Keep an eye out for swarms

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The bees have been busy this spring, with a large number of swarms appearing across our district they have also been keeping members of the Mudgee Bee Group busy.

“Mudgee has been the hot spot this spring; the Mudgee Bee Group has collected at least 8 swarms around town, as well as a couple at Gulgong.” said Mudgee Bee Group swarm co-ordinator, Sandi Munro.

“The public have alerted us to several swarms, via our Facebook page and through the Amateur Beekeepers Association swarm collectors list.” she continued.

The Mudgee Bee Group removing a large swarm from a grapefruit tree in Gulgong.

Swarming is the way bees increase their population. Swarms can be spectacular when you see them flying over and settling to rest somewhere. Usually bees are at their calmest when swarming, but not always!

“Swarms are exciting to see, and usually easy to remove, from a branch or letter box, but if they move into your chimney or eaves of the house, they are a lot more difficult to remove, so let us know as soon as you spot them, the sooner the better!” said Ms Munro.

Mudgee Bee Group have a swarm co-ordinator that can assist with information or removal of a swarm, contact Sandi Munro on 0487 898 404.

Spring is when the bees do their most important work; pollinating trees, crops and flowers and, of course, making honey!

To help the bees this spring there are a few things you can do.

Bees use up to 5 litres of water a day per hive during hot weather to quench their thirst, and to keep the hive at a constant temperature for the brood to be healthy. In dry times you can help by putting water out for them. Bees can’t swim, so add some sticks, pebbles or corks to the bird bath to help them get out if they fall in.

Don’t use chemical sprays, especially on blooms. Spraying blooming flowers, trees, shrubs and lawns can kill bees! Even some deemed safe for humans are detrimental to bees. Even ‘safe’ sprays leave a residue that is picked up by bees in both nectar and pollen and can then end up in your honey.

Plant a bee garden – bees need food and most flowering plants give some benefit to bees by way of pollen and nectar. Borage, lavender and rosemary are easy to grow and very popular with bees. Annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs can all be planted to benefit bees.

If you would like to learn more about bees, come along to a Mudgee Bee Group meeting or find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Mudgeebeegroup). For more information contact Claudia Wythes, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0412 011 064 or claudiawythes@watershedlandcare.com.au.

The Mudgee Bee Group is supported by Watershed Landcare and the Amateur Beekeepers Association and is a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW.

Keep rain on your farm for longer

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Australian is a land of climatic extremes. Farmers and land managers contend with cycles of flood and drought punctuated by the odd ‘good’ year. While we rarely complain about there being too much water, we do spend a lot of time wishing for rain.

But what if you could capture that water and keep it in the landscape, and on your farm, for longer?

Watershed Landcare will be hosting a Rehydrating the Landscape workshop in November.

The workshop will be presented by Dan and Nicki Power who have constructed a system of dams and swales on their farm to rehydrate the landscape, and regenerate degraded soils and create an edible landscape at the same time.

Dan and Nicki will discuss what our farms would look like if they were rehydrated, what influence we have as land managers in the amount of water that stays on our farm, and what interventions we can make, from small to large, to increase our influence.

They will cover the principles of rehydrating the landscape as well as showing examples of successful rehydration interventions.

Sign of things to come: Construction of a dam which, together with a system of swales, will rehydrate the landscape.

We will also go for a walk around the farm to see what’s been achieved, the particular issues faced and discuss the next steps. Adon Bender, the farm rehydration adviser, and Mark Anderson, the dam builder, will also be on hand to provide explanations and answer questions.

The workshop will be held on on Saturday, 4 November from 9am to 4pm at Hazelcombe Farm, Totnes Valley (40 mins from Mudgee). Attendance is free for Watershed Landcare members and $10 for non-members. Please wear work clothes and covered footwear and bring hats, sunscreen and drinking water.

