By Max Thompson Led by Roger Thomas and assisted by Max Thompson A full contingent of twenty participants joined Roger for an excursion to Mt Beckworth, where he generously shared his extensive knowledge of the area. The Mt Beckworth Scenic Reserve, an open grassy woodland dominated by Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora) and Long-leaved Box (E.goniocalyx), Read more…

By Angela Aldred Leader- John Gregurke Facilitator- Angela Aldred On Sunday afternoon our group of 13 met at the start of the Dementia Friendly Forest and Sensory trail in the Woowookarung Regional Park. Jeff Rootes from the Friends of Canadian Corridor (FoCC) explained how the Friends had worked hard to gain funding to create this Read more…

By Vireya Jacquard & Andy Arnold Starting at Lal Lal station, Andy pointed out interesting traces in the landscape of geological and human history, including the former Lal Lal swamp. The Wathaurong people previously used this area in its natural state for resources they needed to survive, thrive and practice their unique culture and customs.We Read more…

By Margaret Rich OAM Eleven people set out, led by John Petheram with Margaret Rich assisting. We drove in convoy through Creswick State Forest to our first stop at 600m on the Great Divide, to talk about water catchments, forest management and the importance of water to gold mining. There was a large patch of Read more…

By Max Thompson A small but enthusiastic group gathered at the gates of “Chepstowe” to take up Neville’s generous offer to showcase his property’s environmental highlights. “Chepstowe” is an 800-hectare working farm where environmental management is a major focus.Our first stop was a grassland area that had not been stocked for over twenty years. We Read more…

By Val Hocking We met Kathy at her home for a morning visit. April Newton from Trust for Nature joined us there too. She is a Senior Project Officer, South Central Area.The property, owned by Kathy and her late husband Bill, consists of 20 acres of woodland and has a Trust for Nature covenant. We Read more…

By Alasdair Wardle Eleven of us, including leader Andy Arnold assisted by Roger Thomas, met at Cape Clear near the ‘lighthouse’. We headed to our first stop, the Illabarook Grasslands Flora Reserve. It was a very sunny day, perfect for finding the smaller species in the grassy paddock. Highlights we observed were Golden Moth Orchids, Read more…

By Elspeth Swan & Paul Norquay A highlight of the sunny Saturday afternoon SEANA excursion to Beacon Hill on Incolls Road in Enfield State Park was a display of Twisted Sun-orchids, Thelymitra flexuosa. The thirteen participants, after parking to enjoy the views towards Mt Warrenheip and Mt Buninyong, enjoyed exploring the hillside looking at the Read more…

By Val Hocking and Emily Noble Emily Noble, who works part-time at Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary for BirdLife Australia, escorted 37 of us around this favourite place near Linton. We began by stopping at a roadside area to view flora there. It included Red Parrot-pea, Waxlip Orchids, Common Bird-orchids, Rabbit-ears and the last of the Leopard Read more…

By Margaret Rich OAM On Saturday morning, our group of 20 admired the tall Messmate Stringybarks and Manna Gums on the walk up to the Mount Buninyong crater. Grass tussocks abounded between the old growth trees. We looked down into the crater while hearing the Wadawurrung dreamtime story about the origin of the mountain. The Read more…

By Neville Oddie OAM The participants of SEANA 2025 Spring Camp were privileged to have an evening presentation given by Richard Weatherly OAM. He is a well-known ornithologist, artist, regenerative farmer, and community activist. He studied history at Cambridge University and has spent “over 50 years studying, painting and writing about birds”. Richard has managed Read more…

By Val Hocking       Nicole is the Manager of the Biodiversity Heritage Library Australia based at Museums Victoria. Using many illustrations from various field naturalists’ club’s newsletters that have been digitised and uploaded to this vast online Library, particularly Ballarat’s club newsletters, Nicole gave us an overview of how to navigate the Library Read more…

SEANA Spring Camp 2025 Friday 17th – Sunday 19th October Hosted by the Field Naturalists’ Club of Ballarat Over 90 people attended the SEANA Spring Camp hosted by the Field Naturalists’ Club of Ballarat. Friday’s event registrations, orientation, dinner and guest speaker presentation by Nicole Kearney was held at the Pax Hill Scout Camp, Ballarat Read more…