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24.01.2022 A fence for echidnas. This winter we added another 1.2km of electric fencing to our boundary. Only another 7.4 km to go to completely enclose and fully protect the vegetation on Raakajlim from damage by pigs, goats or overabundant kangaroos. Thanks very much to our helpers; we couldn't have done it without you!... We made piles from all the old native Pine fence posts to make habitat for lizards and other critters. And it was great to get rid of some more rabbit netting which can be a real barrier to the movement of smaller animals, like echidnas. The design of this fence allows critters to pass under. But, during echidna breeding season (that's now) we also disconnect the electricity from the lowest hot wire of the fence. This makes sure echidnas don’t have any trouble at all whilst distracted Echidna CSI The fence is a Westonfence a 5 foot high, eight wire, electric fence with three hot wires. Our first 4.2km of fence went up in 2014 with support from the Federal Government's Biodiversity Fund program. Westonfence and Gallagher Animal Management Australia

23.01.2022 Quietly hopeful of La Niña this year. We were out on the weekend planting more trees. It’s not the usual time of year for planting, but we are trying something different. Taking the opportunities as they present. https://www.abc.net.au//bom-declares-la-nina-ale/12569630

22.01.2022 Welcome to episode 2 of They’re not all the same skink! After discovering the Ragged Snake-eyed Skink last month, Today, I dug up not one but two Bougainville’s Skink (Lerista bougainvillii) in our vegie patch. My first thought were This skink must be wet, it’s so shiny (then I remembered I live in the Mallee - nothing is ever wet). So I got out the books Smooth, glossy scales - Yep, that explains the wet look. ... Broad, black, lateral stripe (obvious) and four lines of dark dashes on its back - Hmmm, yeah I can just see those. Four, short widely spaced limbs with five digits - That’s normal legs then? Check. Pointed head with tiny ear opening - Yeah, it does now that I zoom in on the photo. Tail flushed with yellow or red - Yes! Kind of a weird chunky tail. (Books say it stores fat in its tail - cool). Bougainville’s Skink is not considered threatened and is widespread in the Mallee. It burrows just under the soil surface, and that’s where I found it - swimming through the sand. https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/b/bougainvilles-skink

20.01.2022 A happy Pobblebonk! I know these Pobblebonk frogs really well from their distinctive banjo-like bonk call. Turns out, I’m not that great at picking the key identifying features that make it a Pobblebonk (also known as a Southern Bull Frog, Banjo Frog or Limnodynastes dumerilii dumerilii). ... What’s that? asked my husband, pointing to the big bulgy sac below the eye. That’s the tibial gland. I replied confidently, That’s what makes the Pobblebonk different to the Mallee Spadefoot toads. He looked at me, eyebrows raised, But wouldn’t a tibial gland be on the leg, you know like the tibia leg bone?. I scrabbled through my field guide, Mmmmm, maybe, I conceded. So, the tibial gland is the warty lump on the back leg. The Mallee Spadefoot toads (Neobtrachus pictus and N. sudelli) don’t have a tibial gland. The Pobblebonk is a burrowing frog, which explains why I dug it out of my vegie patch today, but I have seen them out and about during the rain (when it rains). It’s a common frog in Victoria and is not considered threatened. Don't forget 6-15 November 2020 is the week to count frogs, using the awesome free FrogID app (https://www.frogid.net.au/). #FrogID More here https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/pobblebonk

20.01.2022 First day of the Spring "Birds on Farms" survey for BirdLife Australia. I promise I was looking for birds ... but in our first 20 minute, 2 hectare survey we found two Stumpytails and two Bearded Dragons! One Dragon was reclining gracefully on a bush. One of the Stumpytails was very pale which had me searching through my photos for some examples of color variation - from pure black to cream and light tan bands. I also remembered to take head shots of the dragons and can confirm they are definitely Central Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps). You can clearly see the straight line of spines on the back of the head. It would be unusual to have Eastern Bearded Dragons (P. barbata) this far north, but you never know. Easterns have a semi-circular row of spines on the back of the head.

