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May newsletter
The Land for Wildlife team have been working with rangers from the Batchelor Institute to facilitate feral cat monitoring and management at the Desert Knowledge Precinct. We have also just begun monitoring for feral cats on some urban GfW and LfW properties in Alice Springs. We take a closer look at the effects of long-term
April Newsletter
— by Bill Low
We have been busy this month working with Ntaria Junior Rangers and Tjuwanpa Women Rangers along with conducting land assessments at Greatorex Rd, Ilparpa and Narwietooma Station. We were lucky enough to be invited to celebrate the anniversary of Olive Pink Botanical Garden and visit Conlan’s Lagoon. Perenties play at the Purdie’s place and Territory
Spring – The Perfect Season for Dove Control
A steady trickle of feral Spotted Turtle Dove trapping records continues to make its way to the Land for Wildlife office. It’s pleasing to see that the community is continuing to target this avian invader. Recent figures include 50 trapped for the year thus far from a Garden for Wildlife member in Eastside and 37 in
Survey 2012 – Biodiversity on Land for Wildlife Properties
Hi there Land for Wildlifers. Well, it’s been a while since our last post, with a busy field season taking up most of coordinators’ time over the past few months. LfW has been recording a few milestones in Alice Springs however, with a third coordinator, Matt Digby, taken on to help ease the work load
Publishing Opportunity: A call for contributions from the Northern Territory Naturalist
A request has come down from the Top End for a greater contribution of natural history literature from Central Australia. While Alice Springs probably punches well above its weight in publication in a variety of journals, apparently we are not well represented in Northern Territory Naturalist. We thought we should put out the call to
Centralian Rainbow Spider?
No not really. Local arachnid expert Robbie Henderson has been kind enough to identify this spider for us as the Black House Spider Badumna insignis. This is a common spider around Alice Springs. It is a smallish spider which grows to a total legspan of about 3cms. I asked Robbie to identify this one for us
BUFFEL FREE ZONE – SHORT-TERM PAIN FOR LONG-TERM GAIN!
A Guest Member Post from Buffel Free Champion, Debbie Page. In 2000 when our family relocated from basic residential living in Alice Springs to Heenan Road, our main goal was to put some ‘space’ between our neighbours and our family of four young boys. Initially, our 5 acre property was quite desolate but with a
Four-spotted Cup Moth
Land for Wildlife member Uwe Path has sent in another great photo from the ever-growing menagerie that can be found on his property. This caterpillar had us stumped initially but in the search for a positive identification, we found a very useful website. The Coffs Harbour Butterfly House website has a resource for anyone trying
Gardening may go to the very heart of what it means to be human.
The Radio National archives have served up the following morsel for all the gardeners out there. This interview with Robert Pogue Harrison on Late Night Live with Phillip Adams provides some interesting perspectives on gardens and gardening. The interview dates from 2009 and serves up some interesting food for thought. Follow this link to download the entire
Land for Wildlife Workshop: Rabbit Monitoring and Control – 10 am Saturday, 31st of March at Olive Pink Botanic Gardens
The 2012 series of Land for Wildlife workshops will commence on Saturday the 31st of March, with a workshop on rabbits and their control. The workshop will be held at Olive Pink Botanic Gardens in the meeting room beside the cafe. The information session will commence at 10am, and should run for about 20 minutes.
Central Australian Bats with Dennis Matthews
Bats are one type of wildlife which we don’t often get to have a close look at here in Alice Springs. They’re certainly about and are actually quite common. This was conclusively shown by a recent workshop that we were able to hold at the Land for Wildlife offices. Renowned bat expert Dennis Matthews was in
Spectacled Hare-wallaby Roadkill in The Tanami…
Some bittersweet news this morning when I got into the office. Dave Price, photographer extraordinaire and regular contributor to our newsletters and blog posts, has sent in some more pics. Unfortunately, he and wife Bess found a roadkilled Spectacled Hare-wallaby Lagorchestes conspicillatus, just north of Rabbit Flats on the Tanami Road. Initially they thought it might
Ayers Rock Yulara Resort Gives Land for Wildlife the Thumbs Up!
Exciting news this week with management at Ayers Rock Yulara Resort giving the go ahead for full registration of the resort with Land for Wildlife. This is the culmination of many months of collaboration between LFW coordinators Jesse and Chris and Adrienne Horton, a representative from resort managers, Voyages. Adrienne has several bold conservation initiatives planned, to
Scribblers of The Centre – Get Busy!
If you’ve got something on your mind, we’d love to hear from you. Jesse and Chris are always looking for interesting wildlife stories and photographs for the newsletter, interstate newsletters, and this blog. If you’ve got some pictures or tales to share and think they might be appropriate for distribution to the national Land for
LFW – Spreading the Word Further in 2012…
2012 is rapidly building pace, and Jesse and Chris are looking for new memberships everywhere, but there are two areas we are particularly interested in at the moment. We have received some funding recently from long-time supporter Territory Eco-link, to start helping landholders on indigenous and pastoral lands in central Australia. These are two types of land
Mystery Skull Baffles the Land for Wildlife Office
Throughout the year, numerous Land for Wildlife members send us interesting photographs and specimens of plants and animals they find on their properties. Often they come with the question “What is it?” Usually we’re able to answer that question, sometimes with a bit of research, conversations with colleagues at Low Ecological Services, or by forwarding
New Year Heat Brings in the Wildlife
It seems to happen every year in the Alice – 40+ degree tempeartures welcoming the new year – and although weather like this makes headlines down south, it hardly rates a mention in Central Australia. It might sound suprising, but during the heat is a great time to check out the wildlife that’s using your garden
Sensational Spotlighting
On warm summer nights, much of our desert wildlife is at its most active and with the weather heating up, now is the perfect time to have a go at spotlighting. All you’ll need is a good torch or head lamp, a sturdy pair of walking shoes and a good patch of wildlife habitat, whether
Global Media – Local Action
Who would have thought that a deep sea fish living around sea mounts in the frigid Southern Ocean off Tasmania might owe a small part of its continued survival to a few knowledgeable, concerned, and connected folks in our desert town? A great example of local community consciousness-raising using global media has just come to a
Nominate Significant Trees Online
Online nomination is now available for the NT Register of Significant Trees. You will find the online form at the link on the right of the page. None of the fields on the form are compulsory but please provide as much and as detailed information as you can; this will help to make the register a