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Environmental Consulting Options Tasmania

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25.01.2022 Field day at Hawley Nature Reserve (Port Sorell area) today facilitated by Cradle Coast NRM, with 44 attendees (including 22 kids - next generation of ecologists and land carers). Day started brilliantly with green and golden frogs (Litoria raniformis) spotted near where we parked - a rare and threatened species.

25.01.2022 I dont post many images of lizards but here is a little beauty. To many of us, it is just another boring brown skink like you get in your garden but this is Niveoscincus pretiosus, known as the Tasmanian tree skink. It only occurs in Tasmania, where it is quite widespread but out of all our species, it spends the most time on tree trunks. This one was spotted on a myrtle trunk next to the St Patricks River while we had lunch after digging up burrowing crayfish (next post).

23.01.2022 OK, so here is a super cool beast! This was the target of todays survey near St Marys. It lives in logs amongst rot we call "mudguts". It is the giant velvet worm, a threatened species. They are an ancient animal. They are ambush predators, squirting a type of glue at their prey. We do surveys to identify and manage habitat (logs in eucalypt forest).

23.01.2022 Surveys in the highlands west of Bothwell - classic sheep country. Sometimes nice just to appreciate the effort that farmers go to putting wool on our backs. Came across this old bit of machinery abandoned long ago as a reminder of the hard toil.

23.01.2022 Life on the edge! Out at Cape Hauy on the Tasman Peninsula, plants and animals (including people), hang on to cliff faces in defiance of the constant wind and waves. One of Tassies great short walks.

23.01.2022 Love field work in the Tasmanian winter - last trip up the Midlands in early August saw snow on the side of the road and all the high peaks. These are of Ben Lomond/Stacks Bluff from around Perth/Evandale.

22.01.2022 Weve been documenting the natural values of the Coal Mines Historic Site near Lime Bay on the Tasman Peninsula. We have infra-red motion-activate cameras set up (see the video of the wombat lumbering through!), have been calling owls using a megaphone of their screeches (and have had a masked owl visit us already on the first night), and doing some plant surveys. Weve had to visit some local beaches at lunch time and view some nice sunsets as part of our hard work.

22.01.2022 Went for a lovely autumn afternoon stroll on the Meehan Range today - came across a few colonies of Pterostylis alata (striped greenhood). Always a photogenic species - the light was dull at one site so I flipped on the flash, which has kind of worked.

22.01.2022 Just completed 2 2-day natural values workshops for Cradle Coast NRM attended by many people from a wide range of backgrounds. Devonport workshop folk got taken to the Henry Somerset Orchid Conservation Area, where we got to see Caladenia caudata (tailed spider-orchid) in full flower, one of the States rare orchids. Burnie attendees were taken to the West Wynyard York Street reserve, where we got to see the very rare Chiloglottis trapeziformis (broadlip bird-orchid), known from just one site on mainland Tasmania.

21.01.2022 Some photos from March 2015 from Flinders Island, where I finally photographed a bluetongue lizards blue tongue!

21.01.2022 Last week I got to play in the mud and call it work! We dug holes as deep as ourselves seeking burrowing crayfish (Engaeus sp.) to see which species was at home (threatened or not threatened). These are images of Engaeus leptorhynchus, not a threatened species but gorgeous in all their hairiness and orangeness (yep, Im a ranga too!).

20.01.2022 Some jobs are better than other jobs! ECOtas (Mark Wapstra and Fred Duncan) in conjunction with Phil Bell Environmental Consultant have been let loose on the proposed mountain bike track routes between the old tin mining town of Poimena on the Blue Tier and Weldborough (a bonus is the Weldborough Hotel that has several Tasmanian cider and beer microbreweries on tap, home-cooked meals and a well-stocked fridge!). A long time since Fred and I worked as field botanists together and the Blue Tier is our old stomping ground - granite outcrops, lichen-encrusted trees, rainbows, sleet, swirling mist, snow, rain, bright sun and howling winds - heaven!

