Cartwheel Bend

2010-01-31T12:57:00.005+11:00

2010 Family Fishing Trip - Update

Annual Trip confirmed as being Thursday 25th of March through to Sunday. Athough it is not possible for Sara and Scott to come that weekend it remains the most likely weekend for most.

Sam's Trip to the Northern Territory

2009-09-29T10:49:00.004+10:00

Sam wanted me to put up some of his pictures, taken with my TrailCAM, from the NT trip.

These pictures are two of about 100 that were taken around the body of a dead cow on the station Sam camped at near Mataranka, NT. It wouldn't be a good idea to knock yourself out in the bush around in this area!

Photos taken at 6.30 am and 3.45 am on July 9th this year

In other news, Kristin wanted to know when the family trip is next year. We will do it again Thursday 25th of March to Sunday 28th of March -- the first weekend of term holidays, and a week before Easter. Everyone to be there on Thursday night again. Scotty may be too old to play footy next year, so we will see him!!!

Perhaps there might be some reasons why "M" won't be camping out on this trip!

Fox spotted on TrailCAM

2009-05-18T09:57:00.004+10:00

A fox wanders past at 9pm on 17th April 2009

Trail Cam Pics

2009-04-24T20:39:00.008+10:00

After the family trip Russ left the TrailCAM attached to a tree trunk, with the lure of left over buns from Michelle's Dad (thanks Heinz!). The following photos were shot in the next week. In fact, we had 150 different photos. Many times it went off, for no apparent reason. But a reason must have been there....slithering past, unseen. These are the pick of them.

Click pictures to see a bigger version.

Russ dropping the bread buns for bait

Wedge-Tailed Eagle (Flying in at 10:04 and landing at 10:10am)

Magpie Lark

Red Fox

Brushtail Possum

Easter 09 Meredith, Harry, Diana and (10th and 11th April)

2009-04-18T19:52:00.008+10:00

Harry and Meredith, Russ and Davo, Hugh and Diana and Jill and I had a couple of days over Easter. On Friday, Emma went to Confest with Rach and Matt.....on Sunday Jill and I left to go to Hughies funeral in Wyche. All others left as well barring Russ and Davo who stayed between Gunbower and the block over Sunday and Monday (catching - and releasing - five more cod!).

Weather perfect; Russ said we caught and released nearly 20 cod. No european carp I can recall at all! I caught a yellowbelly (Golden Perch) and cooked it up for Meredith and Harry to have a taste.

We brought nearly all the Whymoul Bridge back to camp (it was being replaced) as it produced ideal redgum/campoven wood. Di and Hugh provided the bulk of the meals and we cooked a lovely lamb campoven and vegies on Saturday night. H, D, H and M went on a couple of quite long walks along the river to keep the limbs moving; in fact camp was deserted when we arrived just before lunchtime on Good Friday - everyone out on a walk. No goannas (they appear to have moved on), although put up the TrailCAM from the weekend before and got 150 pictures - most notably an eagle, fox, possum, magpies, crows, treecreeper and a couple of butcherbirds.

Emma, Matt and Rachel came through on Friday on the way to Confest on the Edward- in the little VW. It went very well; they picked up tents and gear and had a great trip. Back on the Tuesday night after Easter. Must buy a little roof rack/tub for the VW

Shower went well, but must remember to recharge each 36 hours or so.

Most of the camp attended the Easter Murrabit Market. Harry had promised to buy me a big, useless and hopefully heavy engine to put somewhere and never use -- but he couldn't see one. It was a big market though; everyone had fun.

Diana and Hugh were very impressed with Davo's Hobie canoe and may look at the estuary model for Toora. It is pedal driven and really moves along.

The River? Began the Environmental release on March 9th. Came under the bridge on the Moulamein Rd on Sunday March 29th. However, didn't get to the bend until late Wednesday April 8th/9th. Almost exactly one month ie 30-31 days. Didn't reach Gregor's over Easter. I think Sam said that Cartwheel was 6.4km from the bridge by GPS and Gregors 6.2km from Cartwheel....and I think Sam said it went through Gregors 14th-15th. So about 10 days to get to Cartwheel from the bridge, and about 7 days to Gregors from there.

Will post a bit more on the trip soon - I have to upload some photos as well.

Family Trip April 2-5 2009 - How it went

2009-04-06T20:51:00.019+10:00

Everyone had a good time and Kristin never saw any goannas. The kids had a particularly good time. Rohan, Eric and Lottie are checking out the action on the river; Thomas is trying out Sam's line in the boat.

