Churchill Island Heritage Farm has a large photograph collection dating from the nineteenth century. Photograph of 'Sturdy Survivors' Visitor's Centre Display with informational texts and photographs of Phillip Island's flora and faunaCatalogue number on reverse in pencil.churchill island, photograph

Unlined booklet of handwritten notes of nature observations of the birds, animals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, crustaceans and insects. Includes an introduction by A. D. Hardy. Also typed notes of the booklet with annotations by the leading scientist from the Phillip Island Nature Park. Dr. Peter Dann.non-fictionNotes on local flora and faunaanderson family, mary potter, animals, birds, flora, fauna

Short tailed shearwaters and Little Penguins, nesting in burrows on the coast during the warmer months of the year, are extremely vulnerable to fires. Phillip Island had a history of fires on foreshores – either deliberately or accidentally lit. This article describes 2 accidentally lit fires on consecutive days at the Phillip Island Penguin Parade rookeries during the height of the breeding and tourist season in January 1967. The vital importance of volunteers such as the country Fire authority members and the local surfing community, is alluded to in this article by well-known naturalist and author from the time, Graham Pizzey. The Victorian government’s chief secretary, Arthur Rylah, reported here seeking an investigation into the fires at what he terms: “one of the best conservation projects we have done”, was a prominent Victorian politician for many years.This article is significant for demonstrating a growing awareness of the vulnerability of ground nesting birds, of the importance in volunteers such as members of the local country Fire authority and Phillip Island surfing community partnering with wildlife management bodies to protect ground nesting birds, in particular the Penguin and short tailed shearwater rookeries at the Phillip Island Penguin Parade and other parts of Phillip Island. The article also reflects the growing awareness by the Victorian government of the importance of the Phillip Island Penguin Parade to the Victorian tourism economy. Written by naturalist Graham Pizzey, wrote regularly for the Melbourne Herald, the article is another example of how this journalist frequently emphasised Phillip Island’s flora and fauna in his newspaper column.Photocopy made in 1980s of newspaper cutting. Black print and black and white images of original photograph of author Graham Pizzey within the article.5/1/67little penguins, fairy penguins, eudyptula minor, phillip island penguin parade, graham pizzey, penguin rookery, penguin behaviour, phillip island tourist attractions, short tailed shearwaters, phillip island conservation society, arthur rylah, victorian government, phillip island cfa, phillip island surfers, fires on foreshores

Cr J Gall was a councilor on the Borough of Wonthaggi Council. The Borough included Cape Paterson, where Cr Gall saw 5 little penguins on the beach. He described them as looking for somewhere to nest – that is, to dig burrows in the coast adjoining the Cape Paterson sandy beach. At that stage, the Wonthaggi state coal mine had been closed for 4 years and Wonthaggi had more emphasis on attracting different industries. There was little interest in flora and fauna of the area at that stage. Cr Gall’s unusual sighting of the Little Penguins possibly nesting at Cape Paterson attracted derision from the other councillors, and also a sarcastic Editor's Note from the newspaper's editor - none of which was not surprising for that era. The Borough of Wonthaggi was later amalgamated with the shires of Phillip Island and Bass, plus other areas of a couple of others local shires in 1994 to form Bass Coast Shire Council, which quickly moved to a heavy emphasis on flora, fauna and the tourism industry related to the environment generally.The article clearly demonstrates the disinterested if not dismissive attitude of the Borough of Wonthaggi councillors and the local newspaper editor at the time towards observations of flora and fauna. However, the article is also an interesting record of 5 Little Penguins being sighted at a beach where they were not known to have previously been seen.Photocopy of Single column newspaper article, black print on white paper. Article has curved line border design on top, sides. Cut off in copy at bottom edge. Five paragraphs in main article, and 1 paragraph at bottom marked: Editor's noteSEN 13 - 7 - 72 (South Gippsland Sentinel Times newspaper, 13th July, 1972)little penguins, fairy penguins, eudyptula minor, penguin behaviour, borough of wonthaggi, cr j gall

Miranda was a very popular journalist of this era, whose homely style appealed to many readers, especially women, her main audience in her writing. Here she talks about renting a new demonstration holiday home (probably a Coldon Home), which, although small, had a 'dream kitchen'. She describes the birds and walk through the wattle to the beach, but also the many blocks for sale and wonders what the island will be like in 10 years time from their visit. Her son drove them to Pyramid Rock where they almost got bogged on the road. They visit the usual spots, which she describes with a combination of curiosity and enjoyment. She also mentions another block fenced off on the main road which was a gift from the ratepayers of Phillip Island, and which the Young Farmers were to plant out for koala trees.This article is significant because thousands of Weekly Times newspaper readers read Miranda’s letter article without fail each edition. She describes renting a house for a holiday, which indicates the move away from family holidays in guest houses. She also describes some of the rough roads in parts of the island at the time. She concentrates on the island’s natural attractions rather than man- made tourist attractions, which is also significant in letting us see why people would visit Phillip Island in that era. Miranda also predicts the explosion of the holiday home owner market which took place soon after, and continues today though in a more controlled way.Photocopy of newspaper article cut out from full page. Cutting has three columns of text, no images. Black text on white paper. Dark areas due to poor photocopyingWEEKLY TIMES / 2/9/65phillip island, miranda, weekly times newspaper, holiday home, phillip island flora and fauna, pyramid rock, phillip island pengiun parade, young farmers, phillip island beaches, cuddly koala bears, phillip island housing estate land sales

Written during the 1960s when surfing was burgeoning across Australia’s coast and Phillip Island surf beaches had become extremely popular, few management strategies were in place to control interaction of the public with the delicate flora and fauna of the coastal environments. There were few good access tracks, car parks, bins, toilets etc at coastal/surfing hotspots around the Phillip Island coast. A number of management issues occurred with the influx of surfers. These included dune erosion caused by surfers climbing dunes to see the surf before going on the beach; informal parking on wildlife habitat; numerous access paths from wherever cars were parked down to the beach cutting through habitat; illegal camping on foreshores; illegal lighting of fires on beach and in dunes; surfers’ dogs let out of the car while surfers were out on the water. The dogs were uncontrolled. Certainly some surfers behaved responsibly, as is almost invariably the case these days. However, in that era of this article few people understood the delicate nature of the coastal environment and that it need to be protected through public education, infrastructure and enforcement of regulations. As now, most rural Fire services were run by dedicated volunteers who faced many challenges in their roles as Country Fire Authority firefighters. However, it was not uncommon for visitors and locals to also assist with fire-fighting efforts.The article is significant in containing quotes from both sides of the discussion who were directly involved in coastal fire incidents on Phillip Island in the 1960s. It also indicates the large number of surfers visiting Phillip Island beaches, the volunteer nature of the firefighting service and the extra challenges they faced on Phillip Island as a visitor destination. The anonymous university student surfer who is quoted, also describes possible causes of the fires, methods he and his fellow surfers used to extinguish the fires and raise the alarm, and the way they assisted the volunteer firefighters . The reference to him breaking into one of the Summerland housing estate holiday houses is also significant because that housing estate was purchased over 2 decades by successive Victorian governments to remove management issues caused to the wildlife habitat on Summerland Peninsula.Photocopy of newspaper cuttings including 2 related articles. Five columns of black text on white paper with one poorly reproduced photo bottom rightphillip island, cat bay, country fire authority, artie murdoch, alf towns, frank dixon, barry thompson, newhaven-san remo rural fire brigade, penguin parade, cowrie beach, surfers, coastal fires