19.01.2022 My office for yesterday and last Friday - not expecting any sympathy for my hard life!

18.01.2022 The power of nature is amazing. These are a couple of older photos of a platypus I snapped while on a school excursion when my daughter was in prep (2008) - we went to the Molesworth Environment Centre and we were getting the class across the rope and tyre bridge when someone sent "hey, a platypus". It was a naive youngster, apparently oblivious to our presence, virtually going over my feet. The kids were excited,naturally. But the best bit was that a mother on the excursion who had belittled the excursion to her son saying "it would be boring nature stuff" was converted - seeing the platypus (her first) gave her an "adrenalin rush" (her words) and cured her migraine headache!

16.01.2022 And here are some photos of our hard work down at the Coal Mines!

15.01.2022 Pterostylis alata (striped greenhood) on the Meehan Range.

15.01.2022 A fantastic winter day on Hobarts eastern shore at Waverley Flora Park identifying Eucalyptus, Allocasuarina, Acacia, Carex (sedges), Rytidosperma (wallabygrass) and Austrostipa (speargrass), along with vegetation types and geology - part of a Tasmanian field botany/plant identification course facilitated by NRM South and run by Environmental Consulting Options Tasmania.

14.01.2022 A fantastic day in the Peter Murrell Reserve identifying plants of all types - with thanks to Threatened Plants Tasmania and NRM South for engaging ECOtas (Mark Wapstra and Fred Duncan) to do what we love - transferring our knowledge to others who share our love of Tassies botany.

13.01.2022 I was very pleased to have been asked by Threatened Plants Tasmania and NRM South to contribute to the grass identification workshop held over 2 days at the Man ORoss Hotel in Ross last weekend. Many thanks to Kerri Spicer and Phil Collier for organising this workshop, to all the enthusiastic participants, the Ross Hotel, Tasmanian Herbarium (for loan of some demonstration material) and Walch Optics (for the loan of the HD monitor and dissecting microscope).

13.01.2022 We have now finished the field work for the Blue Tier to Weldborough mountain bike trail ecological surveys. Some of Tassies truly most beautiful forests - massive tree fern groves, ancient tall trees, veils of epiphytic filmy ferns, crystal clear creeks. We got giardia from drinking from creeks and had some tough days but the northeast weather misbehaved (compared to its usual) and was mild, clear and almost windstill.

12.01.2022 While others ran or walked the 22 km Point to Pinnacle, I walked the 2.2 km (note the decimal point) around the coastline of one of our study sites - the Coal Mines Historic Site near Lime Bay on the Tasman Peninsula. I checked the tides and still mis-judged by about 1 m so waded waist deep for much of the route - lots of fun, sea caves in sandstone cliffs, lots of birds, a bit of rain!

11.01.2022 Another workshop facilitated by Cradle Coast NRM - this time delivered by Alastair Richardson and Mark Wapstra on threatened freshwater and burrowing crayfish. Thanks also to Devonport City Council and Forico for access to field sites.

11.01.2022 In my surveys I come across all sorts of beasties but llamas are a new one! These two were of the non-spitting curious follow-me-around variety fortunately!

11.01.2022 Those who know me, know Im a bit of an orchid nutter. Tassie is home to about 216 native species and unfortunately these days one weed species. The South African orchid (Disa bracteata) was first seen in Oz in Western Australia and has slowly moved east, reaching Tassie in 2008. Toady, unfortunately, I found the States third only site along Badgers Head Road. It is pretty but potentially a real problem - I removed both plants.