Liza, Emma and Mel took over 100 photo's - mainly of the kids! In the next few weeks we will get the photos onto the internet or probably better onto a CD and send them to everyone so they can print off the photos they like.

I think we had 29 family and cousins attend - if you count Russ as a cousin/family. Weather was very kind; river came up on the Wednesday after we came back, but that didn't matter. There had been enough water for the canoes and the kids. We did catch two cod (and release) over 60 cm in length.

Highlights? Having Pat and Len come (they hit a kangaroo on the way out Saturday night); Sara and Matt (Guitar and didgeridoo, with Josh in accompaniment). Market was good; and Gordon and Eirlys came across for a chat. Good fires, courtesy of some wood from the old Whymoul Bridge and the dinner on Saturday night that Jonesy cooked. Pretty yum as usual. Matt taking 2 hours to put up the 1 minute tent.

Nathan Shannon came up with Josh on Saturday I think (Josh came Friday). Josh met Nath in the little yellow Suzuki in Barham....and brought home some more wood from the bridge on the way back. Josh had a tent that was about 15 cm too short for him. Sara made plenty of that!

Spud went for a long walk with the "black and purple Oargee" spinner, but no luck. Although he did catch a cod on a hogback lure in the camp hole (Cartwheel Bend). Sam shot 6 ducks for Len on Saturday morning I think and plucked them at camp - just as Gordon came over. Stephen took two back to Melbourne and cooked them up. First duck for many years.

Next year we will all come again on Thursday (almost everyone did) and this time we will put a bit of time into planning the meals so that we don't have so much additional food. We had two lamb roasts (3kg boneless); two of Spud's chooks and Jonesy brought a pork roast on Saturday night. We had perhaps a chook and a bit left.

We will do it again next year with 2010 dates being Thursday 25th of March to Sunday 28th of March -- the first weekend of term holidays, and a week before Easter. Everyone to be there on Thursday night again. Scotty may be too old to play footy next year, so we will see him!!!

Update on Family Trip - April 2-5 2009

2009-03-08T10:55:00.012+11:00

The news on the trip

Pat and Len are coming and will be with us 3 nights beginning on Thursday night for dinner. They will stay in Barham (Golden Rivers Apartments) and I will drive them up, in their car, on early Thursday.

The Murrabit Market is on Saturday 4th while we are there (that is the inset picture). A compulsory large attendance first thing in the morning, with maybe a coffee scroll at the Barham Bakery on the way back

Kristin is nervous about the goanna's on the block. Security is at all time highs (unlike the protection of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan) and we should all be safe. After all, we have tried to hunt a goanna into Len's tent and they don't go in easily (March 2003)

Matt and Michelle are early commitments to being there with kids on Thursday evening - and Matt will bring his didgeridoo (Sara guitar).

River is expected to be good (an environmental flow is coming down) but we may run out of time. The flow began coming on March 9th. That will give it just over three weeks to reach our bend and it will be a close thing! We may be overlooking a very dry bend in the river!

Communal dinner will be arranged on Saturday night; apart from that we will largely look after each other's needs - have a resident four burner, hooded barbecue on the block now (ex Darren and Belinda)

Adults coming - Keith, Pat, Spud, Glenys, Andy, Ceri, Josh, Matt, Michelle, Pat, Len, Jill, Kris, Sara, Scott, Meredith, Sam, Stephen, Emma, Liza & John, Melanie, Russ

Our Christmas 2008 Trip

2009-01-05T16:32:00.015+11:00

We had a wonderful time between Christmas and New Year. Three goannas on the block; lurking about camp. Lace Monitors, one of which had broad yellow and black stripes across it's back and is called the "Bell's Form" Lace Monitor. Supposedly it is a recessive gene in the Lace Monitor and only found in far Northern NSW and SE Queensland. Well, we can inform the globe, there is one on the Wakool! Don't know why they have turned up but maybe because we are getting more ground cover and there are a lot of little geckos, skinks etc. A bit of food, shelter and quiet.

Donna went shooting and fishing (below). She loves camping and the bush; going without a shower for days on end and just snacking on bush tucker. Or at least that is what she told us.....!!!!

Geoff and Julie Rogers dropped in for two nights on their way to Broken Hill. Julie has an art exhibition at Heathcote and we are hoping that maybe, one day, a painting of Cartwheel Bend will emerge in watercolour! Weather was nice, albeit windy. A small cod caught; carp and one silver bream.

Only one of these fish returned to the water and I will leave it to the reader to theorise which one! Anyway, the small bits of cod we all shared were beautiful. Jill and Donna cooked them up.