For further information or to RSVP contact Agness Knapik, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0435 055 493 or by email: info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

This event is supported by Watershed Landcare and is a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW.

Honing your bird ID skills

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Can you pick a Brown Treecreeper from a Whitethroated Treecreeper? Do you know what a Spotted Pardalote’s call sounds like? Want to know clues to finding the rare Regent Honeyeater?

Ever wanted to record what birds are in your area? Come and join a workshop on woodland bird identification and survey methods!

Central Tablelands LLS have invited BirdLife Australia’s Woodland Birds for Biodiversity project coordinator, Mick Roderick, to run a fun workshop focusing on many facets of woodland bird identification and monitoring in Mudgee on Tuesday 3 October.

“The diversity of birds within Woodland areas is an excellent indication of that remnant’s health. To be able to pick different species using sight and sound is a valuable skill for any land manager.” said Bruce Christie, Central Tablelands LLS Senior Land Services Officer.

“Mick Roderick from Birdlife is a valuable source of information and we are very lucky to have him available for this day.” he continued.

Topics covered on the day will include: temperate woodlands and why the birds that rely on them are so threatened; woodland bird identification basics; importance of call recognition; separating similar species by sight and sound; performing bird surveys for woodland birds; recording birds using an online portal or using an app on your phone; and targeting rare birds such as Regent Honeyeaters.

“The day will be a combination of presentations and a visit to a local site to develop our bird watching skills and practice some of the topics covered in the talk.” said Mr Christie.

“We will also record a bird survey in real-time on a smartphone using the BirdLife Australia Birdata app.” he continued.

It’s recommended that participants download the Birdata app prior to attending the workshop: http://birdata.birdlife.org.au/

Hooded Robin. Photo credit: Huw Evans

The workshop will be held on Tuesday 3 October from 8 to 11:30am at the Australian Rural Education Centre (AREC).

Tea/coffee will be available on arrival and morning tea will be provided. Please bring binoculars, notebook and pen, sunscreen, warm clothes, hat, enclosed walking shoes, drinking water and a bird field guide if you have one.

The workshop is free to attend but numbers are strictly limited, please register by Monday 25 September. For further details or to register contact Bruce Christie on 6378 1712 or by email: bruce.j.christie@lls.nsw.gov.au.

Environmental expo a success

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The biggest event on Watershed Landcare’s calendar is over for another year.

The Green Day environmental expo for year 5 and 6 students from schools across our region was held at Mudgee Showground last Thursday.

“Everything ran very smoothly, which is no mean feat with coordinating nearly 600 kids from 13 schools and 20 workshops and presenters.” said Watershed Landcare Chairman, Craig Dennis.

The theme of this year’s Green Day was GoMAD – go make a difference – and the event coincided with Threatened Species Day and Outdoor Education Day.

“The students got plenty of fresh air and learned about biodiversity and what they can do in their home and school environments to help protect our native plants and animals.” said Mr Dennis.

Other workshops focused on the themes of reducing waste, water and energy consumption with presenters from Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Mid-Western Regional Council, Red Hill Environmental Education Centre, NetWaste, Niche Environment and Heritage, Barnson Pty Ltd, Royal Agricultural Society, Crave Natural and Rosby Sculptures in the Garden.

Students making horse sculptures at Green Day which will be exhibited at Rosby’s Sculptures in the Garden in October.

“The students were encouraged to take away lessons learned on the day by making pledges of what they can do at home or school to improve the environment and live more sustainably and to share the message with their friends and families.” said Mr Dennis.

Our keynote speaker, Ruben Meerman, delighted students and teachers alike with his spectacular science demonstrations. With the aid of liquid nitrogen, lasers and ordinary household items like food colouring and balloons, Ruben demonstrated simple scientific concepts like evaporation and condensation which helped to illustrate more complex ideas like water circulation in the atmosphere and how it affects climate.

“Green Day would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors, because of them it continues to be a fully subsidised event and it means every child can attend.” said Mr Dennis.

