Fungi Finding

It is disappointing to note that the weather has just been far to nice for fungi life here in Bendigo - however at Number 7 Reservoir last Sunday we did find a few examples - and you will see Rod down below saying "cheers to that"!

Last year it was lovely and wet and Rod taught us all how to make fungi spore pictures - click here for more details.

Joy brought along her mirror to check under the fungi's skirts!

Most people brought along a camera to take shots of our treasure findings - don't for get to send yours to bendigonatureclub@gmail.com or pop on our Facebook page

Mostly you will find fungi in soggy places, that are dark and gloomy.  Jan and Indigo found an example of Mycelium growing on a log.  It is the white webby stuff and it is the start of new fungi waiting for the rain and the wind to help it grow and send out spores for new fungi.

The Bendigo Field Naturalists provided everyone with a id sheet to find different sorts of fungi -  including fungi with gills, bracket fungi and puff ball fungi!

As always we find other exciting life in the bush - this time wild honey comb!

Join us next time for tree hugging loving in June!

Finding Fungi

Come along for a morning out in our local bush hunting for Fungi.  A special adventure especially for kids and their big people, made possible by the wonderful support of the Bendigo Field Naturalists

When: Sunday 20th of May 10am – 12pm

Where: Location Provided on Registration

Cost: Free

Information & Registration: 

bendigonatureclub@gmail.com or 5443 1326

Wattle we do now?

We had a small but keen group of Family Nature Club members who were prepared to find out the answers to our question:  'Wattle we do now?'

We took this opportunity to move our study site to the One Tree Hill section of the National Park, meeting in Kairn Road to find out what this very interesting part of our forest had to offer us.

Thanks, again, to our willing band of knowledgeable helpers, we managed to discover quite a lot about the wattles and other plants which were growing there.  The children were encouraged to add to their own records by making rubbings of the leaves & phyllodes that they and we found.  Some very good leaf/phyllode rubbings were produced under Jan's guidance.

After a brief talk about which wattles grew here, we then went on a wattle hunt to try and find them, managing a good total of 5 species in just a small area.  The children were encouraged to complete a 'Tick' list of the wattles that they found and to write the names of these wattles on the sheet of colour photos that each one had been given (of the wattles of this area which had phyllodes instead of leaves). 

We looked for, but didn't have time to find, Black Wattle to examine its leaves (not phyllodes) but had already studied and made rubbings of the 'ferny' leaves of Cootamundra Wattle, which was quite common in this area.

Of course, and as usual with this group of keen-eyed people, many other interesting creatures, rocks and plants were also noticed.  This specimen, probably a Geometrid Moth larva, took some finding because it blended in so well, but it made the mistake of moving and was noticed immediately.  During the time that we examined it and took its photo, it moved continuously and continued eating the stamens of the wattle flower.

The answer to the question 'Why is the larva the same colour as the flowers of the Spreading Wattle?' was given very neatly by a parent - 'What colour would you expect to be if you ate only Broccoli?'  No further questions!

We had a final brief talk about why wattles were important in our bushland because of their role in Nitrogen Fixing, in association with specialised bacteria living in their roots.  Everyone had noticed the hard, dry, rocky soil but these plants were doing very well in these conditions because they were able to make their own supplies of nitrogen fertilizer.

The weather was beautiful, the bush was very interesting and attractive and everyone went home knowing a bit more about how to identify wattles even when most of them weren't flowering.  Everyone also discovered how to spell 'phyllode' and what it meant.

There are many other very interesting sections of the Greater Bendigo National Park that we will also use in future for our Family Nature Club's activities.

Wattle we do now?

Sunday 15 April 10 am- 12pm    

A focus on wattles, as well as rubbings of other leaves 

Free event for
& their big people

Location provided on registration 

 

bendigonatureclub@gamil.com or 5443 1326

Some Important Zone Fossils that can be found in Bendigo

Treasures of all ages

Last Sunday the Bendigo Family Nature Club organised a fossil hunt in the bush at the back of Spring Gully. Lots of people turned up with their little kids and we had a great morning finding creatures from the distant past.

The fossils we found were from the geological period known as the Ordovician. This covers the time period from about 440-500 million year before the present. In Ordovician times eastern Australia was at the bottom of a very deep sea. Not much lived down there. For the most part thefossils we find are things that floated around on the sea surface and fell to the bottom after dying. 

 

The most common fossils (by far) are graptolites. These little guys were colonial organisms that had their own little flotation device. A small balloon like structure allowed them to float whilst the rest of the organism (the fossilised bit) dangled down in the water.

Each of the little parts that look like the teeth of a saw was the home for a tiny animal known as a zoid or polyp.   Graptolites were around and very prevalent from about 500 million years ago. (Cambrian Period) through to about 400 million years ago (Devonian Period). During these time they progressed down an amazing evolutionary path and, accordingly, they are very good marker fossils that allow for subdivision of periods such as the Ordovician. This is why and how the Ordovician rocks are shown on the Bendigo geological maps as comprising a number of different sub-stages.

Anyway, the kids (and the adults) had a fantastic time last Sunday. They turned over some rocks and broke open others and they all found fossils.

Marbled Gecko (Christinus marmoratus) - the soft-scaled one with faint, grey, blotchy markings.

Some historic photos from 1971, taken by Bendigo Field Naturalists.

They are copied from the Bendigo Naturalist (Vol. 4, No. 4, Dec. 1971).

Aren't they beautiful?