NatureShare is now live and open for all to upload and share photos and observations of wildlife.
Over 90 members and friends of Riddells Creek Landcare, APS Keilor Plains, and other invited guests joined in the celebrations and official launch at the community centre, Melton on Sunday, 14th August.
The NatureShare project was jointly conceived and implemented by RCL members, Reilly Beacom and Russell Best. At the launch, Russell gave a presentation outlining the history and exciting future possibilities for the project. The official launch was marked by a toast in champagne and followed by a delicious afternoon tea.

Until recently, the only Flat-pea seen in the Macedon Ranges was the  Handsome Flat-pea, Platylobium formosum. Surprisingly, the closely related Common Flat-pea, Platylobium obtusangulum, had never been recorded for the Macedon Ranges. Last week, members of Riddells Creek Landcare discovered the Common Flat-pea growing in two locations at Mt Charlie. The plants were not in flower at this time of the year, but the distinctive three-pointed leaves are easy to recognise. The common (for the Macedon Ranges) Handsome Flat-pea differs by having heart-shaped leaves with a single pointed tip. So we can say that the Common Flat-pea is now found in the Macedon Ranges - where it is uncommon!

The newly discovered Common Flat-pea, Platylobium obtusangulum photographed at Mt Charlie. http://natureshare.org.au/observation/2668/	The Common Flat-pea, Platylobium obtusangulum photographed in the Brisbane Ranges by Chris Clarke. http://natureshare.org.au/observation/1928/	The Handsome Flat-pea, Platylobium formosum, common in the Macedon Ranges. http://natureshare.org.au/observation/2706/

The number of flora and fauna species recorded in Riddells Creek has reached 1000. Using NatureShare, Riddells Creek Landcare has built a series of 'collections' of everything from Plants to Spiders & Moths, and from Birds to Mosses & Lichens. With major species categories still to be fully analysed and uploaded to NatureShare (like Fungi and many other insect groups), this is just the beginning!

The species recorded include a new plant previously unknown to science, previously unknown populations of two rare & protected butterfly species, a plant rediscovered after being thought to be extinct for 100 years, a moth not recorded for over 50 years, and many rare and endangered plant species.

The main species recorded include over 550 plant species and over 260 moth species. Other interesting group facts includes over 20% of all the butterflies known to occur in Victoria. Other groups covered (so far) include grasshoppers, spiders, snakes & lizards, mammals, birds, frogs, bats and dragonflies.

The butterfly that is often quoted as being the most beautiful butterfly in the world has been recorded for the first time in Riddells Creek. The "Wanderer" or "Monarch" butterfly (scientific name Danaus plexippus plexippus) is not strictly a native but it arrived here in Australia of its own accord and now can reside here only because its food plant started to be planted here. The first record of it in Australia is in 1871.

See map below which shows specimen collection records at the Victoria Museum - showing nothing close to Riddells Creek or the Macedon Range has been recorded previously.

For more information on the Wanderer, see: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Wanderer-Butterfly
"Wanderer Butterflies live in urban areas, where its food plants (e.g. milkweeds) are found." Hence the cluster of records around Melbourne. The species is often featured in Nature TV programs because of its mass migrations over long distances in the Americas.

Below left: Wanderer specimen record map generated from the Victoria Museum website.
Above right: Wanderer (showing wing upperside) - photo by Julie Macdonald, Riddells Creek.
Below right: Wanderer (showing wing underside) - photo by Julie Macdonald, Riddells Creek.

After much searching, the Rare White-spot Skipper reappeared on our rail reserves earlier this month. Also known as the Yellow Ochre (Trapezites lutea lutea), it is an endangered species with only a few known populations remaining in Victoria. As such it is protected in Victoria by the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act. It has two flying periods each season, with the first flying finished by mid-December.

This population was discovered on December 16, 2010 and only one photograph was taken showing only limited detail. The photo here details a key feature, that rare white spot. It is also notable for its yellow 'flash' of the wing in some individuals when it is flying. The 'lutea' in this butterfly's scientific name means yellow.