Lunch time at camp below. Allan and Gill, mighty Morgan in the background (Robert behind Mum) and Hugh chatting with Geoff. Geoff, again with the lifejacket on in case the river rose rapidly - a 7 metre rise in five minutes would be the type of threat Geoff would be planning to overcome.

Another lovely trip. Hugh and Diana left on Monday to get ready for Flinders Island, Geoff and Julie on Tuesday and the rest of us on New Years Eve (Wednesday). River at about 0.65 m and pretty windy conditions - albeit sunny. The little yellow Suzuki managed to get the boat and motor down that steep slope; Robert and Morgan drove the little yellow ute but Aunty Jill and I thought Morgan went way too fast.......will have to watch him Mum and Dad! Robert was much more responsible but, really, we also had to watch him closely. Both were really good drivers.

We went spotlighting, fishing, spider chasing, we ate frutata, Gill's stew (beef with chicken sauce - voted meal of the trip) and we had (mostly) warm showers.

Our Next Family Trip - April 2nd - 5th 2009

2009-01-01T13:07:00.005+11:00

This is to give everyone plenty of warning. I am posting the next Family trip date:

Thursday 2nd April - Sunday 5th April

In 2009 the expectation is that everyone has arranged their holidays and so forth to be present on Thursday night, April 2nd, at the very latest.

Just so you know, Easter this year is Friday 10th - Monday 13th April.

Last year we had a great time, but those travelling a fair way with children find it not worth the effort unless there are two clear days of rest and relaxation involved. Sara and Kristen count as kids in this regard (note for Spud and Glenys)

Eric, Whitney, Lottie and Lainie are discussing this year already. Plenty of excitement evident in this picture.

Sam and his 55 cm cod

2008-11-04T20:59:00.012+11:00

Melbourne Cup Evening I received a text message from Sam. He had caught 14 cod through the day, and this 55 cm cod was one of them. He threw them all back.

Sam caught the cod on Gregor's place; you can see the water in the background is at a nice height. It has been running at about 1.3m for most of the past fortnight (normally 1.1m level through summer).

On the following Wednesday/Thursday the block had 24mm. So that should strike the Curly Windmill Grass in the next three weeks and green things up.

Weekend at the Wakool with Diana & Hugh

2008-10-06T19:56:00.009+11:00

Diana and Hugh out cutting Patterson's Curse. We don't have many plants because it hasn't been cultivated here much. Apparently Patterson was a farmer at Albury and this purple weed first appeared on his farm and then spread to neighbouring reserves on the Murray.

Had a great weekend (Oct 3/4/5) - going to the Murrabit Market; spotlighting; cappuccino in Barham; canoeing; campoven meal. Claire and Emma were with us. We showed Claire how to find wolf spiders in the torch at night. Those skills are never wasted!

We had 7 mm of rain on the Friday night - and there will be nothing further to fall throughout the whole of October! Almost the driest start to a spring on record.

The river is due to have another flush of water come down later in the month. It will need it. Saw a White Breasted Sea Eagle fly through the bend and will add it to our list on the blog. A beautiful bird.

The picture shows the flies giving Diana, in particular, a fair bit of a work over.

Bogged! (a video - press play)

2008-09-01T18:14:00.005+10:00

Matt pulling Sam out of the mud!

Uncle Spud catches a yellow-belly! (a video - press play)

2008-09-01T17:58:00.003+10:00

Rohan is off fishing.

2008-08-30T17:26:00.005+10:00

On our family fishing trip, Rohan and Eric (not Whitney yet!) did a lot of fishing.

These photos show Rohan taking Lottie off to do some fishing early in the afternoon - after we had lunch.

Eric knew where there were some whoppers (under a log) and Sam took both Eric and Rohan in the boat to find them. I think they might have found a few.

Rohan, Eric and Whitney slept with Mum and Dad in the tent, beside the old shack. Mum and Dad's mattress went down in the night (it was a blow up one) but the kid's mattress stayed up. Note that Rohan has camouflage pants on in the photo to the right. This is to make sure he blends into the background when in the bush. In fact, I don't know if he has legs? Can anyone see legs in this photo???

Rohan must have gone fishing a lot because he is wearing different clothes in each photo

Unca Steve (no, Great Unca Steve)

Fixing the Suzuki August 23rd 2008

2008-08-25T18:45:00.010+10:00

The Wakool is already trending back.

The picture above shows the extent of water in the bend, with the expectation that this summer there may not be a flow down the river.

