Merri Hogan, our neighbour on our western side sent us this photo of a magnificent Powerful Owl with its prey, a Ring-tailed Possum. The photo was taken on the next property to the west of her by Bernard Abadi. It is great to know they are in the vicinity of Moonambel and they are likely to hang around as they tend to use the same two or three roosting sites and range for years at a time. If you have any interesting photos of wildlife or plants of the hill and Moonambel area please send them to us and we will post them here.

PhilM

After much discussion it has been decided to move the second official planting weekend from the last weekend in August to the first weekend of October. This year it will be on the 6th and 7th of the month. There are a few and varied reasons for this. One is that there needs to be some focus on things other than planting, such as weeding, erosion control and general maintenance, although we can still plant trees if conditions are suitable. Spring is an especially good time for weeding.

We hope that this may overcome the usual clash with winter sports commitments which in the past has led many to arrive late, leave early or not be able to come at all. We also think that the possibility of warmer weather may entice more members to attend, it will give us the opportunity to enjoy the environment and the fruits of our labour without shivering.

Viva la revolución! Please spread the word and we hope to see you in October. Also watch out for more informal work-bees coming up in the last half of the year.

PhilM

We managed to plant around a hundred plants on the weekend. Anymore than that may have been pretty tough given that we only had a small but dedicated group and as expected, a hill that was extremely parched after a record dry April. The weather was kind to us if not the land (no rain) and we managed to plant around the hill’s summit. With no rain forecast in the next few days the decision to move the tank to the top of the hill has really proven worth the effort. Also thanks to Robbo for whipping the inside of the shed into shape and Phil Larwill for cutting up a decent amount of wood (picked up from roadside) for us.

More photos from this weekend on the sidebar.

Photos – Sally Smith

PhilM