“We would also like to thank all our volunteers for their hard work behind the scenes to make the event such a success; Mudgee High School students who acted as guides, the Peabody crew who prepared the kids lunches, our members and, last but not least, Viv Howard our Green Day Coordinator for bringing it all together.” he continued.

Watershed Landcare would like to acknowledge the support of Mid-Western Regional Council, Office of Environment and Heritage, Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Peabody Energy, Moolarben Coal, Red Hill Environmental Education Centre and Niche Environment and Heritage.

This event is supported by Watershed Landcare and is a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW.

The economics of street trees

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We all know that trees improve air and water quality, capture and store carbon, provide shade, increase biodiversity, reduce winter temperature variances, reduce average heat wave temperatures and help to minimise stormwater damage.

But scientists and economists are just beginning to appreciate the multiple benefits and economic value that street trees provide in urban environments.

The value returned through improved amenity, reduced electricity consumption, infrastructure durability improvements due to greater shading, ecosystem services, increased property values, reduced heat stress affecting the community, impacts on health (especially cardiovascular health and obesity as tree lined streets encourage an outdoor lifestyle) is starting to be quantified and included in urban planning decisions.

An increase in canopy cover from 20% to 28% reduces air temperature by 4ºC and road and pavement temperatures by up to 14ºC in heat waves.

All these benefits and the value returned increase with increasing canopy cover. This means that when mature, trees have crowns large enough to interact with each other.

So what works best? The bigger the tree the better. A mix of deciduous and evergreen species is best and the more trees the better – regularly and tightly spaced along the street.

A recent report produced by infrastructure firm AECOM, Green Infrastructure, aimed to quantify the financial, social and environmental value of street trees in the Australian context.

The report recognised that while residents benefit most from the advantages provided by street trees, most of the costs and risks are borne by local governments and utility companies. Even with that taken into account, the report found that the net benefits significantly outweigh the underlying costs and a lot of these challenges can be overcome by selecting appropriate species, strategic planting and planning for ‘green infrastructure’ when designing new developments.

And we’re voting with our money – AECOM found that home buyers are prepared to pay a premium to live in green, leafy streets. Across 3 suburbs in the Greater Sydney area analysed for the report, buyers were prepared to pay an average of $50k more for a 10% increase in canopy cover in the street.

So whether we do it consciously or not we are certainly recognising that trees make our urban environments more livable.

Did you know that Mid-Western Council have a Street Tree Planting Policy and Council will supply and plant 2 street trees per urban block with a standard sized frontage? Just drop in to Council and submit a works request or contact Jenny Neely for more information on 6378 2745.

Get involved in Landcare

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September 4-10 marks Landcare Week. Landcare Week is an annual celebration encouraging everyone, wherever they live and whatever they do, to get involved in the Landcare community and help protect and restore our country’s valuable natural resources.

Landcare became a national initiative in 1989 and has since grown into the largest environmental and land management movement in the country.

The Landcare movement has come a long way since it’s inception. From it’s humble beginnings in the 1980s as a loose collaboration between farmers and environmentalists to plant trees, it now boasts over 5,000 coastcare, bushcare and other landcare groups, all dedicated to managing environmental issues in local communities across Australia from coast to country.

Watershed Landcare is no exception. The group has been active in our region for 21 years, working with the community to encourage positive change and progress from a people, prosperity and environmental point of view.

Watershed Landcare Inc.

Our area covers approximately 900,000 ha (9000 km²) stretching to Gulgong in the north, Burrendong Dam in the west, the Turon River in the south and the Wollemi National Park in the east. Members include established landholders, town and village residents, land managers, people with country retreats and local businesses.

Landcare is a grassroots movement and we work together with our community to support an integrated, productive and sustainable approach to land management. Our activities, field days, workshops, seminars and projects focus on topics of importance to our members.

