FOLWNE Working group – Ballarat Municipal Observatory and Museum

Friends of Lake Wendouree Natural Environment

News: Rakali Section this group of interested people are supporting a Rakali Survey at the Lake. The survey is supported by the Australian Platypus Conservancy.

25/10 Lissa Ryan is the Co-ordinator of the Lake Wendouree Rakali Monitoring and she will collate data collection and be responsible for the ‘hands on’ activities of the group, and she is looking forward to the first Group Rakali Watch scheduled for Saturday November 19, 2022.

A Group Watch involves stationing pairs of observers at the 12 allocated observation points around the lake and North Gardens Wetlands and asking them to scan for Rakali for one hour near dawn and dusk.

The Group Watch will take place at the following times

Morning/Dawn

7.00- 8.00 (meeting at 6.45am)

Evening/Dusk

6.45-7.45 pm (meeting at 6.30pm)

The aim will be to cover each of the allocated 12 observation points the best we can to gain a ‘snapshot’ of Rakali activity. There is a great deal of written information about the Group Watch which I will send out to those participating closer to the time.

RSVP lissamryan@hotmail.com Anyone interested in participating could you please let Lissa know by Saturday, November 12, 2022.

RakaliCount data form (Wendouree)

LW Locations and Images PDF file

Draft Map Rakali Survey Points to be fine tuned.

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Observation Records and Breeding Summary of Blue-billed Ducks Oxyura australis in Victoria from 2015 to mid-2021 Indicating Species Decline.
Based on data from VBA – Victorian Biodiversity Atlas, eBird Australia and Birdata (Birdlife Australia) along with Relevant Site Observations, Lake Knox, Victoria.
Authors : John Cull, Kevin Newman and Russell Plew October 2021

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3rd March 2022 FoLWNE supported by a majority of votes has moved to become a Working Group under the Ballarat Dark Sky Community.

FoLWNE Facebook Group

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17th August 2018 – Formation of FoLWNE

A gathering of citizens on the foreshore of Lake Wendouree met on Friday 17th August 2018 to support the natural environment at Lake Wendouree. 13 people, a number representing other 6 community groups and 4 apologies.

17th August 2018 Groups represented at Formation: Local Residents Jenny Burrell, Annette Ferguson, Pam Griffiths, Birdlife Australia / Ballarat President Louise Humble and Roger Thomas, Field Naturalists Club of Ballarat President John Gregurke, Friends of Canadian Corridor Jeff Rootes, Federation University Dr Penny Greenslade, International Dark-Sky Association Victoria President Dr Russell Cockman, IDAVic Secretary Judith Bailey &(BAS) Ballarat Astronomical Society (BAS)Doug Stenhouse, Ballarat Heritage Watch Merle Hathaway and Sharon Upham.