Tarra-Bulga National Park – Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park

Mid Winter Walk Report

by Tarra Bulga28/07/202229/07/2022Leave a comment

On Sunday July 10th we held our first Mid Winter Walk with the aim of learning more about some of the ferns, mosses, liverworts and lichens that are often overlooked features of the biodiversity in Tarra-Bulga National Park. If you want to see the full complement of photos from the day check out the Tarra-Bulga National Park project on iNaturalist. You may be even be able to help with identifying some. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?q=Mid%20Winter%20Walk%202022&search_on=tags Otherwise you can check out the photos here to get an idea of what we saw. Although we were not specifically looking at fungi we did also come across a lot of photogenic fungi so some photos of them have also been included.

Note that it can be difficult to identify Mosses and Liverworts (both different groups of plats) in the field, some species need microscopic examination to see their features. Ferns are a bit easier as they are larger and although they dominate the landscape there are only around 40 species in the park. Lichens are not actually plants but are are organisms composed of fungal and photosynthetic partners.

2022 Bioblitz Report

by Tarra Bulga13/03/202229/07/2022Leave a comment

Volunteers spent the day and night On Saturday February 5^th using a range of techniques to see what living things could be found. From the day a whopping 428 observations were added to the Tarra-Bulga National Park project on the citizen science website www.iNaturalist.org. A number of plant and fungi species were recorded, but the vast majority of records were for an amazing array of insects and other invertebrates. Many finds that were uploaded to the website are still to be identified but so far, we can confirm that we have recorded at least 215 different species for the day, roughly 60 of them had never previously been recorded at Tarra-Bulga.

The day’s focus was mainly on invertebrates, other planned activities for the year aim to add to the flora and fauna records for the park, these include a fungi foray in May, a mid-winter walk looking at ferns and mosses, and a plant identification day as well as bird survey in spring. As well as these activities, Friends of Tarra-Bulga hold regular working bees and are always on the lookout for people interested in joining our crew of volunteers that staff the park Visitor Centre.

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Eusthenia venosa (Stonefly) — Megalopsalis stewartia – A Harvestman

The following Table shows the range of lifeforms we recorded on the day.

Fungi Foray Report

by Tarra Bulga20/05/2021Leave a comment

On Sunday May 9th we held a fungi foray starting at Bulga Park. The conditions were favourable and we had a great turn out with 30 people signed up and ready to go at 9.30am. After an introductory presentation we set off for a very slow loop down to the suspension bridge, returning via the Fern Gully and Link Tracks. Understandably some families with small children and others with Mother’s day lunch commitments dropped out along the way, but even on a short walk they would have experienced a wide variety of fungi displaying their spore bodies.

It has been a big job documenting the finds, between my daugher and I we have added over 170 sightings to iNaturalist for the day https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/tarra-bulga-national-park This includes sightings from the Tarra Valley (I couldn’t resist checking out what fungi could be seen there as I was going past on my way home). Overall the total species recorded to date is 68! I wonder if anyone that attended has got photos of species that we missed? Anyway enjoy the gallery below which contains some examples of the variety of fungi seen on the day.

Bioblitz – Sunday February 14th

by Tarra Bulga07/02/202120/05/2021Leave a comment

For anyone that is interested, Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park are going to hold a Bioblitz on Sunday February 14th. The day is intended to be a fun and casual way to start off our activities for the year. We will aim to use cameras to record anything of interest we find. The results can then potentially be added to Citizen Science apps such as the Tarra Bulga National Park project on iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/tarra-bulga-national-park . If the weather conditions are suitable, we will also run a light sheet to attract moths and other insects on the Sunday evening.

Anyone is welcome to attend, no prior experience or knowledge is necessary. The official start time is 10am at the Visitors Centre but you could potentially join in at any time on the day. Just bring along any food or drinks you need for the day as well as any cameras, phones, binoculars etc you may have lying around. For more information or to register your interest in attending you can contact 0488 035 314 or email: friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com You can also register via ParkConnect https://bit.ly/39VtMRV

Image showing a range of different species.

Visitor Information Centre has re-opened

by Tarra Bulga20/12/202020/05/2021Leave a comment

Easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria has meant that our group activities have been allowed to re-commence

Tarra-Bulga National Park is one of only a handful of National Parks in the state that has an
operational Visitor Information Centre. In this day and age it is refreshing for visitors that are not
familiar with the Park to be able to have face to face interaction with an actual human being. This
enables them to get the best information in regards to getting the most out of their visit.
At present we have vacancies for new volunteers to come on board and help to keep the centre
open. Full training and support will be provided. You don’t even have to know that much about the
park. A list of answers for common visitor questions will be provided.
Our long term volunteers love the experience that working in the Visitors Information Centre Offers.
It helps of course to be surrounded by the awesomeness of Tarra-Bulga National Park. It can
certainly be a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend a day. All while helping to provide a great
community service. Some of our volunteers find it so enjoyable, that over the years they have
accumulated over 200 days service. Do you enjoy getting out in the community, if so please consider
giving volunteering at Tarra-Bulga a go. For further details or to register your interest email
friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com or phone our Volunteer Co-ordinator Jane on 5196 6182.

Kara Healey’s – Collection of Mosses and Liverworts

by Tarra Bulga08/07/202029/07/20223 Comments

One of the stunning features of Tarra-Bulga National Park’s cool temperate rainforest gullies is the amazing array of mosses and liverworts. These delicate plants are often tiny and identifying them can be a significant challenge. Kara Healey was a renowned caretaker(Ranger) in the Tarra Valley in the 1950’s. She dedicated a lot of her time to collecting specimens of a wide range of lifeforms in within the park and sending them off to herbariums and other institutions to be identified and catalogued. Her efforts resulted in the Tarra Valley having one of the most comprehensive lists of its flora and fauna out of any park in the state. We have recently obtained some scans of collections she made way back in the 1950’s. It is incredible that they are so well preserved after all this time. Enjoy! and for anyone who is into studying mosses and liverworts out there – this might be a very useful resource.

Some Snow Photos

by Tarra Bulga10/08/2019Leave a comment

A semi-rare event with a dump of snow on the Park overnight. Thankfully it was not too heavy. There were a few shrubs and trees around that couldn’t cope with the weight of the snow and fell over so there will be a bit of a clean up job required. On the bright side the snow adds and extra touch of beauty to an already spectacular location.