The Watershed Landcare Management Committee recently met with representatives from Mid-Western Regional Council, Central Tablelands Local Land Services and members of our community to plan it’s strategy for the next 12-18 months. The day was very successful with many great ideas flowing.

Raising awareness of issues relevant to our local environment and supporting people to create change through capacity building and sharing of knowledge and skills remain important core values to the organisation.

Watershed Landcare’s priorities will continue to focus on projects and activities that address sustainable agriculture, improving land and water management and, protecting threatened and vulnerable species and communities.

Engaging our urban community and waste management were also identified as important, new areas of attention.

Do you have a great idea for an event or project we could run, want to get involved or want to find out more about what we do?

Visit our website, www.watershedlandcare.com.au, or contact one of our Coordinators, Claudia Wythes on 0412 011 064 or Agness Knapik on 0435 055 493 or email: info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

Watershed makes waves

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Watershed Landcare is very pleased to announce that we have confirmed our keynote speaker for our 9th annual Green Day event.

We have been fortunate to secure the services of Ruben Meerman, a.k.a the Surfing Scientist!

Ruben is a passionate science educator, who travels extensively throughout Australia running exciting and engaging science sessions for primary and high school students. He has featured on popular television shows including Catalyst, Sleek Geeks, Studio 3, Sunrise, Roller Coaster, and was the first ever resident scientist on Playschool. He recently authored Big Fat Myths, which explores common myths around weight loss and dieting.

Ruben will run three, one hour sessions focusing on our key themes of water, waste, biodiversity and energy, and focus particularly on the science behind the problems and solutions for key environmental challenges, including plastic pollution.

The theme of this year’s event is GoMAD, an acronym for Go Make A Difference. In addition to our keynote speaker, we will have 20 workshop sessions being delivered by a number of local businesses and organisations.

Green Day would not be possible without the support of Mid-Western Regional Council, Office of Environment and Heritage, Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Peabody Energy, Red Hill Environmental Education Centre and Niche Environment and Heritage.

These important sponsors and supporters mean that Watershed is able to plan and execute Green Day with no costs to schools and students. All aspects of the day including transport and lunch are provided.

We need you? We still need a couple more volunteers for the day. Roles might include assisting with the Sculptures in the Garden Waste to Art activity, tracking the time of different sessions or setting up or packing down before or after the event.

If you’re available to help on Thursday 7 September, or would like any additional information, please contact Vivien Howard on 0427 446 245 or email info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

This event is supported by Watershed Landcare and is a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW.

Going mad for our Green Day

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Watershed Landcare is busy organising its 9th annual Green Day event, happening this year at Mudgee Showground on 7 September.

We’ve got record numbers for this year’s event with 625 students from 16 schools participating.

The theme of this year’s event is GoMAD, an acronym for Go Make A Difference, the theme aligns with a popular environmental education program undertaken by the NSW Department of Education.

“This year’s theme is all about taking action. Workshops will provide students with key take-home messages around the themes of biodiversity, energy, waste and water.” said Vivien Howard, Watershed Landcare’s Green Day Project Manager.

A total of 19 workshop presenters from a number of different local businesses and organisations will take part in this event. Students will learn about managing pest species, water quality, habitat protection and waste reduction.

“The workshop sessions are a vital part of the event, complimenting the keynote speaker and providing students with hands-on demonstrations from industry.” said Ms Howard.

“This year we have workshops from staff at Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Mid-Western Regional Council, Red Hill Environmental Education Centre, NetWaste, Niche Environment and Heritage, Barnson Pty Ltd, Royal Agricultural Society, Crave Natural and Rosby Sculptures in the Garden. We are very grateful for the participation of these businesses in our event.” she continued.

Keen to help out? We are always in need of volunteers at Green Day, this year we have a particular need for volunteers to help with the Waste to Art activity being run by Kay Norton-Knight of Rosby Sculptures in the Garden.

