Vale Doug Hatfield

The Friends of Drouin’s Trees was saddened to learn of the recent death of Doug Hatfield.

One of Doug’s many passions was for the town of Drouin. Both Doug and Barbara were Buln Buln Shire Councilors ca1990. During his time as Shire president in 1988/9, Doug with others, was a passionate supporter and driver for maintaining the ‘leafy nature’ of the town, a legacy that remains today in the streets and parks of Drouin.

Our condolences go to Barbara and family.

Radio GIANTS!

You may recall a recent blog post called Radio Birds.

The magnanimous support of 3BBR FM West GippslandCommunity Radio has enabled us to present another series of MP3 audios covering some of Drouin’s giant trees. Throughout this month, you can hear them live on 103.1 fm.

If you would like to hear particular samples, links now appear in the right hand column of the blog site – scroll to the bottom, click on the link and click the play button (you need to be on the blog site).

Here's an example in which you can hear a description of one of the giants and some of the history of the man it was named after, Bill Kraft. 

Bugs, Birds, Bones and Biodiversity at Lang Lang

Birdman Bill and yours truly have just spent a delightful two days with the students of Lang Lang Primary School at their most invaluable arboretum, an oasis of remnant bushland on the edge of the town.

The school engaged Bug Blitz and Westernport Swamp Landcare to conduct an event – if you are old school like me, think ‘nature study’ – that introduced the whole school population, preps to grade 6, to some of the important biodiversity components of such a valuable place.

Bill and I focused on the birds – what species were present, why they were there, how you can identify them, etc. Members of Westernport Swamp Landcare informed the students about the mammals and native flora species. Bug Blitz staff ‘swept’ part of the arboretum for an amazing range of invertebrates, examined water samples for macro-invertebrates and painted a couple of bird species to understand plumage, camouflage, etc.

Templates of Latham's Snipe as interpreted by the students

At the end of day 1, we helped Westernport Swamp Landcare attach a magnificent mural to the side of the old shelter shed just inside the gate. Next time you are passing through Lang Lang, drop in and have a look. The arboretum is a public tract of bushland on Westernport Rd, about 2km on the Drouin side of Lang Lang.

The mural is a great adjunct to a wonderful little facility

A big thanks to Bill  (Friends of Drouin’s Trees), Dr John Caldow, Geoff and Erin (Bug Blitz), Barry, Polly, Susan et al (Westernport Swamp Landcare), principal Colin and staff (Lang Lang Primary School) and especially the enthusiastic, polite and motivated kids of Lang Lang and district. I hope you all had as a good a time as I did.