Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club

Natural history society, established 1976

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The Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club (CFNC) is an Australian regional natural history society dedicated to the study, appreciation and conservation of the natural environment in the Castlemaine region of Victoria. Founded in 1976, the CFNC has played a pivotal role in promoting environmental awareness and scientific enquiry within the Castlemaine community.

The club's purpose is to "encourage and support engagement with and appreciation of all aspects of natural history in the environmentally diverse and fascinating Mount Alexander region".[1]

The Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club is a foundation member of the South East Australian Naturalists Association and is an affiliate of the Australian Naturalists Network.

The club emblem is the nodding greenhood Orchid (Pterostylis nutans).

## Current activities[edit]

The CFNC holds monthly meetings from February to December on the second Friday of the month.[2] Meetings usually include a guest speaker presenting on a natural history topic. Members and visitors are welcome to attend both the meetings and the club excursions, which are usually held the day after the monthly meetings. The club also organises vegetation and bird surveys, as well as weed control and roadside clean up days in the local region.

In 2001, while on an observation excursion in the region, members of the CFNC identified a vagrant population of tailed emperor butterflies (Polyura sempronius), becoming the first to report the species within the Castlemaine area, as it is rarely found outside of its native habitat of north-eastern Australia.[3]

The club has previously conducted central Victorian cemetery surveys, which aimed to document the indigenous flora and provide an overall rating of the significance of the cemetery reserves.[4] As of 2007[update], the club had undertaken surveys of 166 cemeteries, identifying and recording pockets of threatened and endangered native flora and fauna, including matted flax-lily (Dianella amoena), late-flower dlax-lily (Dianella tarda), arching flax-lily (Dianella sp. aff. longifolia Benambra), northern golden moths (Diuris protena), buloke mistletoe (Amyema linophylla ssp. orientale), golden cowslips (Diuris behrii) and oval-leaf pseudanthus (Pseudanthus ovalifolius).[5]

## Community engagement[edit]

The CFNC is a participant in BioBlitz wildlife survey events. Each year they host the annual 4-day Great Southern BioBlitz[6] for the Castlemaine region. In 2023, 250 observers joined the CFNC-run event on iNaturalist. Together they contributed 2474 observations across 722 species.[7]

Each year, the CFNC provides funding to the Castlemaine Senior Secondary College for a Field Naturalist Award to encourage and reward year 11 and 12 students for their interest in environmental activities.[8]

## History[edit]

The Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club was founded in 1976, after local historian Raymond Bradfield called a public meeting in February of that year to garner interest.[9] Bradfield's proposal was well supported and he was elected the club's first president.[10] On 21 November 1985, a white box tree (Eucalyptus albens) was planted in the southern portion of Castlemaine's Kaweka Reserve (near Hall St) by Bradfield, to commemorate both the 10th anniversary of the Castlemaine Field Naturalist Club and the 25th anniversary of the Western Victoria Field Naturalists Clubs Association.[11] In 1982, Bradfield was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to the Castlemaine Community.[12]

Ernest Perkins, a founding member of the CFNC was awarded both an Order of Australia Medal in 2000[13] for his conservation and natural history work as a part of the CFNC in the Castlemaine region. In 2008, Perkins was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion for his work in the research and recording of the native flora and fauna of Victoria.[14][15] Perkins led many of the CNFC's conservation efforts in the region, including co-authoring Eucalypts of the Mount Alexander Region (2016)[16] and managed the club's Photopoint Monitoring Project, personally taking photos of key conservation sites over the course of 40 years.[17]

## Publications[edit]

The CFNC publishes a monthly newsletter, the Castlemaine Naturalist, from February to December. The newsletter, which was first published in April 1976, contains natural history articles, as well as details of upcoming events and activities and is currently hosted on the CFNC website[18] and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.[19]

The CFNC also published and maintains an online plant identification and reference guide entitled Wild plants of the Castlemaine District,[20] which is based on a guide produced by CFNC founding member, Ernest Perkins.[21]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "About Us". Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
2. ^ "Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club – Chewton". chewton.net. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
3. ^ Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. (2005). The Victorian Naturalist. Vol. v.122-123 (2005-2006). [Melbourne]: Field Naturalists Club of Victoria.
4. ^ Perkins, Ern; Perkins, Lesley; Marshall, Deanna (2007). "Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club Contributes to Central Victorian Cemetery Surveys". Museums Victoria Catalogue - via WorldCat. Retrieved 2024-03-12.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
5. ^ Australian Network for Plant Conservation. (2007). Australasian Plant Conservation: journal of the Australian Network for Plant Conservation. Vol. v.16:no.2 (2007:Sep-Nov). Canberra.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
6. ^ https://www.greatsouthernbioblitz.org/
7. ^ "Great Southern Bioblitz 2023: Castlemaine Region". iNaturalist Australia. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
8. ^ "Field Naturalist Awards at Secondary College 2006". Castlemaine Naturalist. 32 (1): 6. 2007 - via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
9. ^ "SEANA - South East Australian Naturalist Association". Retrieved 2024-02-13.
10. ^ "Our History – Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club". castlemainefieldnaturalists.org.au. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
11. ^ "Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club & Western Victoria Field Naturalists Clubs Association | Monument Australia". monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
12. ^ "Prominent Naturalists – Ray Bradfield". South East Australian Naturalists' Association. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
13. ^ Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. (2000). The Victorian Naturalist. Vol. v.117 (2000). [Melbourne]: Field Naturalists Club of Victoria.
14. ^ Endersby, Ian (April 2009). "Australian Natural History Medallion 2008: Ernest Edward Perkins". The Victorian Naturalist. 126 (2): 52–53 - via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
15. ^ Endersby, I. (2009). Australian Natural History Medallion 2008: Ernest Edward Perkins. The Victorian Naturalist, 126(2), 52–53. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.658123212643779
16. ^ "Big turnout for Eucalyptus book launch | Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests". www.fobif.org.au. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
17. ^ "Vale Ern Perkins – Connecting Country". connectingcountry.org.au. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
18. ^ "Newsletters". Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
19. ^ Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club. "Castlemaine Naturalist". Biodiversity Heritage Library catalogue. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
20. ^ "Home page". Castlemaine Flora. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
21. ^ "Vale Ern Perkins – Connecting Country". connectingcountry.org.au. Retrieved 2024-02-13.

## External links[edit]

* Official website