11.01.2022 Next week we embark on 2 2-day natural values workshops for Cradle Coast NRM: Tue 21 & Wed 22 out of Devonport and Thu 23 & Fri 24 out of Burnie. There are still spaces availabele for both workshops - completely free. See program below, and copy of flyer below from Cradle Coast NRM with contact details. For those following this page, feel free to post on other FB group pages. Reminder Natural Values Workshops Dont miss your opportunity to attend the Cradle Coast NRM Natur...al Values workshops being held in Devonport (21 22 October) and Burnie (23 24 October). The workshops are designed to assist attendees in making informed land use assessments, upskill on flora and ecology, and navigate the Natural Values Atlas, the LIST and legislation. Council decision makers such as planners, NRM, weed and environmental officers and engineers as well as works managers and team leaders are encouraged to attend. The attached program provides full details of both events including field trip destinations. Workshops are free of charge and numbers are limited. Please RSVP to Lauren Clarke, Cradle Coast Authority at [email protected] or Anna Wind, Cradle Coast NRM at [email protected] ASAP to guarantee your place. DAY 1: 21 October 2014 (Tuesday) 9.00 Welcome, introductions, house-keeping (MW) 9.15 An overview of Tasmanian ecology (FD & MW) Diversity of the States flora and fauna; Australian and global context; impact of Aboriginal and European land use; broad conservation management issues; impacts of fire and disease 10.45 Morning tea (provided) 11.00 Threatened flora and fauna of the Cradle Coast NRM region (MW) An overview of the States threatened species; legislation; some Cradle Coast examples 11.45 Hands-on session: identifying Tassies eucalypts Using a key and Eucaflip to identify some of the regions iconic Eucalyptus species. 12.30 Lunch 1.30 Field trip 1: Don River Reserve Well wander along the river walking tracks, a good chance of keying out a couple of threatened vegetation types, perhaps spotting a threatened plant or two, and good opportunity to discuss land use and reserve management issues. 4.30 Finish DAY 2: 22 October 2014 (Wednesday) 9.00 Case studies management of natural values (MW & FD) Examples of the management of threatened flora and fauna species, vegetation types and land use practices selected examples from the State and region. 10.45 Morning tea 11.00 Natural Values Atlas, TheList, and other resources (MW) An introduction to using DPIPWEs online Natural Values Atlas system and TheList to find information about vegetation, flora and fauna, weeds and other values from a property. 12.30 Lunch 1.30 Field trip 2: Kelcey Tier Dry sclerophyll forest opportunities to discuss interactions of flora and fauna (e.g. swift parrots), land use practices and examine different forest types, eucalypt and wattle species and a range of plant families. 4.30 Finish

11.01.2022 OK, so here is a super cool beast! This was the target of today's survey near St Marys. It lives in logs amongst rot we call "mudguts". It is the giant velvet worm, a threatened species. They are an ancient animal. They are ambush predators, squirting a type of glue at their prey. We do surveys to identify and manage habitat (logs in eucalypt forest).

10.01.2022 Today my job took me to the top of Table Mountain, west of Oatlands. Apart from the views, I saw all sorts of interesting things including these "anemones of the land" (some sort of fungus) and my second ever sighting of an Australian owlet-nightjar, the cutest little nocturnal bird we have (this one, like my last sighting, flew out of a forestry boom gate it was using as a daytime roost site).

10.01.2022 Never too early to start training the next generation! Here my James and Emily assist me in measuring some trees, making my job much quicker and easier. And yes, they get paid.

08.01.2022 It is winter and our reptilian friends are not really about so I thought Id post my favourite snap of a very tigery-looking tiger snake I came across in February 2011 in the hills behind Railton. I looked at it, it looked at me, it gave me a brief chance to take just one photo and slithered away.

06.01.2022 One of the good parts of my "job" is going on primary school excursions as an "expert"! Yesterday it was two grade 6 classes from Lenah Valley Primary School and we walked from The Springs on Mt Wellington back down via New Town Falls to the school (10.3 km). Spring has sprung and the wildflowers were out, birds were nesting and a snake was spotted (which turned me into a liar because I guaranteed we would not see any with 50 kids stomping around).

04.01.2022 September 22-24 saw us delivering a natural values workshop for NRM North centred on threatened flora management. A great group of people from a wide variety of backgrounds - we identified lots of eucalypts and wattles in the sun, visited lovely Cataract Gorge, Tamar River margin, the northern Midlands forest at Powranna Road and Township Lagoon at Tunbridge to see lots of different threatened species.

02.01.2022 More surveys down at the Coal Mines Historic Site near Lime Bay. A definite highlight are the striated pardalotes that are taking advantage of the old sandstone ruins, nesting in tunnels between blocks. More interested in trying to find mates and tunnels than being concerned about me and a camera on zoom!

01.01.2022 Something that will get different reactions - some say it is disgusting, alien, even beautiful! This is a fungus called Aseroe rubra (stinkhorn), common in our forests but it has taken me until last week to find one! Apparently this year is a good year for them. They smell rotten and attract flies. Amazing things!