NGT Out and about – Photos from the field in January

As we welcome the new year, we’ve got some extra photos from late December to catch up on…

Firstly, Lisa and a small crew of volunteers and NGT staff undertook our annual red gum survey at Walker Swamp – just before Christmas, and just before the fires! You probably read from Mark’s blog post on the fire impacts that some of the lovely old red gums at Walker Swamp were badly impacted, though thankfully none of the trees in these photos were affected.

Some of our lovely neighbours at Walker Swamp, Andrew Taylor & Kylie Rose, have also volunteered to identify & tag 100 trees at Long Point. So those trees will now also fall into the annual red gum survey. Great news, and big thanks to Andrew and Kylie for the time and efforts.

Ayesha also spotted some sugar ants who were taking butterfly eggs back down into their nest from the tree, probably part of a symbiotic relationship between the two species. Lisa says they were crawling all over Ayesha as she got up close with them (luckily sugar ants don’t bite), The lengths you ecologists go to, to investigate & study are astounding!

Bec, Justine and Mark have been out doing some more investigations at the Apsley Marshes on Tasmania’s east coast (adjacent to Moulting Lagoon). The marshes were still wet (having bucked the trend witnessed on the mainland, with some recent rain in the catchment). As you can see some of the drainage channels are quite deep and a kayak is the best mode of transport!

And now back to tree health… Long-term NGT volunteers Andrew and Kylie kindly volunteered to expand our tree survey to Long Point. They have now tagged and surveyed 100 trees there. This is the first tree survey done at Long Point, which will enable future comparisons and long-term tracking of the tree’s health. Thank you Andrew and Kylie!