Scott Buckingham has asked if he can shift his house pump into the bend beside our block because he anticipates that this will be where the last water is. Gordon is a little more confident "If we get good spring rains then I think we may well get a flush allowed down". Sam came out and put an electric fuel pump on the Suzuki. He picked up my rod and had one cast -- catching the cod on the right hand side. First cast, one cod. The next few casts grabbed a snag and I lost the Boomerang lure!! The photo below is a pig's track. Sam saw the tracks along the fence, so we have had a 60 kg pig wandering the block after the last rain. Matt heard some in Gordon's during the April trip and Gordon says they occasionally come through the lignum on his side

It is still very dry. There was 37 mm in the gauge, but this would have been since July 13th when we were last at Riverley. The ground has only patches of green, with a lot of bare ground and really not much chance of a big grass cover over summer and spring.

The big issue will be whether the river will be allowed to flow and that will be determined by rain in the next two months.

There were a lot of kangaroos. I counted 27 in one mob and I would have seen at least 100 between our place and Scott's place when I went spotlighting. The roo shooter may come in soon, although they are getting a little more flighty.

The Story of the Family Trip (April 08)

2008-08-03T14:45:00.007+10:00

I have written a story of last year - and I will post it sometime in the next week. The family have been camping together in the early part of each year for maybe 40 years.

It keeps us in touch; provides plenty of laughs and will continue to be a tradition as long as the shower stays warm, the toilet works and the beds are comfy

The story will be about Spud and Glenys coming late on Friday night - and Sara and Kristen following soon after; It discusses Pat and Keith's arrival the day before (Jonesy sitting over here on the right of blog) and our inspection of the river.

The Wakool was very low after having had a pulse of water down in late December through to February in order to join the pools and keep oxygen coming for the fish. It needed to flush the algae that had been building as well

Matt and Michelle arrived late on Friday night and set up in the dark along the track, with Lainie, her friend, Lottie running around. Matt's easy erect tent (45 seconds to erect) was finally finished just prior to midnight! Andy and Ceri joined us with the boys and Whitney -- blowing up their mattress which dutifully went down over night! I wonder if that has ever happened camping before??

Anyway, those and other gripping stories will come. I have them documented so we can remember. The best will be about Sam getting bogged though!

Unca Steve

Hello Sam, Meredith and Thomas

2008-07-30T21:07:00.008+10:00

More for Sam, Meredith and Thomas

I thought I would update your blogspot with a picture of the Suzuki, driven by Matt, pulling the family rig out of the river!

To quote Sam "I would never have been bogged if Dad hadn't guided me into that black mud! As if you would let me drive into that black mud. Nothing gets out of that black mud. It was Dad, and the black mud!".

Sam was a bit annoyed with this. Spud thought it was the highlight of the trip. Matt wants to buy a Suzuki now!

See you soon

Unca Steve and Auntie Jill

This Calendar Year - The Weather

2008-07-18T21:48:00.025+10:00

Since we have owned the block (July 2003) the great majority of the seasons have experienced below average (or considerably below average) rainfall. The last two Autumns, for example, rank as the driest Autumns on record for this part of the Murray Darling Basin. This continues. For example:

December 2007 recorded 41mm; but in 2008 (to date) we have had
o 24mm in January;
o 0 mm in February;
o 4.4 mm in March;
o 2.8 mm in April and
o 20 mm in May

11 mm in June (Swan Hill). Cartwheel Bend had more.

36 mm in July (Swan Hill). 31 mm at Cartwheel.

26 mm was registered by Gordon on 8th and 9th of June - at this time Wyche only had 7-9 mm.

31mm through July In the three days after Sunday July 13th, the block had about 10 mm; but at this stage the block still looked as dry as summer. No green pick; Gordon and Eirlys had old ewes lambing next door and they had no green feed - Gordon was feeding out some hay. It appeared (on July 13th) that our direct drilled trees were still surviving in some spots.

On July 20th a further 8 mm fell and Gordon is confident he will see some feed for his ewes in a couple of weeks. In total Gordon finished July with 31 mm

As July closed, the Wakool was very low, at the summer levels of November 2007. So, the bend will have a lot of bare ground. Before this summer, without very significant rain, we will expect that the river returns to pools. Goulburn Murray Water have already said that the Wakool and Edward Rivers may have to be closed down in order to save water for Adelaide. So, the hope is for significant rains!

Dryish August. August was about 28 mm -- started with 15mm, until August 30th where another 13 mm fell.

I spoke to Gordon on August 2nd. There is a green pick on the native grasses, but nothing is getting away on the irrigated country. He said that the kangaroos are in big numbers and attacking Duries crops a bit. He may call in the roo shooter again.

