SAVE Mt Canobolas SCA

28/04/2026

When: Thursday 14 May, 7.30 pm Where: Seniors Village Hub, North Room. Topic: What’s in a name? Orchid Taxonomy: a gentle introduction. Speaker: Dr Heidi Zimmer, Research Scientist (Botany)Orchid R…

17/04/2026

14/04/2026

Register now for Mycology May

Explore the hidden world of fungi on Mt Canobolas. Join a guided foray to discover local mushrooms, mycelium networks, and the magic of the forest floor.

12/03/2026

10/03/2026

Join us for our next Green Drinks as we welcome Colin Bower, a renowned entomologist, naturalist and orchid expert based in Orange. Colin has spent decades exploring the fascinating world of Australia’s native orchids and their extraordinary pollination strategies.

After completing his PhD in entomology, Colin worked as a research entomologist with the NSW Department of Agriculture, specialising in integrated pest management. Alongside his scientific career, he developed a deep passion for native orchids after first encountering them on a bushwalk in the late 1970s, which has since become a lifelong pursuit.

Colin’s research combines entomology and botany, focusing on the remarkable relationships between orchids and their insect pollinators. His work has contributed to the discovery of new orchid and wasp species and helped unravel the complex ecological interactions that make these plants so unique.

On the night, Colin will share insights into the incredible diversity of the native orchids found right here in Central Western NSW, their fascinating biology and pollination strategies, and why these remarkable plants deserve our attention and protection.

Colin will also have copies of his book Native Orchids of Central Western NSW (co-authored with Richard Medd) available for purchase.

Whether you’re a seasoned naturalist or simply curious about the hidden biodiversity around us, this will be a fascinating evening of discovery.

09/03/2026

Join us in person or via Teams this Thursday 12/3 at 730pm for an update on ANU tracking of Superb Parrots.
Speaker: Dr Laura Bussolini, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU.

Where: Orange Seniors Village Hub, North Room. This talk will be online via Microsoft Teams (not ZOOM). Note the presentation will be recorded for OFNCS website use.
You can come to the Hub and watch Laura’s presentation as a projection and chat to other members

OR

you can watch it at home by requesting a Microsoft Teams link by emailing to [email protected]. You will be sent a link on the afternoon of the talk.

Details: The ANU recently received funding to research the movements of threatened parrot species, specifically the Superb Parrot and closely related Regent Parrot. Throughout the 2025 breeding season, we covered a huge geographic area to find locations where parrots nest, climbed trees (including Orange) to confirm nest timing and breeding success, and captured adult breeding birds to deploy GPS tracking tags. Over the course of just a few months, researchers at the ANU discovered dozens of Superb and Regent Parrot nests, collected hundreds of DNA samples, and deployed nearly ~70 GPS tags on adult birds. This talk will focus on some of the preliminary results from that project, specifically focusing on location information coming in from the GPS tags to show how birds are using the landscape during both the breeding and non-breeding periods.

25/02/2026

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service are proposing to develop three luxury bush cabins in the rare pagoda landscapes of the Gardens of Stone.

06/02/2026

Opening tonight in Orange

Memories of winter's snowfall on Gaanha-bula, (Mt Canobolas) to cool you down in these terrible heatwave conditions. This painting, 'Snow and sunshine II ' is part of 'Nature l Nature opening 6pm Friday 6 February. I'm incredibly excited and have a heart full of gratitude to have this amazing opportunity to showcase my new body of work, which focuses very much on conservation of forest communities, biodiversity and existential challenges of the climate crisis which we are experiencing right now.

31/01/2026

Memories of winter's snowfall on Gaanha-bula, (Mt Canobolas) to cool you down in these terrible heatwave conditions. This painting, 'Snow and sunshine II ' is part of 'Nature l Nature opening 6pm Friday 6 February. I'm incredibly excited and have a heart full of gratitude to have this amazing opportunity to showcase my new body of work, which focuses very much on conservation of forest communities, biodiversity and existential challenges of the climate crisis which we are experiencing right now.