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Orchid Walks on Black Mountain
Choose your time to book and to discover some spring flowering native terrestrial orchids and learn something more of this fascinating group of plants with Matt Mullaney, Ciaran Ernst-Russell, Shoko Okada, Tobias Hayashi and Rob Gibbon.
DATE Sunday 4 October
9:30am-12 noon & repeated 1:30 pm to 4:00pm
Yes, daylight saving starts that very day.
MEET at the car park on the mountain side of Caswell Drive. Look for FOBM banners;
(from Belconnen Way drive south towards Glenloch Interchange)
BYO enthusiasm, hat, sunblock, water, stout shoes, & hand lens if you have one, and snacks of you wish.
BOOK Limited numbers for each walk. Choose the time you would like for the walk
Booking link: https://www.trybooking.com/DNZFT
55th Black Mountain spring wildflower ramble
DATE Saturday 10 October 2026
9.30am sharp to 12 noon or later
Celebrate the spring flowering on beautiful Black Mountain with a social ramble appreciating wildflowers in the tradition established by Nancy Burbidge, continued by George Chippendale, and then Jean Geue. Discover the surprising diversity of tiny orchids, bush peas, wattles and billy buttons on easy bush tracks with experienced guides and good company. All springs are not the same. The pattern remains but timing and abundance vary with the weather; after the weather we have had this year we are anticipating a special display of flowers. Friends of Black Mountain welcomes everyone, be they experts or those who have never slowed down to see the somewhat cryptic diversity. We plan several guides, with helpers, who will take different directions.
Please allow time to park and walk to the meeting point.
MEET at Belconnen Way entry just before Caswell Drive turnoff - watch for balloons or banners
BYO morning tea, water, hat, sunblock and stout shoes.
BOOKING ESSENTIAL to ensure we have enough guides. Please use this Booking link: https://www.trybooking.com/DNZFU
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This will help us to contact you if changes are needed at short notice (e.g. bad weather).
If you have problems with that link, email names, addresses, and mobile phone numbers of each person you book to friendsofblackmountain@gmail.com
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This is your SIGN to go for a walk around the Black Mountain Forest Loop!
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Thankyou to Alison, Canberra Nature Park North Ranger, for sharing the story behind the new signs. View the story reel here.
Well done to the Friends of Black Mountain for making it happen!
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This was made possible through ACT Government's Environment Grant Program.
Results of the Woodland Birds on TSRs in the Bungendore Area eBird Surveys are now available.
A summary of the results of the 2019-2023 eBird Surveys by Rainer Rehwinkel are available here.
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The full report can be downloaded from the Resources page of our website here. A more concise version of the report will be available shortly.
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The program is being funded by the NSW Government through a partnership between the Saving our Species program and the Environmental Trust.
Queanbeyan - Molonglo Rivers Heritage Walk
An autumn walk along the Molonglo and Queanbeyan Rivers gave locals a chance to see decades of conservation work — and local history — up close.
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Hosted by Molonglo Conservation Group and Queanbeyan Landcare, the heritage walk explored the shared effort to reduce erosion, restore native habitat and improve the health of the cross-border river corridor.
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Participants walked through areas transformed by years of woody weed removal and regenerative planting. On the NSW side, Queanbeyan Landcare’s Friends of Queanbeyan River Project has established eight mini “forests” and extensive East bank native plantings. Across the border in the ACT, Molonglo Conservation Group has focused on controlling invasive woody weeds with support from ACT Government Environment Grants.
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The group also visited the historic Riverside Cemetery, which dates back to 1842 and is home to a more than 200-year-old Apple Box tree. Flood scars across the site tell the story of how major floods — including those in the 1870s, 1925, 1974, 2010 and 2012 — have continually reshaped the river corridor.
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The walk highlighted an important lesson: rivers and weeds do not respect borders. Species such as Robinia pseudoacacia and Box Elder continue to spread along the waterways, demonstrating why ongoing follow-up management is critical to the long-term success of weed control and regenerative planting efforts.
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*Both the Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery and the Oaks Estate River Corredor Walk are part of the ACT Government “Canberra Tracks” - Oaks Estate River Corridor - Canberra Tracks and Riverside Cemetery - Canberra Tracks
Aprasia Habitat Presence/Absence Survey - Googong
Aprasia update
The Landscape-Species Conservation project pertaining to Aprasia parapulchella conservation in the Googong-Burra region of New South Wales is in its final year of on-ground delivery. With our species absence-presence surveys completed, we are now undertaking final Land For Wildlife assessments on participating landholdings to measure changes to habitat augmentation made across the span of the project. There is also to be some erosion control work underway inside the Googong township sanctuary site, adding a chain of 'frog ponds' in the partially dried spring fed creek to better equip the landscape for rain events and drought.
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This project has been supported by the New South Wales Government’s Saving our Species program through its Office of Environment and Heritage.
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This project is co-funded by Googong Township Pty Ltd
Aprasia - David Hartley
Species in the Suburbs
Educational Resource and
Colouring In Book
is officially Launched!
Molonglo Conservation Group officially launched Species in the Suburbs: a colouring guide to habitat connectivity in the Australian Capital Territory on 8th March, 2024.
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Minister for the Environment, Parks and Land Management, Rebecca Vassarotti, launched the publication and its accompanying teaching resource and activity booklet that were developed by Molonglo Conservation Group as part of the ACT Government's Connecting Nature, Connecting People Project.
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