Not one but two rare butterflies! Keep your eyes open for them.

While doing some survey work for the rare Purple Donkey-orchid population in Riddells Creek on Dec 16 2010, Russell Best photographed a 'Skipper' butterfly he hadn't seen before. It took his eye because when it landed a few metres away it was noticeably yellowish on the outside. Nothing was thought of it for a week or so (because skippers are often seen in Riddell). When it came to identifying it, based on the available info at hand (which was very good info), it didn't seem to obviously fit any picture of any species. The only ID that seemed to fit was the rare, and FFG-listed Yellow Ochre butterfly (Trapezites lutea lutea - pictured left) (FFG-listed means protected by law by Victoria's "Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act"). Because of habitat destruction (Grassland) it seems to be in rapid decline here in Victoria.

Despite the lack of correlation with available pics, it fitted descriptions very well in terms of features and habitat. What the books told us was a shot of the outside wing was required for a definitive ID - on the outside it is quite yellow with one white spot right in the middle of the wing (in fact its other common name is the 'Rare White Spot Skipper'!). See this link for a good pic of what we mean:
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/hesp/lutea.html

So, on Christmas Eve, Russell went back to look for it and to get a pic of the elusive 'rare white spot'! Unfortunately there was no sign of it. However, while looking for it he saw two other butterfly species he'd not seen in Riddells Creek previously. One was a common grassland butterfly called the Grassland Copper (which he'd seen on grasslands before, just not in Riddells Creek) but when he got back he IDed the other as the Amethyst Hairstreak (Jalmenus icilius - pictured right), another rare and FFG-listed species that is rarely seen in Victoria nowadays (again because of habitat destruction). On further exploration it seemed this might be a very significant find as it seems it hasn't been recorded in the Melbourne region since 1900. The butterfly didn't look much except it gave a nice flash of metallic blue when it flapped its wings. The butterflies were flying between and around Blackwoods (Acacia melanoxylon). On one plant he noticed a caterpillar with attendant ants (pictured below left - ants look after the caterpillars of many in this family of butterflies). Blackwood isn't listed as a food plant (which is a significant new finding for this species in itself). What's more, the two-volume reference book "Butterflies of Australia" states that "it is no longer found near Melbourne where it was once collected at Brighton (1893-4), Eltham, Broadmeadows and Gisborne (1900)."

The IDs were confirmed by the Victorian butterfly expert, Ross Field (currently finishing a new book on Victoian Butterflies), who felt it so significant that he visited the site with Russell on Jan 5. Ross has since told us that both species "were recorded from Mt Piper (Broadford) in the 1990's but there are few extant locations of either species in southern Vic in the past 15 years". He is aware of one population of the Yellow Ochre at Traralgon and Amethyst Hairstreaks near the Grampians.

The Yellow Ochre butterflies finish flying in mid-December so seeing them on Dec 16 was quite lucky but, curiously, they are likely to reappear in Feb-March. Their food plant here will be Lomandra filiformis or, less likely, Lomandra longifolia.

The Amethyst Hairstreak would be expected (until this find) to be found only on Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle) in this area (Acacia mearnsii, Black Wattle, is also listed as a food plant but not in Vic apparently, but worth a look). Our locals are on Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood). They would be unlikely to be found on planted populations because they stay at their 'birth plant' (probably a factor in their demise) so there aren't many grassland areas left around here that could support them. They are only found on small or young Blackwood plants, not tall or mature plants. They are likely to be seen until mid-late Jan and possibly to March in a good year.

Both are about the size of 20c piece (ie. quite small but twice the size of the very small Grassland Blue butterflies that flit around lawns and in the grasslands, usually close to the ground).

David and Russell removed a number of Disa bracteata from the rail reserve in Riddells Creek today. This weed is a significant threat to the surviving and endangered Purple Donkey-orchid in that section of the rail reserve.