19.01.2022 The emus have hatched their eggs on Raakajlim! We saw some stripey emu chicks on the weekend, which reminded us we hadn’t noticed where the emus had laid eggs this year. We usually have one emu nest somewhere. Sometimes we come across dad sitting on the eggs (around July) and we know to stay away from that area. Other years, like this year, we don’t notice the nest until the eggs have hatched (around end of August). This year not all the eggs hatched giving us an opportunity... to enjoy the beautiful deep green of the eggs (whilst hoping it isn’t so rotten it explodes imagine that). Read more emu stories here https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/emu-nests

19.01.2022 A Collared Sparrowhawk. We've often struggled to pick the difference between a Collared Sparrowhawk and a Brown Goshawk. It's surprisingly difficult to estimate size when it's one bird on its own (Sparrowhawk is 30-40cm and Goshawk is 40-50cm). But Connecting Country put on a presentation recently and @Geoff Park shared a most useful tip. The Collared Sparrowhawk has a very long middle toe. And it does! When we zoomed in on this photo we could clearly see its long toe. No idea why it would have this feature.

19.01.2022 The Colignan Square-tailed Kite has been a regular visitor this year. It is most appreciated that it flies so low and peers curiously at us.

17.01.2022 The website is live! ... still learning so please let me know of anything that's not quite right. Here you can learn a little bit more about our property and catch up on any blog posts you may have missed.

16.01.2022 Who visits a waterhole? We have a natural clay depression which regularly holds water. There are always lots of footprints around it so in September 2020 we set up a motion-activated camera to see who visits. So far, we have 14 species of birds (including a very pretty Pink Cockatoo), fox and kangaroo.... https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/waterholecamera

16.01.2022 In celebration of the world's most instagrammable bird (scientifically proven by German scientists).

16.01.2022 We look after a colony of Arid Bronze Azure butterfly on our property. We understand it is the largest, and possibly the only, population in Australia. Recent research has listed our butterfly as #7 on a list of 26 butterflies most likely to go extinct in the next 20 years. Gulp. No pressure then. We'd love to hear from anyone willing to share their knowledge on how we can best conserve this butterfly. Ogyris subterrestris subterrestris for the entomologists. Research here...: https://theconversation.com/next-time-you-see-a-butterfly-t More on "our" butterfly here: https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/ogyris

16.01.2022 Instead of orchids, I found this mass of "eggs" to share with you. I thought it was "Insect Egg Slime Mould". How cool, I thought, everyone will love it. They'll be intrigued enough to Google much better photos than mine (go on do it!). But I consulted the iNaturalist and Facebook community to confirm my id (how cool is this citizen science craze?). The amazing Peter Zuidland and Victorian Fungi set me straight (check out his photos). ... Not Insect Egg Slime Mould (Leocarpus fragilis), probably "Dog Vomit Slime Mould" (Mucilago sp.). Yuk. Who is going to want to read about that? Not the post I had planned. But Slime Moulds are pretty cool - not animals, plants or fungi, they're out there in their own Kingdom. They spend most of their time in the soil but when it rains they can clump together in a slimy mass. Wikipedia says up to 20kg in mass! After a few days, my slimy mass had dried out into a bit of grey flaky stuff. Show over.

12.01.2022 Photography for me is a lot about luck. I'm mostly looking down for plants and I don't have the patience to wait in a bird hide, or even to wait at all. But sometimes you're there and the bird is there and you get a good shot. #birdingathome I’ve seen plenty of better photos of a Nankeen Kestrel, but this one is mine. That means I can remember the day, and the sun, and how there was a big squall of rain just waiting to burst down on us. Add the smell and the sounds of the b...ush, and it's not just the photo! It’s the whole experience. Why are there so many of us who love taking photos of birds? PS I’ve just discovered that this photo, which I love and might actually print out some day, I have managed to crop and resize down to 87kB and discard the original. Why? How did that happen? My dad, who keeps multiple copies of every photo, will be laughing right now.

