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WHAT HAVE BEES DONE FOR US?

Photo Ben Moore

Dr Katja Hogendoorn

Ripples ArtShed

7:30 pm, Friday 24th May

Dr Katja Hogendoorn is a senior researcher at the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on the maintenance and enhancement of bees as pollinators of crops and native plants and the ecology and evolution of bee behaviour and diversity.

Katja aims to use her understanding of bee behaviour to inform management decisions for the improvement of bee health, biodiversity, and crop pollination services.

Katja is currently involved in several collaborations between Australian researchers, primary industries, and governmental organisations to improve pollination in protected cropping.

Katja is also active in bee conservation and in promoting “citizen” involvement. Katja was instrumental in establishing the “bee hotels” along the Torrens River 6 years ago.

Katja chairs the International Union for the Conservation of Nature-Oceania Wild Bee Specialist Group.

HANDOUTS

Bee Hotels for Native Bees

Food for Native Bees

Bringing them back, habitat restoration for declining woodland birds in South Australia

Professor David Paton

Ripples ArtShed

7:30 pm, Friday 19th April

Newspaper reports of test cricket games at Adelaide Oval in the 1930’s noted the melodious calls of avian songsters in the surrounding parklands. Unfortunately, those marvelous choruses are no longer heard. Professor Paton will outline the decline of woodland birds in the Adelaide region and Kangaroo Island over the past century and enthuse us with his and community efforts to reverse the trend. Prof. Paton is a world expert and practitioner in restoration ecology and leads several privately funded projects covering hundreds of hectares.

Professor David Paton is an internationally renowned ecologist recently retired from the University of Adelaide with a passion for conservation and restoration and a strong commitment to long-term studies that provide strategic direction for the sustainable management the natural environment. David taught and inspired numerous ecologists during his decades of enthusiastic undergraduate and post-graduate teaching.

He completed a B.Sc. (Hons) at the University of Adelaide and a Ph.D. at Monash University. His work on the Coorong, Lower Murray, Kangaroo Island and the arid zone, declining woodland birds, and overabundant and feral species is well known. He frequently provides informed and fearless comment and advice on wildlife and environmental issues to politicians, the general public and the media, often in a contentious political environment.

He was the recipient of the SA Great Award for the Environment (1999) and the Premier’s Science Excellence Award for Research for Public Good Outcomes (2006); he received a National Carrick Citation for environmental education (2006); and was appointed a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for service to conservation, education and the environment (2008).

He co-founded and was an initial Director for Arid Recovery, a non-profit organisation that aims to restore arid ecosystems in Australia.

David also founded BioR, and in his role as Managing Director is leading several landscape scale habitat restoration projects on former agricultural lands on KI and in the Adelaide region. His years of primary research on restoration approaches form the basis of these literally ground-breaking programs that aim to bring back habitat for declining fauna on a scale that addresses future climate impacts and the legacy of more than century of land clearance.

See https://www.bior.org.au/ for further information and to make a donation.

Friends of Lochiel Park AGM

In line with constitutional requirements for notice of FoLP AGM please find:

Please return nomination forms to the Secretary, Angela Trotter, 19 Riverbank Circuit as soon as possible.

Please remember to familiarise yourself with the updated constitution and amendments distributed earlier this month.

Regards,

Willie Smyth

President, on behalf of the FoLP committee


Cricket on the Green

New Year’s Eve celebration

Once again the Lochiel Park Community Garden is hosting a New Year’s Eve event from 6.30 pm to whenever??  In the past it has been a very casual affair, and a crowd-free way to celebrate.  Bring a plate of goodies to share and whatever you like to drink – locals can walk home after.  The BBQ will be available if you want to cook.  Bring games if you would like that too!

Come when you can and leave when you must, drop in to share good wishes or stay the distance – whatever that turns out to be.  We could even operate on a different time zone and have midnight a bit early??


You are invited to the

Lochiel Park Community

“Christmas on the Village Green”

Lochiel Parkway beside the Little Free Library

Rescheduled

Saturday 16th December 2023

6.30pm until  ………..

Be Punctual

Bring a plate of food to share

Bring your own drinks and chairs

Bring a gift of groceries/toiletries *

or a cash donation to support the Central /Eastern Domestic Violence Service

Give Joy & Hope this Christmas

*Non-perishable food items e.g. uht milk, soup, canned vegies and fruit, pasta and rice, canned fish, cereals, sauces etc. to make a meal.  All basic toiletries are helpful. 

       Cash gifts will enable the women to buy what they need.


Bats of the Adelaide Region – Bats in the City

As foreshadowed, a talk on Bats of the Adelaide Region – Bats in the City will be given on Friday 24th November at 7:30 pm in the Ripples Art Shed near Lochend House. This talk will be in a similar style to the recent talks on frogs, koalas and reptiles.

