High Country Life

With winter wildflowers at their most vibrant, November to February is an excellent time for alpine walks. Remember to respect the environment by staying on designated tracks and trails.

Autumn range shifts were affected by wide-scale variations in vegetation greenup dates and senescence dates for migrants, as well as plant phenology for residents.

Flame Robins

As snow melts away in the alpine and new vegetation emerges, now is an excellent opportunity to appreciate the changing seasons and experience nature first hand. Walk through forests of Victorian Alpine Resorts listening for birdsong as you observe what flowers or fauna is blooming – maybe an alpine marsh marigold below melting snow, a bright red robin Petroica phoenicea flying between trees or blue flatworms appearing in damper environments where frogs may call their mating songs out!

Autumn color changes are particularly stunning in mountain pine deciduous forests of the Alps. As leaves begin to transition from their lush green state into shades of nutty browns, orange and mustard yellow, a visit to these forests in autumn can also provide an amazing opportunity to watch deer during their rutting season – the males can roar loudly through forests to attract females or scare off competition; an experience not to be missed!

At this time of year, numerous small mammals can also be observed. After emerging from hibernation during wintertime, these small creatures begin searching for food once again – including the marmot (Mustela erminea nipponen). Common across the Alps from foothills to Sub Alpine Belt. It feeds on grasses, herbs, flowers, buds roots and bark as part of its diet; its adaptations allow it to live in harsh environments thanks to special respiratory systems allowing it to breathe at higher altitudes while it retains body heat while staying warm when temperatures fall.

Social animals that reside in burrows with other members of their colony. Males tend to become very territorial during breeding season. With its unique shrill whistle warning others of predators and ability to communicate via signals with its fellow colonists regarding its location.

Bogong Moths

Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) have long been recognised as iconic symbols of Australian alpine environments and culturally significant species for indigenous communities. Being Australia’s largest moths, these iconic species play important pollination roles on mountain flowers while contributing other benefits in their ecosystem. Unfortunately, our understanding of how their migration pattern changes remains incomplete – we only just started studying how their numbers vary over time and why.

As soon as the sun goes down over the mountains, Bogong moths begin their nightly rest period by aestivating. Witnessing millions of moths snugly huddled together within rock crevices with wings interlacing like scales can bring great spiritual euphoria; an integral component of alpine tourism.

Moths use an internal compass tuned to Earth’s magnetic field in order to navigate their daily journey back down to earth during the day, just like people doing orienteering in the bush. They find landmarks like the Moon or Milky Way as guides as well as local landmarks for guidance; when these visual clues become obscured or lost they recalibrate themselves and resume the search process.

At first, our knowledge of moth numbers changed over time was limited to a handful of long-term studies. Ian Common recorded peak moth counts during the early 1950s at Mt Gingera aestivation site and nearly 70 years of observations each summer from various sites on Mt Buffalo (1601-2020 m).

Long-term records demonstrate that moth numbers were generally stable until 1980, then gradually declined until 2017 when they suddenly dropped significantly. This collapse is likely caused by climate change, protracted drought in their breeding grounds, human activities such as land clearing and light pollution in their migration habitat, as well as any number of other factors.

These changes to migratory Bogong moth populations could have serious repercussions for their role in mountain ecosystems. Bogong moths serve as food source for mountain pygmy-possums which depend on them each summer to survive, while their loss would likely cause havoc for various native flowers that depend on them as pollinators.

Mt Buller & Mt Stirling

Mt Buller is an internationally acclaimed alpine resort that draws thousands of visitors each year, managed as part of an Alpine National Park and home to excellent rehabilitation programs for subalpine wetlands and hiking trails. Additionally, nearby Mt Stirling area provides more untouched and natural parts of High Country that offer mountain biking trail options suitable for all skill levels and acts as wildlife refuge. Some highly valued species have even been successfully reintroduced here!

The Alpine region is home to an abundance of mammals, birds and reptiles adapted specifically to its conditions – such as goatlike chamois with its exceptional agility or alpine marmot that lives underground galleries – but also those more resilient like ibex that traverse near vertical cliffs or alpine salamander whose gestation period exceeds any amphibian’s gestation period.

Early Autumn is an excellent time for hiking in the mountains and listening out for marmots as they prepare to hibernate for six months. Additionally, you may hear the distinctive sound of woodpecker tapping away on tree bark from quite a distance away; its sound can easily be identified.

As you walk the mountains this autumn, you might also come across deer. Red deer are common throughout the Alps and their amazing call will let you know they are close by if you happen to hear it! Male deer develop stunning horns as they compete with rival herds – an exhilarating spectacle to witness.

Alpine plants and animals are extremely diverse, yet are threatened by climate change. Rising temperatures have caused glaciers and permafrost to melt, altering the landscape while creating new ridgelines and crevices that may impact on habitat for certain animals. Coupled with increasing human activity levels, this makes life harder for many alpine species.

Deer

Deer aren’t just nuisance grazers at lower altitudes – they serve an important purpose too! Their adaptable diet includes roots, berries, flowers, mushrooms snails birds eggs pine cones seeds and insects – not to mention the fur molting in winter that helps conceal them against their mountain backdrop making it even harder for predators to spot them!

Ptarmigan (or rock grouse) is one of the best-known alpine species, living year-round in open alpine habitats and using their white plumage for camouflage against snowy landscapes. Unfortunately, climate changes could affect timing and extent of moulting cycles and winter snow cover events, increasing predation risk significantly.

Stoats, which belong to the weasel family, are swift and active predators, their long, slim bodies adapted for fitting between boulders where they hunt wild rabbits or rodents. Stoats turn white for winter camouflage purposes making them hard for hikers to spot.

Marmots are another member of the weasel family that are native to our mountain ecosystem, living year-round in our mountains. While their fur may appear brown in summer, in autumn their hair molts to pure white and creates perfect camouflage against our snowy landscape, making it harder for predators to spot them.

Animals of this sort are extremely effective diggers, capable of creating tunnels we would find impossible. They live in groups and each has their own burrow known as a hotel which can become very complex over time. Spring and summer months see light activity from them, but as autumn rolls in they grow fat and heavy for hibernation.

Three large carnivorous mammals native to the Alps have been hunted nearly to extinction due to hunting policies and successful reintroduction projects; thanks to policy reform and successful reintroduction projects these animals are making a comeback. Ibex have also been saved from near extinction in Gran Paradiso National Park and now being reintroduced across other Alpine areas.