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A walk on the south side this Sunday
For the final walk this year, Kevin Cato has put together an interesting circuit exploring the south side of Castlemaine. The walk will start at the top end of McKendry St Castlemaine and follow...
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Get out there . . .
At the risk of stating the super obvious: it’s a great wildflower spring. If you’re looking for evidence, try walks 1 and 2 in FOBIF’s 20 walks in the Mount Alexander region. They’re both in Kalimna...
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We need your advice
Our walks guide has gone through several reprints since its first edition in 2021, and we’ve tried to keep abreast of changes in onground conditions with each reprint. We’re aware, however, that we...
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After the fires
Leanganook/Mount Alexander has suffered catastrophic fire damage in the January Harcourt fires, especially at the North End. Some areas were thankfully spared. Photos: Bronwyn Silver This grid shows...
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Lynda Wilson on Native Bees – Tuesday eve 13th October at Newstead Community...
Invertebrates are “flavour of the month”! Newstead Landcare is hosting a presentation on native bees six days before FOBIF’s presentation on what Alison Pouliot calls “the spineless”. Sweat bees in a...
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Who doesn’t love invertebrates?
Michael Barkla will be giving an illustrated talk ‘Life from the begining (according to invertebrates)’. He is drawing on observations over many years in the Box-ironbark forest. There will be a very...
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Don’t miss the Invertebrates talk at our AGM.
Friends of the Box Ironbark Forests Annual General Meeting 6pm Monday 19th October at the Ray Bradfield Rooms, 33 Forest Street Castlemaine. Michael will show us over 500 slides that he has taken of...
View ArticleSave the date FOBIF AGM + LIFE from the beginning (according to invertebrates)
Michael Barkla will present a beautifully illustrated talk at the Friends of the Box Ironbark Forests AGM, 6pm Monday 19th October at the Ray Bradfield rooms. Michael was born and bred in the bush...
View ArticleMystery & beauty in Fryers Ridge Forest
It was a lovely warm day for a jaunt in the Fryers Forest, where we enjoyed an interesting route planned by Christine Henderson. We walked along vehicle tracks and offtrack and observed many species...
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Pruning advice from AE Tree Care
This post was written by FOBIF member Allan Evans on 1st September and posted on his Instagram feed. Allan has given us permission to re-post the article. Allan is a qualified climbing arborist based...
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It’s orchid time…and that’s not all
Spring! And it’s time to go and have a look around. In particular, orchids are coming out all over. A highlight: Castlemaine Spider Orchids are observable in the Monk area, in the area of walk 3 in...
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Fryers Ranges Walk: Sunday September 20
It is springtime and walkers will enjoy the forest and wildflowers of this area on this walk. We will explore the eastern slopes of the Fryers Ranges in the region of the Kangaroo Tracks, Upper and...
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Comeback
Hardenbergia is flowering around the region—always a highlight of the approaching spring. What’s extra good about the plants pictured below, though, is that they’ve more or less come back from the...
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Interesting discussion; available online and in person, 6pm 21/9/2026.
https://events.humanitix.com/rsv-burning-off-debate
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Report on Kalimna walk Sunday 16th August
It seemed that everyone who turned up for our FOBIF walk today commented on how beautiful the day was – glorious Central Victorian sunshine and a BOM promise of 17O. So it was a happy crowd who...
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Walk and plant identification session – this Sunday 16th August at Kalimna...
Whether you are new to the area or new to ecology, this walk is all about where to begin, what to look out for and how to grow your knowledge of local plants and ecological processes in the Castlemaine...
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Second report on the Tarilta Creek walk, 21 July 2026
Chris Green has sent a report on FOBIF’s Tarilta Creek walk. We thought we would post this as well as the previous Tarilta Creek report especially as Chris has included some terrific photos. A Foray...
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Short walk on Mt Tarrengower (or Dharrang Gawa) report by Liz Martin
A large group set out from the side of Mt Tarrengower on a chilly, but sunny day yesterday for FOBIF’s annual ‘short walk’. Bernard and Deirdre Slattery led the walk ably assisted by our experts,...
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Tarilta Creek Walk Report by Ros Woodburn, 19 July 2026
What a glorious, still, blue Winter ‘s day. A huge thank you to Jeremy Holland, our fearless leader of total 8 walkers for 14km: up and down the tightly knit hills and gullies, along roads, a part of...
View Article19 July 2026 – Long Walk – Tarilta Creek
This will be a loop walk of about 14 km exploring the Tarilta Creek area. It will take about 6 hours including breaks. Highlights will include a lovely mossy gully, two waterfalls which may even have...
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