YONGERGNOW NEWSLETTER No4

July 2007

Welcome to the July edition of the Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre newsletter.

I would firstly like to welcome our new members; the Thomas family, the Deering family, W Jones, the Vann family, L & E Faulkner, the Murray family, E Vaux, the Wright family, Marg and Digger Weir and the Thompson family. Your support is very much appreciated.

General visitor numbers have declined over the winter month of July, which is to be expected. However, we have had five group visits, include the Albany Motorcycle Club, twenty Kulin ladies and gentlemen, twenty one Home and Community Care residents from Gnowangerup, twenty six Shell Australia representatives and twenty seven Emergency Services Cadets.

We have also had some visitors from Victoria, New South Wales and as far away as England. All have been very impressed with Yongergnow.

Recently our volunteers undertook a training day and visited the wild malleefowl at Foster Road block, led by PhD student, Jessica van der Waag. The volunteers then re-grouped at Yongergnow for lunch and continued further discussion on Koomal and Gnowi, our resident malleefowl. Judy O'Neill, volunteer and Board Member, has been busy establishing two walk trails through the pristine native bushland surrounding Yongergnow. Points of interest have been pegged and a mud map and reference guide printed for visitors to use.

The aviary has undergone some minor maintenance. An extra cord was installed around the top half of the mesh and extra strapping added to the poles. Hopefully this will help prevent the mesh from fraying and stand up better to Ongerup's ferocious winds.

Last, but not least, Nancy Dewar - volunteer, organised an Enjo fundraising BBQ at the end of the month. We had 12 participants who spent $1400, which meant that Yongergnow received $300 in free cleaning products.

Coming Events:

*Thursday 26 August 2007, commencing at 6.00pm - Tail End Charlie BBQ at the Ongerup Sports Pavilion. Tickets $20 at the door or $15 if booked and paid by 15 August 2007.

*A fund night out to meet the people behind the Tail End Charlie Tractor trek around Australia, to raise funds for Prostate and Breast Cancer. Guest speakers, fun games and prizes to be won.

*8-11 September 2007 - Malleefowl Forum and First Western Australian Megapode Symposium held in Katanning and Yongergnow.

The Forum will review the progress in improving the conservation of the malleefowl and exchange new information about its biology and management.