11.01.2022 At sea in an ocean of Spear Grass ... It's a good year for Austrostipa spp.; our best since 2014. This will be a great year to replenish the soil seed bank and collect some seed for revegetation. The areas where we have been able to keep grazing pressure from kangaroos low have responded beautifully to the Autumn / Winter rainfall. However, there's still only sparse cover of native grasses in areas where the grazing pressure from kangaroos is too high. ... This year has also reminded me that, even with climate change, not every year will be a bad year. The bush, with a little help from us, can recover from climate extremes. Due to low rainfall, we had almost no grass at all for the last two years, but there has remained enough seed in the soil. https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/speargrass

10.01.2022 Tree Dtella (Gehyra versicolor). When we moved into our house there were none of these guys around. We think because the previous owners had the place fumigated regularly for spiders. After a few years of welcoming bugs, spiders and their biodegradable streamers, the Tree Dtellas are out in force. They hang out on the windows and catch moths attracted to the lights. They are almost transparent and sometimes you can almost see the moths wriggling around inside ... I had a moment of panic when I uploaded these photos. Perhaps I have misidentified these and they're really Marbled Geckos (Christinus marmoratus). But I can see the "flat digits with large semi-circular pads, all except the inner one on each foot prominently clawed" - thanks Michael Swan and Simon Watharow "Snakes, lizards and frogs of the Victorian Mallee".

10.01.2022 https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/wattleday

10.01.2022 It's hard to be annoyed about the Barley Grass invading our native grassland. This pair of Pink Cockatoos obviously don't mind eating the milky seed heads. Pink Cockatoos live in the dry woodlands of arid and semi-arid Australia (that's our place!). They need old trees with hollows large enough for nesting in. They are omnivorous, eating the seeds of grasses, Wattles and native Pine, as well as roots and bulbs, and insect larvae. They're considered threatened in Victoria, par...ticularly due to the loss of old hollow-bearing Pine trees. See comments for a link to an excellent article about our Wyperfeld cockatoos. Oh, you might know them as Major Mitchell Cockatoos. We prefer the name Pink Cockatoo and avoid reference to Mitchell, an early explorer with, we think, dubious credentials. #birdlifeoz

09.01.2022 Oh what big eyes you have! It's a Ragged Snake-eyed Skink. I thought that all the little grey-brown skinks were the same species, but apparently there are six little skinks in the Mallee which look roughly similar. I noticed this one had such big eyes so I pulled out the books. I learnt the "fixed spectacle" around the large eye is characteristic, and is because the lower eyelid is fused and there are also some big scales over the eye. "Snake-eyed" because normally a lizard c...an blink with movable eyelids, but snakes have fixed eyelids (not that I've got that close to a snakes eye). "Ragged" because the lines along the side of the skink have ragged edges. So all round that's a pretty useful common name! The skink is not considered threatened in Victoria and is often seen basking on old wooden fences. I'll put the record in the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas - I reckon even the common stuff is useful.

09.01.2022 The Murnong are in flower and it’s a good year! The bright yellow Yam Daisies are popping up throughout the Mallee, including on Raakajlim. One day our grasslands will be full of Murnong again. Murnong are a Spring-flowering perennial which resprouts each year from thick, tuberous roots. The roots were a staple food for indigenous Australians right across south-eastern Australia. Sadly, the plants suffered from over-grazing, particularly by rabbits and sheep. Today, the best place to find Murnong (Microseris walteri) in the Mallee is deep inside a Porcupine Grass tussock where the prickly leaves provide protection from herbivores. There's some more information here: https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/murnong

09.01.2022 Happy Wattle Day everyone. Here are four of our more common Wattles on Raakajlim, and their seeds. Read more here https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/wattleday #wattleday

07.01.2022 Fairywrens! The bright blue one is a Splendid Fairywren - check out the face-fan display. Apparently this flaring of the iridescent blue ear tufts is a sexual or aggressive display ... yeah-nah not so scary ... The red shouldered feller is a Purple-backed Fairywren. Fairywrens seem to be a bit like orchids: beautiful but a taxonomic nightmare. In 2018, what we knew as a Variegated Fairywren was split off and are now only found east of the Dividing Range. Our ex-Variegated are now called Purple-backed, which is odd because they don’t really have a purple back ... I’m glad to finally have some half decent bird photos to share!

