Nan and Mary-Jane Betts are the 2022 recipients of the John Betts Award. Nan was John’s wife and Mary-Jane John Betts daughter. These determined women have been working tirelessly since John Betts death in to regenerate the native grasslands and landscape on their Cowridge property on Black Range Road. 

Nan and Mary-Jane are currently working to have the Derringullen Creek waterway on their property join the nearby Rivers of Carbon project. They have a goal to protect this natural waterway for future generations. However the current corridor of the TransGrid Humelink transmission line threatens to cut across this special site and a large number of mature Box Gum Woodland trees and a 30 year old tree lane is in threat of being felled as part of the Humelink transmission line installation.

The Derringullen Creek waterfall site on Cowridge is a very special place for Nan and Mary-Jane. Over the last few years they have worked tirelessly to fence off over 60 hectares of this waterway which includes several small waterfalls. A pair of wedge tail eagles have built a very large nest in a Eucalyptus Blakelyi at the waterfall site and at the awards presentation they were seen flying high in the thermals.

Fencing off the Derringullen Creek waterway and surrounding riverbank has enabled a large number of Callitris endlicheri seedlings to become established from a significant mother tree.  Nan and Mary-Jane are keen to protect this mature tree as it is the only example of a Callitris endlicheri on Derringullen Creek. This waterway also has mature examples of Eucalyptus melliodora, Eucalyptus blakelyi and Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus bridgesiana which are under threat from the installation of the TransGrid Humelink transmission line.

Several of the property dams were created in the 1800’s by heavy horse and scoop and have been undisturbed due to the volume of fresh water mussels in those dams which are a favourite food source for herons. Underground water fills one of these horse and scoop dams known as the gravel pit and this dam has been fenced off to enable native vegetation to regenerate. 

There are numerous fence line plantings across Cowridge hill top paddocks which were established as part of the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management project. These paddocks provide livestock shelter and reticulated stock water is provided through the property from dam water reserves. Nan and Mary-Jane have also found time to create the JCH Betts memorial drive which includes a range of robust bottlebrush – it felt moving to drive past this living memorial to John Betts.

Mary-Jane is a graphic artist who also studied horticulture and has put that knowledge to good use growing plants from seed and then planting them in the same landscape as the parent plants.  Mary-Jane and Nan have planted numerous trees lanes and small native clusters which provide both stock shelter as well as providing wildlife corridors or stepping stones across the landscape.

Both young at heart women are open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Mary-Jane and Nan have future plans for Cowridge which would see the opening up their property for bird watchers, poets and photographers or just day dreamers. 

The Yass Area Network of Landcare groups has great pleasure in awarding the 2022 John Betts award to Nan and Mary-Jane Betts.

Trail cameras are a wonderful way to discover who you are sharing your block of land with – be it feral pests or some of Australia’s unique bird and animal species.  However, they’re designed to look at large creatures and give disappointing results on small birds and animals.  Moving the camera too close to the target (be it food, or a hole in a fence, or a water bowl) only results in a fuzzy picture as the cameras have a fixed focus that is set for objects a few metres away.

Fortunately, reading glasses work the same way on cameras as they do on people.  So, taking one lens from a cheap (less than $10) pair of glasses and attaching it over the camera lens with Blu-Tack is all that’s needed to bring the focus in closer.

Reading glasses come in a range of “strengths”, denoted by the dipotre (D).  This is usually printed on the frames or on a small removable sticker.  Attached in front of a camera that was originally designed to focus on distant objects, the lens from the reading glasses will place the focal point of the camera at a distance from the camera (in metres) equal to 1/D.  So, for commonly available glasses,

D             New focus position

+1           1 metre

+2           0.5 metre

+3            33cm

+4           25cm

A few tips

* The cheapest glasses with plastic frames have the lenses glued in place. They are difficult to remove without some violence. For a few dollars more, metal-framed glasses come with lenses that will pop out under strong pressure from a thumb.

* It does not matter if the lens partially covers the infrared illumination LEDs of the camera.

* However, if the lens is too large it might prevent the camera door from opening. The plastic lens can be cut down to size with a small saw such as a Dremel.

* The “depth of field”, or range of distances over which focus is maintained, becomes smaller as the power of the lens increases. A +3 dipotre lens will create a depth of field of only a few cm, requiring careful placement of the camera relative to the subject.

All photos by the author.  The small animal pictured above is a yellow-footed antechinus, or mardo (Antechinus flavipes), taken through a +3 lens attached to a Browning trail camera.

John Storey,

Gunning District Landcare

21 Feb 2022

Yass Landcare Group is in its third year of the Paddock Tree Project. The project is funded through South East Local Land Services' 'Improved Biodiversity on the Tablelands' program, as well as participant contributions. Gunning District Landcare is also running its first Paddock Tree Project this year, with Yass Landcare is supplying the Eucalyptus tubestock.

Eucalypts which will be available in both Paddock Tree Projects include:

Eucalyptus camaldulensis River Red Gum

Eucalyptus melliodora Yellow Box

Eucalyptus albens White Box

Eucalyptus blakelyi Blakelyi’s Red Gum

Eucalyptus macrorhyncha Red Stringy Bark

Eucalyptus polyanthemos Red Box

Eucalyptus viminalis Manna Gum

Eucalyptus radiata Narrow Leaf peppermint

Yass Landcare's project has been so popular that we are already over-subscribed and need to close the EOI's for this year! You can follow the growth of paddock trees at various sites in future YAN Facebook posts.

A small group of regular Yass nursery volunteers met at a Landcare member's property to take some plant cuttings. Cuttings from Correas,  Wax flowers, Eremophilas and Grevilleas were taken. These plants will be stored and repotted up later in the year. Ultimately for sale at a future plant sale!

If you enjoy gardening and growing plants from seed or cuttings the next volunteer session is Tuesday 22 February from 9.30 at the Yass Landcare Community nursery which is behind the Yass Men’s Shed 1428 YASS Valley Way.