The speaker will be Dr Kyle Armstrong,  Senior Lecturer at The University of Adelaide and Consultant Zoologist. Further details of the speaker are in the attached document.

Limited seating is available so please bring your own chair (and your batty questions).

Please reply to folp5074@gmail.com if you plan to attend so we have a rough idea of expected numbers.




Water Tank Mural Launch

Reptile Life in the Torrens Valley

A talk on “Reptile Life in the Torrens Valley” will be given on Friday 22nd September at 7:30 pm in the Ripples Art Shed near Lochend House.

The talk will introduce people to the variety of reptiles that live along the Torrens Valley, and how and where they live and will be in a similar style to the recent talks on frogs and koalas, both of which have been well received by attendees.

A talk on bats is also in the planning stage.

The speaker will be Dr Mark Hutchinson, Honorary Researcher, Herpetology from the SA Museum. A bio is attached.

Some information about the work at the museum is available at https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/reptiles-and-amphibians-research

Limited seating is available so please bring your own chair (and your reptile questions).

Please reply to folp7074@gmail.com if you plan to attend so we have a rough idea of expected numbers.

Friends of Lochiel Park Annual General Meeting

Notice is given that the Friends of Lochiel Park AGM will be held on
Saturday 22nd April at 9.30am.

Please see the attached flier.

At the AGM all positions on the FoLP Executive (3 Positions) and
Committee (6 Positions) will be declared vacant.

If you feel you can contribute to the planning and vision of FoLP in the
next 12 months please complete the attached nomination form.

Return the nomination form to the FoLP Secretary, Angela Trotter, 19
Riverbank Circuit, Lochiel Park as soon as possible.

Click the links for the Agenda, President’s Report and the Financial Statement.

Regards

Willie Smyth

President

on behalf of the FoLP Committee

View presentation here

Raising the Green Flag

At the start of 2023 Lochiel Park was awarded the International Green Flag Award for the 4th year in a row.

Over many years Friends of Lochiel Park volunteers have worked alongside Campbelltown City Council to improve the environmental surrounds of Lochiel Park. This has greened up Lochiel Park and improved the biodiversity of the area. We can see this is the increased diversity of plants, birds, frogs, lizards and other species.

You are invited to the “Raise the Green Flag” celebration at the flagpole on the corner of Lochiel Parkway and Riverbank Circuit at 10.30am on Saturday 11th March.

This is to recognise the effort made by many community volunteers and Campbelltown City Council to improve the environment and an opportunity to celebrate this achievement.

Willie Smyth

President, Friends of Lochiel Park

on behalf of the FoLP committee

CHRISTMAS ON THE GREEN

Lochiel Park Community

“Christmas on the Village Green”

Lochiel Parkway beside the Little Free Library

Saturday 10th December 2022

6.30pm until ………..

FROGS IN LOCHIEL PARK

Thank You to herpetologist Steve Donnellan last night for enlightening an enthusiastic group of over 40 people about Frogs in our area.

There were some amazing stories.

I was particularly taken by ‘our’ frogs’  mobility. They really get about, into any damp place. They will cross paths and roads, searching for new places. Every summer we get one or two on our rain water tank!

Steve had advice for us all in caring for frogs. They look for damp areas such as deep mulch, and under crusty bark on trees for summer. And some bury themselves and of course along edges of ponds amongst the vegetation. Herbicides do not seem to be much danger but many of the  surfactants used in such products are deadly. 

Pond vegetation, in and around,  is very important. Steve also emphasised the importance of grasses and shrubbery to the ground.  He is very supportive of the Australian Native Grassland Meadow that is being developed in Lochiel Park. The first observation of a frog (that we know about) in the Grassland was a few weeks ago.

Felixstow Wetlands is another great spot for frogs and Steve has done a lot of recording there. They moved in apparently before construction was completed!

A warning though! If you pick up a frog, wet your hands first, as skin abrasion from dry hands can be quite damaging.

Listening for frogs in the northern wetlands
Steve Donellan is on the left

November 11 – 20 is Australia’s Frog ID Week. The app is FrogID.

By the phone activity going on last night I think there were about 40 downloads straight away.

Groups and individuals all around the nation record frog sounds and submit them to the Australian Museum. Then an ID of ‘your’ frogs get sent to you. Cool!

Frogid.net.au is also well worth a visit.   Let’s hope we can get some group FrogID activity going in that week to support our individual efforts.

Di Sullivan

2022 Annual General Meeting

The Friends of Lochiel Park AGM was held in Lochiel Park Community Garden Shelter area on Saturday 9th April at 11am after the morning working bee.

Attachments include:

Social “Back Yard” Cricket Match

On 10th April, A social “back yard” cricket match was held on the lawns of Riverbank Circuit for the residents and families of Lochiel Park.

Regards

Andrew Trotter

Treasurer

Friends of Lochiel Park

Lochiel Park Christmas Party 11th December 2021