If you’re available to help, or would like any additional information about the event, please contact Vivien Howard on 0488 224 025 or email info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

This event is supported by Watershed Landcare and is a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW.

Getting the buzz on backyard beekeeping

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Renowned beekeeper and industry expert, Bruce White OAM will be back in Mudgee in August for another beekeeping course.

Are you interested in learning about bees, or perhaps having your own hive but don’t know where to start?

The Mudgee Bee Group will be hosting the Backyard Beekeeping course and invite novice and experienced beekeepers, as well as people interested in starting up their first hives, to attended.

A retired apiary officer from the NSW Department of Agriculture and a hobby beekeeper, Mr White became fascinated with bees when he was in primary school. He got his first hive when he was 13 years old and now boasts over 60 years beekeeping experience.

Mr White has extensive knowledge of rural beekeeping and frequently delivers courses for the Local Land Services and the Amateur Beekeepers Association. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2011 for his service to the beekeeping industry.

The 2 day course will cover topics such as protective clothing, hive design, hive management, biosecurity, honey extraction and a whole lot more in a hands-on practical weekend.

The Mudgee Bee Group’s community hives will be available for participants to practise on and gain confidence in handling bees.

The course will be held on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 August at the Straw Bale Shed , Australian Rural Education Centre (AREC).

Cost is $275 per person and includes course notes, lunch and morning tea on both days. A discount rate of $180 is available for Watershed Landcare and Mudgee Bee Group financial members.

Numbers are strictly limited and you must pay in full to secure your spot. If you’d like to participate send an expressions of interest to Claudia Wythes, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0412 011 064 or claudia.wythes@watershedlandcare.com.au.

The Mudgee Bee Group and Watershed Landcare would like to acknowledge support from AREC, for hosting the Mudgee Bee Group hives and providing a venue for meetings and the course.

This event is supported by Watershed Landcare and is a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW.

A spinning spider’s good side

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A healthy spider community means a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem.

How do you measure the health of something as diverse and complex as an entire ecosystem?

Ecologists use top-level, or apex, predators as an indirect measure of the biodiversity and functionality of the entire system.

The reasoning is that if those at the top of the food chain are healthy, diverse and resilient then that must also be the case for each link in the chain – other predators, herbivores, plants and algae, insects, soil microbes etc.

But did you know that you can apply the same principles on your own farm?

Spiders can act as indicators of ecosystem health and habitat quality. They play a critical role in agricultural pest management and you are never more than about one metre from a spider as they go about their business of consuming insects and other creepy crawlies. Having a healthy spider community on your farm means you have a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem.

As part of a research project on landholder collaboration for landscape-scale conservation and sustainable production lead by the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales, Watershed Landcare will be hosting a spider monitoring workshop in Mudgee.

We are very lucky to have a special guest speaker coming to the event. Dr Mary Whitehouse is a CSIRO scientist who has spent many years researching spider biodiversity particularly in crops.

Mary will be happy to identify spiders if anyone wishes to bring some along in a glass jar.

We will look at a cost-effective and easy-to-use method of monitoring spiders by using spiders’ webs as a substitute (the Web2Spider guide and supplementary material provided by the Australian Museum).

This workshop will cover:

  • How to identify and monitor spiders on your property
  • How spiders respond to good land management
  • Why working together on spider monitoring is beneficial
  • How to upload the information onto an online collaborative tool
  • How to use this data to make more informed land management decisions

The Mudgee Spider Monitoring workshop will be held on Tuesday Tuesday 8 August, 5:30-8pm in the Burrundulla Room, Mudgee Golf Club.
All welcome. The workshop is free to attend and dinner is included.

Please RSVP for catering purposes by Monday 31 July to Agness Knapik, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0435 055 493 or info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

This event is supported by the University of Sydney, University of New South Wales and Watershed Landcare and is a part of the Landholder Collaboration Project funded by the NSW Environmental Trust.

More information on the project is available here.