On August 10th talked to Gordon. The last week had seen 10 mm of rain, in two falls and then on Saturday evening 9th, another 5 mm. It is green at a distance, but there are plenty of bare patches when you look closely. The sheep are eating the canola hay, but are still carrying lambs and are hungry. There is only a real pick in those paddocks that have been locked up. Because it was dry until the winter, and then July has been the coldest for 10 years (although spot on July's 100 year average temperature), the feed has not grown. In spots there is water lying about; the next month will see a bit of growth as daylengths extend and as it gets warmer. The rain needs to keep going, but with the rain of Saturday 9th August, spirits are higher.

Pat and Keith, Spud and Glenys had between 10-12 mm in this Saturday night rain...with the week ahead looking showery.

These conditions would be good, you would think, for the trees we sowed.

Don't know what conditions were like in Hawthorn Di and Hugh; but there was 20 mm in our rain gauge this morning. Hope your lambing ewes are OK.

August 22nd and 23rd I visited the block and things weren't looking that strong with respect to growth; bare batches everywhere. Not green at all (see the visit log under the Suzuki story) and some of the seeded trees from the sowing on July 23rd last year were looking "average". A bit blue, which is normally a water stress problem.

August 30th saw another 13.4 mm on the block and about the same at Wyche. I phoned Gordon at 1.30 pm on Sunday 31st and a fair downpour had just begun.....with no idea whether this would have much in it (ended up with 13.4mm). The roo shooter had come in midweek and taken 6 off Riverley, and 32 in total for the night. Normally they get $25-$35 per roo - exported for human consumption, Russia mainly.

Spring fails

November 6th. About 24 mm on the block. Rang Gordon and he was very pleased with the rain. A good, strong rain through the day. Should strike some of the native grasses for later in December. Gordon had a further 16 mm not long after

December 12th. I rang Eirlys during the week (December 10th?) and they had had 8.6 mm. I phoned December 12th and they had had 18.6 mm and it was still raining. The country had a green pick from the natives; this rain will really boost the existing growth. Will phone tomorrow (13th) to check ongoing rain.

December 13th - Gordon reported 40.4 mm in total for the past 24 hours. Very muddy and getting quite windy. He believes this should deliver good feed for a month on the native pastures. This would provide (as of the 13th) about 90 mm for November and December (over 3.5 inches). Last Christmas (about the 20th of Dec 2007) there was a 60 mm rain. So, it comes in big bits at times and mostly summer recently.

Break 2009

January and February had no rain at Swan Hill. March, April and May had 15 mm, 25mm and 10 mm respectively. It was very dry in the beginning of 2009

21 mm around end of April, then 53 mm in first week of June. The first significant rains came in late April, around Anzac Day. We had about 20-21 mm on the block and most people began to sow. It was a good early break but dissolved into a really dry May. 10.6 mm was the next rain in the last few days of May; followed by rain in the week beginning June 1st. As I type (June 1) it is raining from a high level Low system in the North. Swan Hill has had maybe 8 mm, and it will rain on and off for the week. I will ring Gordon to check the rain tomorrow night (2nd of June).

By the end of the week (June 7th) Gordon had recorded 52.6 mm. He said it was very wet and couldn't drive around in the paddocks, or easily feed out. A very good rain that should strike my remaining tree seeds (or a portion of them). Pat and Keith had about 45mm in the same rain.....at this state (Monday 8th June) it is a little drier but some more lows are coming through end of the week.

By the end of June rainfall had been around 64mm in Swan Hill.....well over average. Charlton had also recorded just over 60 mm for June.

The block had had this amount as well. Speaking to Gordon in the last week of June he said that the grass on lighter country had gotten away, but the heavier black country was taking a little longer to establish cover. Nevertheless, it was pretty moist and the light rains etc kept coming through. Weather conditions in the first week of July were also light rain, overcast and cool.

But July, August and most of September failed with 20-30 mm in each month. In the week leading up to the Grand Final, however, we had probably 36 mm which really helped. Gordon and Eirlys had just sown 60km of direct seeded trees and shrubs; the environmental flows for the Wakool had been released beginning September 15th. A lot of small white daisies around and Gordon said (after the rain) that the pasture was really starting to move. The crop on the sandhill coming in along ColensoPark Road was fantastic.

The Animals and Reptiles We've Seen

2008-07-18T20:20:00.004+10:00

Click to see Trail Cam pics

The list of animals and reptiles isn't as long as the bird list. Probably the favourite so far is the Yellow Footed Antechinus we see a lot of in Autumn - usually March and April. Spud calls them the "anti-climax". The male dies after they mate; they use all their energy in mating and then lay down and let life leave! They are in the hut (we caught some in an open bucket) and really dart all over the place. They have small, sharp carnivorous teeth.

