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

Tarra-Bulga Bioblitz

by Tarra Bulga04/02/202229/07/2022Leave a comment

It’s not too late to sign up for our Bio-blitz. This Saturday (February 5th) Where we will aim to record as many species of any lifeform (Insects, Birds, Plants, Fungi etc) we can find on the day. We will use the Citizen Science Website/App iNaturalist https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/ to log our findings. Conveniently the site already has a Tarra-Bulga National Park project set up that automatically records any sightings made within the Park. https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/…/tarra-bulga-national-park

As you can see it is well established already with 5.350 observations and 1,170 species recorded. We will aim to use a number of survey techniques to find as many species as possible. I think 200 species would be a good result for the day.

Anyway if you would like to join in we will kick off at 10am but you are welcome to come and go at any time. If the weather is suitable we will put up a light sheet in the evening which should attract a lot of night flying insect species. Registration is via ParkConnect https://www.parkconnect.vic.gov.au/Volunteer/public-planned-activity/?id=6768c4d9-446c-ec11-b820-0003ff6f999a

With iNaturalist you can download the App and upload sightings directly from a phone or you can upload any photos you take on a camera when you get back home and upload them via the website later on. If you don’t want to log your own sightings feel free to just come along and observe.

Do bring food for the day, as well as any cameras, binoculars etc that you would like to use. Contact 0488 035 314 for further information.

See less

Working Bees Switching to Sundays

by Tarra Bulga25/03/201925/03/2019Leave a comment

This year we are switching to hold most of our on-ground activities on Sundays. The first one is coming up this Sunday morning (March 31st). We will be meeting at the Tarra Valley Carpark at 9.30am and then heading down to our project site a bit further down the road where we will spend a couple of hours hand weeding sycamore maple, ivy and tutsan.

BYO, gloves etc but please let us know via friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com or phone 0488 035 314 if you intend to come along in case any plans need to change on the day.

Photo of Tutsan — Tutsan with some fruit ready to spread more seed into the park.

Don’t Go Past the Tarra Valley!

by Tarra Bulga24/10/201813/03/2022Leave a comment

While spending a bit of time in the Tarra Valley Car Park on Saturday morning it was mind blowing to witness a significant number of touristy looking vehicles slow down, check out the place from their vehicles and then drive on without getting out of the car. One lady who had stopped for a look around, approached me and said “we have come up from Yarram and were wondering where to go for the best walks!”. She seemed surprised when I said that one of the best walks in the park is right here.

The Rainforest Walk at the Tarra Valley is certainly a must-do Tarra-Bulga National Park experience. The ancient gnarly Myrtle Beech, fresh mountain streams, lush green mosses and delicate filmy ferns are truly spectacular (not to mention Cyathea Falls). Maybe it needs better signage (VicRoads) or publicity but seriously people if you a driving through, stop, get out of the car, take a walk and check it out for yourself.

Activity Coming up this Saturday

by Tarra Bulga25/07/201821/03/2020Leave a comment

Fire damaged re-vegetation. — Project Site in 2010, previous re-vegetation efforts were destroyed in the Black Saturday fires.

This Saturday July 28th, we are inviting people to join us

New Seedling — Newly planted seedling in a wire tree-guard

for an activity at one of our on-going project sites. The aim is to remove wire tree-guards from successfully plantings which are part of the recovery from 2009 bushfires.

Meeting point is the Tarra-Bulga Visitors centre at 10am and the activity will finish around 1pm. Please let us know if you intend to come along in case there are any change of plans. Phone 0488 035 314 or email: friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Project Site Showing Progress June 2018

Lyrebird Mound in the Tarra Valley

by Tarra Bulga20/07/201820/07/2018Leave a comment

Thanks to group members Martin and Bernadette for letting us use this great camera footage they captured from a very busy Lyrebird mound just near the park in the Tarra Valley. The video catches a male Lyrebird at the peak of the breeding season, strutting his stuff in a full display.

Cats in Tarra-Bulga National Park

by Tarra Bulga12/07/201813/03/2022Leave a comment

Although they are not often seen by visitors, feral and domestic cats are established predators at Tarra-Bulga National Park and our remote camera results suggest they are becoming more common.

The table below shows results from five years of remote camera monitoring carried out by the Friends of Tarra-Bulga Park. Cat numbers as a percentage of total species recorded rose dramatically from 0.7 to 3.9%.

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
No. of Cats Records	16	33	64	59	41	64
Total Records	2208	2898	4827	3804	1352	1638
Percentage of Cats	0.7%	1.1%	1.3%	1.6%	3.0%	3.9%

The impact these cats are having on the birds, small mammals and reptiles is a real concern. Although there are many variables in the ways we set up our cameras, the general trend in the last few years is for them to be detecting greater numbers of cats and less small native mammals (e.g. Antechinus and Bush Rats). Sadly we have also been detecting less of the smaller birds such as Pilotbirds and White-browed Scrubwrens. (For a summary of sightings of others species download this Percentage of sightings per year for commonly detected species captured in remote camera photos )

The gallery below shows that cats in Tarra-Bulga range from large ferals and panther look-alikes to small (some might say cute) looking kittens, some even have collars. What is undeniable though, is that their presence has a major impact on the ecology of Tarra-Bulga National Park.

Ennominae

by Tarra Bulga27/03/201809/07/2018

Ennominae are a sub-family of Geometridae. They include tribes Nacophorini (Satin Moths) and Boarmiini (Bark Moths) as well as a number of other smaller tribes.