24 November 2022
Spotlighting Night Dec 11
Want to come along and meet some of your nocturnal neighbours? Ecologist Craig Dunne will help us look for threatened Yellow-bellied Gliders, owls and other nocturnal cuties on Sunday Dec 11, starting at 8: 15 pm
It is rare to get a chance to see these special creatures. We know Yellow-bellied Gliders are present from feed marks and recent official observations by National Parks, but what else will we discover?
Craig says that “we will do some call playback surveys, as they are the most effective way of finding them. They can be quite secretive and hard to spot. But will call readily when you play recorded calls to stimulate them.”
We are also asking if anyone has some big torches we might borrow for the night? Let us know if you would like to come along.
INaturalist Project and Free Training Session
Our Inaturalist Project is now live! https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/dalmeny-matters-mapping-threatened-habitat
Are you interested in helping us to map hollow bearing trees, Glossy Black-Cockatoo feeding areas, Yellow-bellied Glider signs and other flora and fauna? Inaturalist is easy to use- you take a photo of what you want to record and the app will suggest a name for you to select and fill in time, date and GPS info automatically- simple!
This data will support our arguments to protect the bush- and give us something to counter with when Council eventually reveal their draft DCP.
The wonderful Jen Conolly has created the project for us and will run a free training session on how to use the app for volunteers on site in Dalmeny thanks to a BLER fund grant from Coastwatchers.
Volunteer training will cover all aspects including:
. in the field identification walk;
. photography techniques;
. using GPS location
. uploading photos;
. responding to suggested
identifications;
. joining projects;
. obscuring locations of rare species;
. ensuring everyone is competent
Awareness Raising- Market Stalls
Our first Market Stall was very successful, despite the wind trying it’s best to blow us away! We raised $170 selling baked goods and plants and had the opportunity to speak to many locals about the threats to our bush and community.
It was good to discover that a lot of people are aware of Council’s plan for the area, and even better to be able to dispel myths of affordable or social housing provisions.
We are booked to do the following markets and would love some extra help if you are available or could contribute baked goods or plants:
Nov 27 Narooma Rotary Markets
Dec 3 at Moruya along with Friends of Coila Lake
Dec 29 Narooma Rotary Holiday Market
State Gov Elections
We have been linking up with other groups along the coast facing similar developments and recently met with Paul Scully MP.
We spoke to him as Shadow Planning Minister about strategies to review zombie developments and other developments proposed for threatened species habitat, if we have a change of Government after State Elections.
He was very honest and said that thinks it will be complicated and difficult, and would likely require Councils and the Developers in each situation to come to the table for a negotiated process, initiated by State Planning.
One thing they are trying to figure out is what could trigger the process, under current legislation, and what incentives could convince developers and Councils to agree to be involved.
In this regard we have put some initial thoughts together and contacted our lawyer Jennifer Hughes for advice, as well as some other Planning contacts.
The main thing we need to focus on in the coming months is keeping this issue in the media and on the political agenda. There are dozens of groups up and down the NSW coast doing the same. We recently did another interview with ABC South East and we are hoping to organise a combined Day of Action with members of the group Coastal Residents United.