Other sightings include:

Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Fox
Feral Pig (jawbone on property; pigs seen crossing road by Sam)
Yellow Footed Antechinus
Lace Monitor - normal and Bell's form (goanna) Brown Snake
Boulengers Skink
Carnaby’s Wall Skink
Common Brushtail Possum
Sugar Glider
House Mouse
Hare
Rabbit
Eastern Long Neck Turtle (caught while fishing)
Southern Marbled Gecko
Red Bellied Black Snake
Wolf Spider
Perons Tree Frog
Marsh Froglet

Ø Have seen and heard bats. If you hear them, they are probably southern Freetail bats
Ø Sap suck marks on trees (usually the redgums) show that gliders are around. They might be squirrel gliders, sugar gliders or maybe feathertail gliders

Saw 3 goanna's on the block (30th Dec 08). One was a Bell's form Lace Monitor with gold and black broad bands across it's back. It is supposedly a recessive gene in the Lace Monitor, with this form being restricted to the North of NSW and lower SE Queensland. The goanna's are probably coming as the wood builds up and there are more small lizards etc to prey on. As well, they use termites nests to hatch their eggs and increasingly we have a lot of termites with the increase in wood cover.

Birds We've Spotted & Pale Knotweed (Persicaria sp.)

2008-07-17T23:35:00.041+10:00

Click to see Trail Cam pics

A list of birds we've spotted on the block since June 2003, including what we think was a Plains Wanderer! (example picture left)

We count from the time we turn onto our road - Colensopark Road, so not all the birds are on the 40 hectares, but they are all local, riverine birds. At this time (July 20th 2008) we think we have sighted or heard 75 birds. It is that Hooded Robin we are most unsure of!

Australian Darter

Australian Hobby (Russ confirmed two October 2nd 2004)

Australian Kestrel (Nankeen)

Australian Raven

Azure Kingfisher

Black Duck

Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike

Black Faced Woodswallow (Russ saw it on 4th March'05 just into Gordon Farrant's place)

Black Shouldered Kite

Brown Songlark (Skylark)

Black Swan

Brown TreeCreeper (confirmed March 20 '04; reconfirmed October 2nd '04. A bit rare)

Boobook Owl (mopoke; heard many times; saw spotlighting with Diana and Hugh 29/12/07)

Bronzewing Pigeon

Brown Falcon

Magpie Lark

Chestnut Rumped Thornbill (did it have white eye?)

Crested Pigeon

Eastern Rosella

Emu (swam across river, March 05; and many other sightings)

Galah

Golden Whistler

Great Cormorant (Large black)

Grey Crowned Babbler

Grey Fantail

Grey Teal

Hooded Robin (uncommon; top of lignum on river side of levee 29/12/07)

Jacky Winter

Kookaburra

Little Eagle (sitting on a dead rabbit, ColensoPark Road, December 24th 2007)

Little Friar Bird (or it could be a noisy friar bird?)

Long Billed Corella

Masked Plover

Mistletoe Bird

Mountain Duck

Noisy Miner

Pacific Heron (on channel, March '04)

Peaceful Dove (Russ saw it at Easter on the bridge in ColensoPark Road, 10/04/04)

Pelican (bones on block at purchase; on bend 6th October 2006; 11 or more on bend Dec 2007)

Peregrine Falcon (three on the second bend downstream October 2004)

Pied Butcher Bird

Pied Currawong

Plains Wanderer (Bird 70! Very rare; on the river side near camp. Dec 21st 2005)

Rainbow BeeEater (on the sandhill on the way down ColensoPark Road)

Red Rumped Parrot

Restless Flycatcher

Richards' Pipit

Rufous Fantail (black box trees near river; 16th April '05)

Rufous Whistler (male)

Sacred Kingfisher

Small Pied Cormorant

Southern Whiteface (Russ saw it in a walk in Farrants before Easter 04)

Spotted Harrier (Rare, sitting on stump in paddock along ColensoPark Road March 07)

Striated Pardolate

Strawnecked Ibis

Tawny Frogmouth (heard them a couple of times "ooooommm oooooom")

Wedge Tailed Eagle (along Barbers Creek, March '04; in tree downstream of camp March '05)

Welcome Swallow

Whistling Kite

White Cockatoo

White Faced Heron (lives just upstream of Cartwheel)

White Fronted Chat (22/2/05. Stephen saw on Farrants fence, along ColensoPark Road; near our block)

