Yellingbo and surrounds's Journal

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
It was a chilly, 5.1 deg C (but no wind thankfully) when our Citizen Science Bird & Frog survey team set out to do a Deep winter* survey in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area.
The frogs were quiet - no surprises there - it's cold on the ground!
My thanks to Bruce for leading the survey, ably assisted by regular participants and new participants alike. Thirty-two species of birds were recorded, primarily the resident species as expected in winter with the exception of an Australian Pelican, a species we've recorded, surprisingly, a few times in the past year. It's always nice to see the Jacky Winters hunting for insects as we move past them.
The skies opened as we finished up - great timing - and we started to get the promised showers that are so needed. It's a dry winter so far. Our morning was complete with home baked slice from Robert. Thank you Robert!! What a fantastic way to spend a few hours with a fabulous group of people!
*1 of 6 seasons in the Middle Yarra Timelines Calendar of the Wurundjeri.

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
The cold winter morning didn't daunt us. We were looking for a patch of nine Small-tongue orchids that we'd recorded for the first time in January, with the aim of protecting them from browsing animals (deer - groan!!). Our Citizen Science Flora survey team first found three individuals of this species in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area in August 2023. This recent patch takes our total count to just twelve individuals known - precious indeed!
They were proving elusive however. "Is this it?", Peter asked. It wasn't, but he'd found a patch of eight Red Beaks, another species of orchid that we didn't know existed at YNCA until this time last year when a small patch of five individuals were recorded by our Flora survey members in a different part of YNCA, but in similar habitat.
Both Red Beaks and Small-tongue orchids are uncommon in this region. In fact, we think Red Beaks are unknown. Peter would be the first to say, "I don't know much about plants", but his find is significant. We have now protected these patches of orchids from browsing animals, giving them a fighting chance of persisting into the future.
Anyone, no matter their level of knowledge can, and do, contribute to our Flora surveys. We've just reached a landmark - over 10,000 observations for our 'Yellingbo and surrounds' iNat project. Great work team!

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
Our dry winter came to an end this week with flooding creeks, gushing drainage lines and landslips in our region. Woori Yallock Creek's banks had overflowed, but were now just lapping at the top of the bank. We managed to avoid any showers and the weather was mild as 9 of us gathered for our survey. It was 10.8 deg C with no wind, a nice reprieve from recent icy cold days, and wet & windy weather. We recorded 37 bird species during this Deep winter* survey in Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area, including today's highlight, Wedge-tailed Eagles (who doesn't love them?!), a group of 4 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes (unusually for us to record this sized group), New Holland Honeyeaters and Jacky Winters. In 2024 to date, we've recorded 81 bird species in YNCA, from the 113 species we've recorded from 2020-24.
My thanks to again to Bruce for leading the survey, to Karyn for taking the species notes, and the whole team of regular and new participants.
The blue(ish) skies and still weather meant sitting inside for lunch wasn't an option for this hardy lot! What a fantastic way to spend a few hours with a fabulous group of people!
*1 of 6 seasons in the Middle Yarra Timelines Calendar of the Wurundjeri.