The Goongerah Fire Brigade, in a remote East Gippsland settlement, was badly impacted by the 2019-20 bushfires.

Tucked away between two national parks, the small community lost 10 homes and twice that many farm sheds.

As well as slowly rebuilding and repairing their properties, many locals have been putting in a lot of work installing nest boxes for wildlife.

“More than 100 boxes have been installed throughout the valley,” field ecologist, wildlife carer and Goongerah Fire Brigade Lieutenant Rena Gabarov said.

“They are hopefully helping the recovery of dozens of hollow-dependent species that were killed in the fires. Hollows are critical for about 80 species of Gippsland birds, mammals and reptiles.”

The loss of thousands of hollow-bearing trees in the fires has heavily impacted animals such as the threatened gliders, large birds such as black cockatoos, and our rare and endangered forest owls, including the powerful and sooty owls.

The boxes were donated to locals and Goongerah brigade by people from all walks of life, including Fulham Correctional Centre, several Men’s Sheds, Victorian National Parks Association and small businesses.

Goongerah Fire Brigade Captain Tony Bunt said it’s rewarding to see so many of these boxes now being used by native birds and marsupials.

“It gives us a boost to see wildlife slowly returning that would otherwise have had nowhere to shelter and raise their young,” Tony said.

Words & Images: CFA

The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence as one cheeky Galah found out.

CFA Crews from Queenscliff Fire Brigade were surprised to find a Galah stuck high up in the fence of the Queenscliff Cricket Club on Tuesday.

A wildlife volunteer had come across the bird and wasn’t sure what to do, so she contacted CFA for assistance.

4th Lieutenant Elaine Jell, who responded to the incident said, “Sometimes when we receive a code 3, we don’t often get many details about the incident, so we were surprised to find the unlikely patient.”

Assisted by FRV and a ladder platform, crews were able to reach the bird and bring it down to safety.

“The bird was stuck quite high up the fence and it looked like it had its feet caught. It also wasn’t physically possible to reach it, so we requested for help in the form of a truck with a ladder platform.” She added.

The incident illustrates the potential dangers of netting and net-like structures to wildlife, and the desireablilty of avoiding the use of such structures in the first place.