Author Archives: PhilM

21st anniversary celebratory weekend.

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Hello Resource Ricans,

We are having a special weekend at the hill at Moonambel to celebrate or 21st anniversary since starting our wonderful project. It will be held on the weekend of 19th/20th of this month, November. We want to welcome any and all of those that have participated over these many years and invite you to share a lovely, hopefully outdoor lunch in the sun below the hill. Also feel free to bring along any friends that may be interested.

Half a dozen of our members will be coming up with lovely food and drink. But we encourage anyone to bring along some food if they feel like it. It will mostly be BYO drinks. We are planning to set up some trestle tables to sit around and enjoy our feast. Perhaps it is advised to bring a chair if you can. and we welcome any photos of the last 21 years that we can all have a look at and reminisce! 

We might come up with some activities but in the main it will be very casual. Definitely no work required. And feel free of course to pitch a tent and stay the night.

We look forward to seeing many of you Ricans there. Obviously the more the merrier.

If you haven’t been there for a while you can call me on 0490751901 for directions. We will have a sign on both the turn off on Warrenmang rd and at our front gate.

Regards

Philip Meldrum and the ReSource RICA Commitee.

Wonderful November Weekend.

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A bunch of members and supporters spent a very pleasant time on the Hill last weekend. After recent lockdowns and trying times, the emphasis was not so much on getting work done on the land but taking time to enjoy the increasingly wild surroundings and contemplating the fruits of our labours after roughly 20 years involvement with the Moonambel land.

Some highlights include, great conversation, terrific food, good weather and some sing-song from the birds and a couple of RR members. We were also thrilled to see roughly a dozen Yellow-tailed black cockatoos that alighted on our camp to check on the group.

Over the course of the weekend we were also visited by local friends of ReSource RICA, Helen, Peter, Merri and Bernard who we thank for their willingness to share their great local knowledge and experience.

We very much missed those people that couldnt make it to Moonambel this time but remember that this weekend was meant to be a celebration of our 20 year anniversary and due to Covid complications this has been postponed to sometime next year. If this weekend was a limited dry or not so dry run of things to come you wont want to miss out on the big event. We will keep you informed of future plans.

PhilM

He’s only gone and done it again!

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Sid is obviously in fine sighting/identification form. After a recent visit he has come up with another new lizard to add to our ever growing list of fauna spotted at the Moonambel hill. This one is a Three-toed Earless Skink or Hemiergis decresiensis.

PhilM

Stunning mid-autumn weather for our May gathering

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We were blessed with spectacular weather for this years autumn gathering at Moonambel and I think the attendees enjoyed it almost as much as the abundant bird life. We had a fairly good turnout and the group managed to put in a bunch of trees and plants just over the harder to reach south side of the land, lately made much easier by the placement of a water tank and small shelter at the very top of the hill.

Later on Saturday afternoon we held a very pleasant and productive meeting (thanks to Carina, great job chairing) which included discussions about 20th anniversary celebrations for later in the year, (to be on held on November 20/21st) renewed engagement with the Dja Dja Warung people, the growth of the project and ideas for a video/multi-media documentation project.

Stay tuned for coming information about our 20th year celebrations which will likely include a couple of great bands and DJs. The committee has agreed on Nov 20th/21st well ahead of time so people can lock in the weekend early. We look forward to seeing you all then.

PhilM

There will be a gathering in February 2021

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We will be having a gathering on the weekend of 13/14 of February. In part it is to hold an AGM which had been deferred due to COVID-19 as well as do a little work or just enjoy the ambience of the hill and friends. All members are invited to the AGM at 3.00pm Saturday and supporters are encouraged to become members if they wish.

PhilM

A third native orchid (not) found on the hill.

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Towards the end of November, Dean and Geoff made a visit to the hill and noticed yet again another type of orchid not seen at the Moonambel block before. Dean says there are quite a few dotted around the hill. We have tentatively identified them as Cinnamon Sun orchids, we are not 100% sure as they were mostly closed at the time. Maybe someone can confirm this or correct us. (Frances?)

UPDATE; well thanks to Frances’s expert knowledge (see comments below) it seems that this is an invasive South African weedy orchid. It might be a good thing to have identified it early so we may hopefully get on top of it. Well done to Frances Cincotta. The third native orchid at the Moonambel hill remains to be found.

PhilM

Another native orchid rediscovered on the hill.

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On a recent visit to the Moonambel land Dean and I noticed a small flower midway up the hill on a rocky, dry ridge. We later identified it as a Hoary sun orchid. Sun orchids open and close depending on available sunlight, fortunately the sun was out when we passed by. This is the second native orchard that’s been noticed on the block after finding a couple of Donkey orchids last October. One can only wonder what future rediscoveries await visitors with a keen eye as they traverse the slopes of the hill.

PhilM