The summer that was
Hi there friends!
We took a little break for a couple of months. But the goings on at Raakajlim in the Mallee of north-west Victoria are just too exciting not to share and I missed all your virtual high fives. So.... here’s a smattering of stories to bring you up to speed before I return to our regular scheduling! New job, new puppy, refurbished heart for Phil, and lots of new species for Raakajlim!
Ruby the conservation dog
Introducing Ruby, our next conservation dog in training. Her task, should she choose to accept it, is to find butterflies!
Jazz, our other Hungarian Vizsla has been excellent at helping us find rabbits and cryptic birds like quail. I've been reading up about the work of Skylos Ecology and Conservation Detection Dogs SA and I'm hopeful Ruby will be able to sniff out the egg-laying sites for our rare Mallee Bronze Azure butterfly (𝘖𝘨𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘴).
Since she arrived with us in December she has learnt to relax on the EV during watering, and .... well ... puppy stuff. I'm sure the scent detection will come.
Growing rare plants
Repairing the past - As a plant nerd, I'm so excited about our project to protect rare plants. We are growing threatened species and planting them out on Raakajlim where they are safe from death by grazing from rabbits, goats or kangaroos. A little insurance for the wild populations.
It is so much fun trying to solve the mystery cue for germination:
• Yellow Swainson Pea (𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢) - rub seeds gently with sandpaper, add smoked vermiculite (mimics fire for this pyro-fire phila-loving species)
• Winged Peppercress (𝘓𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴) - soak seed overnight with Gibberelic Acid 1000ppm
• Silky Glycine (𝘎𝘭𝘺𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴) - pour hot water (80oC) over seed, leave to cool.
Funded by the Victorian Government Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) Nature Fund and the Jesse Chaplin Burch Trust.
Malleefowl!
Build it and they will come.(after 20 years). When we started restoring Raakajlim in the Mallee of northwest Victoria, we had a goal to reconnect our bushland with Hattah Kulkyne National Park and hopefully lure some Malleefowl in. We always said it with a bit of a chuckle because it is a lofty goal but ...
Thanks to the keen eyes of Daniel and Claire from Current Line Productions we have seen Malleefowl tracks on Raakajlim over the last two months.
Now we just need to spot a bird, and then a mound ... (Photo credits: Current Line Productions)
Fieldwork in the Mallee
Can you see the tiny Cassie measuring the diameter of the massive River Red Gum?
Over the summer I was lucky to do some fieldwork with Ecology Australia and these amazing botanists. We explored the far northwest of Victoria - Lindsay, Mulcra and Wallpolla Islands and Hattah Kulkyne National Park.
Big thanks to Nina, Jen, Freya, Cassie, Alice, Gary, Maddy, Mardy and the team for being so skilled and inspirational.
Ogyris subterrestris butterfly update!
Research into the Mallee Bronze Azure butterfly has been jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. Hooray!
The Mallee Bronze Azure butterfly is one of our most precious species. There are only a few populations left in the world, the largest is right here on Raakajlim in the Mallee of northwest Victoria. But the Murray River floods in December 2022 destroyed many of the ant colonies where the butterflies lay their eggs. Mallee Conservation is excited to be partnering with Wildlife Unlimited to check in on how the butterfly and their host ants are doing.
Look, to be honest, I'm pretty worried about what I'll find when I revisit egg-laying sites, but I'm practising this definition of optimism: “Optimism isn’t a belief that everything will go well all the time. It’s a belief that despite the inevitable challenges, we will make progress.” - Packy McCormack
And you might notice I'm using a new name "Mallee" rather than "Arid" Bronze Azure butterfly. That's because late last year this paper redefined the taxonomy of our butterfly - elevating it to full species status 𝘖𝘨𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘴.
Beaver, E.P. et al. (2023) ‘Systematic revision of the Ogyris idmo (Hewitson, 1862) species group (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): implications for the conservation management of Australia’s most threatened butterflies’, Invertebrate Systematics, 37(10), pp. 677–701.
Bandy Bandy
A new species for Raakajlim is the uber-cool Bandy Bandy (endangered in Victoria). This snake is super secretive. It spends most of its time underground and it's also nocturnal, so it took the amazing Daniel and Claire from Current Line Productions to spot one. The Bandy Bandy only eats Blind Snakes, making it pretty strange. And the Blind Snakes are a bit odd too. They're also nocturnal but they eat termites and ant eggs.
And although I'd like to claim this one as another awesome Mallee specialist, the Eastern Bandy Bandy (𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢) is widely distributed from desert to rainforests, all the way from here to Cape York!
Photo credits: Current Line Productions