wednesday evening Watershed Landcare hosted ‘Birds in the Bar’ with Sean Dooley at Roth’s Wine Bar. Sean Dooley is an author and comedian who has had a life long love affair with birds. He is the author of The Big Twitch, current editor of Australian Birdlife magazine, and former holder of the Australian Big Year twitching record.

A self proclaimed ‘bird nerd’, Sean entertained the audience with tales of childhood birdwatching adventures, his twitching ‘Big Year’ championship where he travelled the length and breadth of Australia to count the most bird species in one year, and threw some bird facts in as well.

Sean’s passionate, often very funny, sometimes sobering, personal account also highlighted the plight of our feathered friends and the importance of safeguarding their habitat, food sources and breeding grounds.

Sean Dooley was also the keynote speaker at Green Day, held at Mudgee Showground on Thursday 5 September. Over 700 students and teachers from primary schools across our region attended the day of environmental education to learn about this year’s theme of ‘Birds, Bats and Biodiversity’.

Sean ‘the Bird Man’ Dooley entertained Mudgee audiences with his tales of birdwatching adventures.

The students gained an appreciation of the importance of protecting, conserving and improving biodiversity, both local and global, through fun, hands-on activities from 21 volunteer presenters and our keynote speaker, Sean Dooley. Presenters included Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Botanical Gardens and Centennial Parklands, Mid Western Regional Council, Birds in Backyards, National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Central West Councils Environment and Waterways Alliance, Red Hill Environmental Education Centre and many others.

Now in it’s 11th year, Green Day features activities and workshops to encourage our future farmers and managers of our environment to think about issues associated with soil, water, biodiversity, sustainability and climate, and how they can make changes to the way they live. Green Day is also an opportunity for students to learn about various organisations and businesses and their roles in environmental management.

Watershed Landcare would like to extend a huge thank you to all our presenters and volunteers for their assistance in making this such a successful event and to our sponsors, Yancoal (Moolarben), Peabody Energy (Wilpinjong), Midwestern Regional Council and Central Tablelands Local Land Services, without whose generous support this event would not be possible.