It's pretty bare on the ground at the ImLal biorich plantation – a combination of winter cold and kangaroo grazing. But there were still some surprises. Some of the trees planted with Rowan Reid's fibreglass poles to escape roo damage are now well and truly established. And the few sequoias left are finally getting up there after almost 15 years growth! As for the hakeas on the mullock heap, they're in glorious full bloom and emitting a strong honey smell. Sweet!
 Steve Murphy presented at our two university visits that fell in the first part of 2025. Federation University has come for 15 years straight as lecturer Singarayer Florentine noted (and he's been with them all that time!). Florry remarked that it gives his mine and land rehabilitation students a totally different perspective than the 'economic' driver behind most forestry plantations. Both field days had about 20-30 students. Steve played his animist game again, where he shanghais students into playing a range of animals declaring what sort of habitat they like. Most of the students are enthusiastic, getting into their role by deploying funny voices. Lachie presented at his drop slab hut. He has developed a range of props now that demonstrate the mortise and tenon process used. The site is very dry but holding up well. The Lal Lal Falls have dried up as you can see below.  The Mongolian Industry Forestry group that visited the biorich plantation enjoyed a ‘democracy’ sausage sizzle, which my wife Gayl and I hosted. They almost didn't get beyond the clearing, tucking into their sausages and warm beer with relish. The Magnificent Seven on the delegation weren’t actually Mongolian – I wanted them to teach me a couple of words, but they admitted to only speaking Mandarin. They’d been to Melbourne University and to see the penguins at Phillip Island and out to the Dandenongs, but as far as we could make out from their interpreter, they’d visited few actual forestry plantations here. Despite the 'Industry' in their title, the Mongolian Industry Forestry group were not involved in any logging or commercial harvesting. Their forests are mainly conifer and their group has a large government-paid staff throughout the country, which is dedicated solely to conservation and fire protection. It seems that it was our ecological restoration focus, which had attracted their attention in the first instance. They were puzzled that we were only a volunteer group, lacking either government funding input or management control. The President of the group (he’s the one holding the books I gave him), was an earnest fellow and exclaimed that their government had oversight over every activity. I gave them copies of 'Recreating the Country' and Digby Race's book on Pacific Rim agroforestry, 'Raising trees and livelihoods.' They were principally interested in how we prevented bushfire (again they were staggered it was mainly volunteer run); and showed more interest in the case studies on agroforestry for smallholders in Asia than the design principles of a biorich plantation. Field tour as part of Forestry Australia's Ballarat symposium, which visited ImLal to look at ecological restoration options. Thirty-two practising foresters turned up (without hard hats!) to hear Gary, Roger and Lachie spruiking the wares of the biorich plantation. How we would handle the fire problem was a hot topic.  Fan tailed cuckoo. PHOTO: Gary Featherston Windy but we still saw (mainly heard) 38 bird species as spring breeding activity picked up. Ornithologist lecturer from Federation University, Grant Palmer, led five of us, with three new participants, two of them, Sue and Glen, being new Lal Lal residents who wanted to learn what was in their patch. Jodie from Mollongghip also joined us for the first time. Despite the wind, a rufous whistler gave a long and strong display. Gary had, once again, cleared a path through the gorse on the west bank. Fantails out in force in the north block, which is really starting to open out to become more like a natural forest. Surprisingly, the grey everlasting bushes there seemed to have escaped the hammering of their cousins in ImLal South by roos. A fan tailed cuckoo topped a bare stag branch in the north. No noisy miners were sighted. The surviving sequoias are at last undergoing a growth spurt. Grant has provided a fuller report, which you can read in the Monitoring menu – visit Bird surveys at ImLal  Debriefing session at the end of the transect.  Amazing what a group can achieve and the camaraderie generated. A dozen of us worked for for a couple of hours on a cloudy morning, followed by a latish lunch in the drop slab hut clearing. As dessert, we listened to Steve Murphy talk about his biorich design principles and new book. Field Day activities included:
ABC Rural Features Reporter, Rhiannon Stevens, visits ImLal in search of a good news story23/8/2024
 Fine but windy – still we saw 31 bird species as the resident birds started to dominate over the departing migrant species. Ornithologist lecturer from Federation University, Grant Palmer, led seven of us, with the numbers bolstered by a keen family of four – Gary Featherston's son, wife and two young daughters. Best views were of fantails and LBBs like thornbills and scrub wrens. A butcherbird topped a bare stag branch in the middle section usually dominated by noisy miners. None were sighted, nor were the eastern rosellas, galahs and only a few crimsons. Gorse has overwhelmed the west bank of the dam, so Gary and I had to clear a pathway through in the days prior. Grant has provided a fuller report, which you can read in the Monitoring menu – visit Bird surveys at ImLal This was one of the most enthusiastic student groups we've ever had. Lots of questions and even a volunteer for our next bird survey. One of the students asked if she could revisit – Roger is going to take that on. Another student suggested we explore boring holes into trees to make artificial hollows, which solves insulation problems. Steve's animist game was taken up with gusto. It engages the students and the performers make a real attempt to channel their animal whether a pardelote or an antechinus. One 'lizard' chose a slow, Texan drawl. |
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