06.01.2022 This is one beetle with disgusting, but useful, habits. Devil's Coach Horse (Creophilus erythrocephalus) is regularly observed preying on Diptera larvae (maggots) in animal carcases. It appears from the bloat stage onwards, especially in autumn and winter. It is considered "forensically useful" corpse fauna, and its presence could be used to age cadavers ... gross but fascinating. (There're no cadavers on Raakajlim, promise)

05.01.2022 Fire season is upon us in the Mallee. Two dry lightning storms, a week apart, have resulted in multiple fires in the Mallee already this year. One fire, in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park was only about 10 km south of us. Luckily it was quickly contained and kept small. There was a much larger fire in Wyperfeld National Park which burnt nearly 700 hectares before it was brought under control today. It was burning in Spear Grass fuels For the last couple of years there hasn’t b...een a lot of grass growth to carry a fire but this year is different. The Spear Grass (Austrostipa spp.) is nearly waist high and I have been insisting we wait for it to finish seeding before Phil slashes the patch near the house. Apart from the grass patch near the house, we are as ready as we can be. Phil has slashed the tracks and fence lines once already, and might have to do it again! He has also used the brush cutter to remove all the growth under the electric fence. That’s 5 km down one side, then 5 km down the other side. Although it is considered extremely unlikely to start a fire from an electric fence, we also switch the fence off on days when lightning is forecast, or Total Fire Ban days. #CFAfireawareness Gallagher Animal Management Australia More here: https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/mallee-fire

05.01.2022 Can you help, please? Do you, or someone you know, own private land protected by a conservation covenant? Private land conservation makes a vital contribution to our protected area network. I'd like to develop a small-business startup guide, but for conservation properties. It would cover things like how to share your conservation vision, funding options to get the work done, even succession planning. ... But first, I'd like to know if this resource would be useful, and how people are approaching these problems now. Please share this post and comment or message me if I can contact you to ask your thoughts. This is a Wild Idea Incubator project!

04.01.2022 For the Threatened Species Day bake-off Here is the Arid Bronze Azure butterfly - Ogyris subterrestris petrina from Western Australia. This butterfly is critically endangered under the federal EPBC Act legislation. It is the western subspecies of our very own butterfly Ogyris subterrestris subterrestris which occurs in our backyard conservation property, in the Mallee north-west Victoria. The Bronze Azure on Raakajlim is listed under Victorian, but not federal, legislation... although Braby (2000) considered both subspecies of Ogyris subterrestris to be of national conservation concern. The butterfly has a strange and highly specialised association with ants. They are myrmecophagous, meaning they eat ants! (well the larvae do). The butterfly relies on a single species of large nocturnal sugar ant: Camponotus terebrans. The butterfly eggs are laid near the entrance to the ant nest and the entire butterfly larval and pupal stage is completed within the nest as a predator of immature ants. The ants don’t seem to mind the reversal of the ant eats caterpillar story. Read more about this ant-eating butterfly and the east-west species divergence here https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/ogyris-bakeoff #TSBakeOff and Threatened Species Commissioner

02.01.2022 I think this Regent Parrot knows how stunning it is.

02.01.2022 The sand turds are everywhere in the Mallee and this is one of the beetles responsible. It's a Bolboceratidae, probably a species of Blackburnium. They are absolutely fascinating! Those sand turds are created from below, with the beetle pushing up columns of damp sand out of the ground, like toothpaste from a tube. When the columns fall over, this creates the sand turds. More here: https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/sand-turd-beetles

02.01.2022 Finally, a simple way to save the world well the Victorian Mallee anyway: Learn to identify the weed called Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) and upload any suspected sightings to iNaturalist. I’m doing my best to follow up every observation, confirm the identification and advise the land manager to bust the Buffel. Recently, with the help from the DELWP Working for Victoria crew, we removed a patch of Buffel Grass near Nangiloc (40 km south-east of Mildura). Although it is ...widespread in other states, currently infestations in Victoria are small and scattered, mostly along the major transport routes. Buffel Grass has had devastating impacts in conservation reserves in South Australia and Northern Territory where it has altered the entire ecosystem. It is a threat to the environment, wildlife and community safety because the high fuel loads create hotter, faster and more frequent fires. More: https://www.malleeconservation.com.au/blog/buffel-grass and https://theconversation.com/the-buffel-kerfuffle-how-one-sp Identification sheet: https://www.pir.sa.gov.au//PIRSA_factsheet_Buffel_Grass_Id

02.01.2022 With Covid-19 working from home, it has been a joy to watch a pair of Southern Whiteface building a nest in a pipe above my vegie patch. They worked diligently for a couple of weeks. Then a Pied Butcherbird came visiting ... I understand "nature red in tooth and claw", I really do, but I still wish the Butcherbird had found something else for dinner.