White Plumed Honey Eater

White Throated TreeCreeper

White Winged Chough

Willie Wagtail

Wood Duck

Yellow Rosella

Yellow Rumped Thornbill

Yellow Spoonbill

Zebra Finch

Black Tailed Native Hen (October 2009, along ColensoPark Road)

Crested Shrike Tit (October 2009, on Scott's place)

White Breasted Sea Eagle (Oct 4 2008, just flying through the bend, being chased by magpies))

Unconfirmed but suspicious

Russ pursued a bird and didn't know whether it was a Hooded Robin or Jacky Winter April 04. Hooded Robins are in the area but a little rare. They like sparse lignum like ours.
Stephen may have seen a juvenile White Winged Triller in lignum in Gordon's (Feb 05)
Stephen may have heard a Barking Owl at night (Feb 05)
Russell might have heard an Owlet Nightjar (Jan 05)

History of the Wakool

2007-09-04T13:11:00.002+10:00

I have contacted Shane Storm of Niemur St Barham; aged about 50.

His family had the property, which he and all the locals call “the Cartwheel”, for many years. His grandfather bought it (in what must have been the early 1900’s) but Shane doesn’t know where the name comes from….except for the backflooding that happens in the little wash. Maybe that forms a Cartwheel.

They sold it to Bish’s in 1972 – who suffered misfortune with the floods of 73, 74 and then 75.

It passed to Graingers in about 1976 who had it for around 25 years until the property developer from Wangaratta purchased it about 1999 or 2000. We bought it from him in 2003.

Shane used to catch a lot of cod in the bend, and about ½ way down the straight stretch downstream of the bend. It used to be a pump site. A lot of yellow belly in the bend downstream, opposite where the creek runs in off Mays property

The Hut was built by his Dad so that people coming from Queenscliff could have a good spot to stay when they visited. Storms house was where Buckinghams is today.

Shane said that upstream it was difficult to get past a tree that had fallen near the island. Downstream you couldn’t get past the tree that had fallen down (the tree that Sam Jones has since “seen to”.) Sam’s tree must have fallen in the late 60’s because Shane can remember it happening --- they were still on the property. Ever since the locals have had to drag their boat across it; or run at it to get over.

The hut was usually out of water except for in the very biggest floods eg 1975, when it had about a foot of water through it. The hut and a little bit of land around it was last out of water. The locals have never known the bend to be dry.

River Height, Flow & Temp

2007-09-04T10:07:00.002+10:00

Click for Wakool River height, flow and temperature

Note:

This link shows the river characteristics of the Wakool at the bridge on the Barham-Moulamein Road, about 9km upstream from our bend. Our observations of this data, and what it means to the state of the river are as follows:

At 1.0m height the river bend is about normal; the backwater is full and the bend is about 50m across. The small Red Gum across the river (on the right hand side of the bend looking from camp) has water lapping at its feet. The river is navigable with some log bumping up and downstream.
At 1.1m and above you could clear the downstream logs easily with all craft
At 0.55m the backwater has emptied. Feel content to boat locally!

Any water temperature below 21 degrees C - hold your breath and run in!

The Seeds We've Sown - July 23rd 2007

2007-07-23T12:57:00.003+10:00

We direct drilled about 70,000 seeds in July 2007; requiring about 32 km of single tyne drilling. The seeder was towed behind a four wheel drive, with two units (seeder plus 4 WD) working (see one of the rigs above)

The picture is one of silver cassia, or senna artimisioides - one of the sown species. Senna is a small woody shrub which grows to about 2m. A silvery appearance created by short white hairs on the branchlets and leaves. Leaves are 2-4cm long with 4-8 pairs of leaflets which are narrowly cylindrical, grey green or silvery.

We already have some Miljee on the south side of the block in particular and the River Cooba (stenophylla) we have planted from tubestock along the river bank. Where it has been planted by the river's edge it is doing very well. The Cooba is best seen at the first ramp coming in along Colensopark Road. There is a really strong stand of Cooba on either side of the road; and again about 100 metres past the Yarrein Creek bridge (about a km further on from the ramp).

The Species recommended for sowing were:

Gold dust wattle (acacia acinacea) 20%

Miljee or Umbrella wattle (a. oswaldii) 20%

Cooba (a. salicina) 20%

River Cooba (a. stenophylla) 20%

Sugarwood (myoporum platycarpum) 10%

Butterbush (pittosporum phillyreoides) 10%

The actual sowing guide (on the day) had in it

900 grams of gold dust wattle

400 grams of A. melvillei

1200 grams of Miljee

600 grams of Cooba

1200 grams of River Cooba

200 grams of Melaleuca lanceolata

600 grams of Butter bush

900 grams of Senna artemisioides

Our first meeting with Murray Irrigation Limited Revegetation Officer – Josh Ellis

2005-04-15T13:42:00.004+10:00

Pat and I met up with Josh Ellis (Murray Catchment Management Authority) in Barham and then travelled to the block.

