Mulloon teamed up with Bush Heritage Australia and local landholders in the Strathbogie Ranges to help monitor and revive a historic Landcare catchment.
Mulloon Institute’s spatial science specialist, Chris Inskeep, and communications officer, Cass Moore, recently joined Bush Heritage Australia for a citizen science bioblitz at Turnip Creek in north-east Victoria. The event aimed to establish baseline monitoring for bird and frog populations along Turnip Creek and Folly Creek in the Warrenbayne/Boho district of the Strathbogie Ranges. Chris and Cass joined a team of experienced volunteer citizen scientists for morning and evening sessions, counting wildlife along treed creek corridors in farming landscapes that had been cleared for generations.
The Warrenbayne/Boho Land Protection Group was one of the first Landcare groups formed in Victoria back in the 1980s. The Turnip Creek catchment-scale project began in early 2022 when local landholders formed a consortium with Bush Heritage Australia, Alluvium and Mulloon Institute to source funding. Funding was later secured from the William Buckland Foundation, with key support from the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and Deakin University. In 2023, Chris and Mulloon’s Erin Healy revisited the site to provide technical insights for on-ground works and advice on monitoring equipment and systems.
Right: A volunteer identifying birds along Turnip Creek.
Below: A natural spring beside Folly Creek is a haven for a variety of frog and birdlife.
During 2024, monitoring equipment had been installed across four properties along Turnip Creek, with data collected over the past 12 months as part of ongoing baseline studies.
The October bioblitz saw four teams camping at Folly Creek and working alongside local landholders – both for the wildlife count and to install nesting boxes in ancient River Red Gums and frog monitoring equipment for ongoing studies. The passion, knowledge and commitment of the young volunteer group inspired everyone on the ground – the future of biodiversity in Australia is looking very bright!
The perfect spring weather made for some wonderful days away from the office for everyone, and the BBQ on the final evening with volunteers, staff and landholders was cause for great celebration for the project finally underway and the anticipation of what’s to come for the catchment over the next few years.
Gratitude to Joel, Caleb and Sarki from Bush Heritage Australia for having us along for a fabulous few days in the field.
Right: Mulloon staff Cass Moore and Chris Inskeep enjoying the perfect weather along Folly Creek.
Below: A Peron’s Tree Frog spotted at a landholder’s home!
Click on the images to enlarge. From left to right: dramatic tree roots on Turnip Creek, monitoring installations along Turnip Creek, a Grey Shrike Thrush nesting, Folly Creek, bird boxes located along Folly Creek, volunteers navigating Turnip Creek.
