Join us to celebrate 2017 at our Christmas break up!
All welcome! Macclesfield Bushcare group, Strathalbyn Cemetery Bushcare group and ARCG are welcome to attend.
When: Friday December 8th at 6.30pm
Where: Three Brothers in Macclesfield
RSVP: Please let Sherie know numbers so she can book a table for all.
Where: Cox’s Scrub, Eastern Fleurieu School Strathalbyn
When: Tuesday 14th November
For more information: please contact Sherie on 0419 883 101
Join us for a working bee at Macclesfield to support the Macclesfield Bushcare group.
When: Sunday 5th November from 9:30am.
For more information: please contact Sherie on 0419 883 101
Keeping with tradition of getting out and about for our AGM, this year the Angas River Catchment Group will hold a working bee in one of our long standing bushcare reserves, the Peppermint Box Woodland at the back of the Strathalbyn Cemetery and Archery Range.
Join us for a morning of bushcare from 10am and then head to the banks of the Angas River for our AGM over lunch.
The AGM will be held from 1pm at the reserve on Cobb & Co Court.
For more information or to register your attendance for catering purposes contact Sherie Bain: 0419 883 101
Sunday June 25th 2017 from 10am
Join us for a planting day at Burnside Track/ Betty Westwood Reserve, Woodchester.
Last years plantings along this road reserve are growing fabulously and this year we will look to increase the diversity.
Lunch will be provided.
This event is supported by Alexandrina Council’s Community Environment Grants
For more information please contact Sherie: 0419 883 101
The Angas Ricer Catchment Group has been working on a number of reserves in and around Strathalbyn for many years. We would love you to join us for a tour to discover these fantastic reserves and see how they have changed over the years.
Departing from the Strathalbyn Natural Resource Centre at 10.30am on Sunday April 9th we will stop for a ‘Pop up Picnic’ along the way. Please bring your lunch or a plate of food to share. Tea, coffee and cake will be provided. To register your attendance or for more information please contact Sherie Bain, 8536 5621.
A cemetery sounds like an unlikely place for an intricate tale of survival, but Strathalbyn Cemetery is the location for a bizarre and wonderful relationship between some special local species.
The Angas River Catchment Group, long term volunteers at the Cemetery Reserve (part of the Forrest Road Reserve that includes Cemetery, Archery and Scout land) have always known the vegetation behind the Cemetery was special but have only recently learned about a unique and complex relationship between the plants and animals that live within it.
Sherie Bain, Project Officer with the Angas River Catchment Group explained that the marvellous tale revolves around the Common Sourbush.
“The Common Sourbush is only found in a few places on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Even though it is called ‘Common’, it is actually really rare” said Sherie, “it is also a great example of how plants and animals rely on each other in the natural environment”.
The Common Sourbush is an erect, straggly, semi-parasitic shrub. It provides food for Brushtail and Ringtail Possums as well as the Small Bronze Azure Butterfly.
Possums eat the berries of the Common Sourbush and the seeds pass through the digestive system and are excreted. This assists the seeds to germinate and grow.
The Small Bronze Azure Butterflies lay their eggs at the base of the Common Sourbush. The Sourbush provides food for the butterflies’ larvae (soft leaves and bark). Now it’s time for the ants to get involved.
Sugar Ants look after the butterfly larvae by sheltering the larvae in their nest during the day and leading them out to the Sourbush at night when there are fewer predators around. In return, the larvae secrete a sugary substance for the ants to eat.
To celebrate this unique relationship, Natural Resources, SA Murray Darling Basin provided Angas River Catchment Group with funding to design and install signage in the reserve for visitors to read. The two signs are installed at the rear of the Cemetery along the walking track. The Catchment Group encourages people to visit, enjoy and learn about the local plants.
Sherie added “It is a beautiful part of Strathalbyn, home to Peppermint Box (Eucalyptus odorata) Grassy Woodland which is listed as endangered and has a diverse range of local native species.”
The Angas River Catchment Group has recently received additional funding support from Alexandrina Council to help care for the site.
If you would like to be involved in the Angas River Catchment Group to help manage this reserve and others around Strathalbyn please contact Sherie on 8536 5621.
In May 2016 members of the Angas River Catchment Group planted sedges in the bottom of North Creek at Wylie Avenue to assist minimise erosion damage. The planting day in May wasn’t very successful as the creek line was exceptionally dry so we headed back in June with the help of Green Army to finish the job.
The crazy weather in Strathalbyn in the past month has certainly been challenging for the sedges with the creek becoming inundated on several occasions.
However this morning as the water receded again, the little sedges are still holding in there! While they are too little this year to minimise erosion they now have a strong footing and lots of soil moisture for them to grow and become established over summer.
This project was thanks to funding support from Alexandrina Council. The Angas River Catchment Group has been working with the Council to improve this section of creek line since 2012. Over this time large olives and other woody weeds have been removed and replaced with local native species.
When: Sunday September 11th 2016
9.45am meet at the Strathalbyn Natural Resource Centre (Corner of Catherine and Donald Streets) to car pool or 10am at the Wattle Flat Road Gate
Bullock Hill CP has been a site for a number of GWLAP projects in recent years and will be a revegetation site under 20 Million Trees. Come along to hear about the exciting works being undertaken here.
Please RSVP for catering by
6th September to
Sherie Bain on 0437 953 120
Or email sherie.bain@gwlap.org.au
Fascinating facts about ants and spiders and their role in the environment by Dr Sylvia Clarke, Citizen Science/Community Monitoring Project Officer, Natural Resources, SA Murray-Darling Basin.
Thursday 25 August 2016
Macclesfield Institute
7pm – for a short AGM followed by the talk
All Welcome
RSVP to Anne Welsh 8388 9295, welshanne1@gmail.com