We walked all across the block and :

We found what we believe to be an aboriginal midden about 400 m from the river. It is the highest country; if you stand on it you can see all around and hence it is ideal for seeing prey and enemies, we guessed

We found Rhagodia spinescens (thorny saltbush) volunteering; and plenty of Yanga bush (Maireana brevifolia) where none had been before. It is a small saltbush…also called shortleafed saltbush. This is the stuff coming up right across the block and which is now commonly showing its head above the grass on the adjacent blocks.

We also found Cotton bush on the south side; and some Ruby Saltbush, which is slightly different to the Yanga bush and carries an edible berry which can be made into a drink. Its leaves are a bit longer and slightly larger than Yanga bush. It is also succulent, and has a different growth habit. It is over near the black box on the south side of the levy. The kangaroos are spending a lot of time under the black box; digging it up and stopping those Ruby Saltbush taking hold

I would think there were 70-100 kangaroos in and around the block this weekend, with a lot of kanga poo around the trees near the river. Also saw 3-4 hares this trip.

We saw a lot of Creeping Saltbush (Atriplex semibaccata), which is good stock feed and seems to be getting a move on all over the property. This was the bush I thought previously was Ruby Saltbush. Also commonly saw Climbing Saltbush ( Rhagodia nutans), which is a spindly, multicoloured style of bush – purplish, red or orange berries. Also called Nodding Saltbush; as you could imagine because of the weak stems.

We saw emerging Acacia oswaldii (Umbrella wattle or Miljee) in the black box stands, particularly south of the road where it seems to be coming away strongly. This was, in the more mature trees, really setting a lot of seed; something they had not done for several years. I confirmed with Josh that he and his father could come and collect the seed from it. Most had fallen already this year. Interestingly the Miljee was growing right against the bottom of the box tree in many occasions, so is not hampered by the tree. They live about 20 years.

The recommendation was that we sow a lot of wattles into the black box stands. Those secondary plants seemed strong enough; we needed the understorey. In discussion Josh said he believed that lignum had only achieved the status it now has since the 1930’s when it spread quickly following flooding. Ideally we would get some good native regrowth into the black box which should stop the lignum becoming too dominant. Indeed, it three to four years time we need to consider putting some sheep onto the property to give it a short pruning and maintain the health of the overall stand.

The native pasture was very good. Curly Windmill Grass which is a C4 plant (hot weather plant) that grows from a dense underground root system and so can survive without rain and when it does rain in summer – greens up. This has a Windmill seedhead, which looks like a ball if you were to join all the ends of the seedheads. On the other hand, the plain Windmill Grass has a similar seedhead except they are all on a similar plane. That is, don’t form a round shape.

Was also a bit of Canegrass (Eragrostis australasica), which looks a bit like couch with the long, tough runner and has a panic styled seed head. It grows in the lower, wetter areas and used to be used for some thatching. It is a native

A lot of Wallaby Grass (White Top, or Austrodanthonia spp). I sowed some around camp; down near the large redgum, and between the shack and the two trees directly east. It is another native; and although it is not common around camp it is very dense in the other parts of the block

Some Nardoo (Marsilea drummondii) throughout the place….the same stuff Burke and Wills ate on Coopers Creek after they saw the aboriginals grinding its spores into flour. They missed the fact the aboriginals watered the flour down to remove arsenic – and were on their way to poisoning themselves. Usually growing near the water and the stuff Bill wanted to see.

We discussed direct seeding strategies and Josh said that if the autumn break was strong he would come in with his father and sod seed some trees, mainly wattles (gold-dust) and some saltbushes. Spray before in the drill lines with roundup, and use some monocot spray (selective) after the trees have established. He would not sow if the subsoil moisture was too low - so we would need a good break. (Note: ultimately this didn’t happen until July 23^rd 2007 when a little moisture existed and La Nina was in flow. It has stayed dry since this date!)

Josh left early to mid afternoon after finding our property on his computer map and noting which parts had already been delegated remnant vegetation or not.

Also discussed development of the floodrunners into a billabong. Could we get funding for this? There is a Wetlands Working Group that is privately operating and Josh is going to have a member have a look at the potential. It would involve getting in graders and scooping maybe a further metre of dirt from the bottoms of those areas that the flood follows naturally through. The water would then stay considerably longer following a flood.