When the frogs return to a patch of land, you know something's been done right.
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There's a sliver of rejuvenated parkland at Scotchmans Lead between Napoleons and Buninyong the Napoleons-Enfield Landcare Group has been working on for more than 20 years.
A rolling hill down to the Yarrowee River, or Yaramlok in the Wauthaurung language, is dotted with scrub and bush flowers, while the bank of the river features tall gum trees planted when work on the Round the Bend and Up the Creek project first began.
To celebrate 30 years of Landcare, and to highlight the hard work that volunteers have poured into the site, recently a new sign was put up at the gate on Scotchmans Lead Road, welcoming visitors and explaining the ecosystem.
The small wetlands on the site are now full of frogs as the rains arrive - volunteer Jenny Ryle said it's a nice spot for a picnic, now that spring has arrived.
"We're really pleased at the number of species (of plants) that have got up, because it's a tough little site - it used to be a sand quarry - so we weren't sure what would grow well and what would just die off, especially in the hot summers," she said.
"The gums and the wattles really survive well, but we're finding some of the smaller species are coming on as well.
"They're just magic habitats for our frogs."
The site's former owner relinquished the lease many years ago, which allowed the group to continue working on the riverbank site for hundreds of metres from the bridge.
Motion-activated wildlife cameras have revealed a few surprises as well - nesting boxes high in the gums are home to two different species of possums, who appear to share them quite happily, much to the volunteers' surprise.
"Who knew - brush tail and ring tail possums share the same box, within a couple of hours of each other," Ms Ryle said, smiling.
School groups and TAFE students have also been involved in the rejuvenation project, but there's always more to be done.
"We spend a lot of time maintaining the site - (some trees) still have guards and stakes on them protecting them against rabbits, but the rabbits are going away, they're less and less welcome here because they have less cover and birds of prey take 'em," she said.
"We come down for at least a monthly check on the site."
Last week, the state government announced it will support 208 Landcare projects with $2.8 million in grants - the Napoleons-Enfield group will receive $14,465 to support their work.
Other locations include Lake Burrumbeet, Paddock Creek Reserve in Gordon, the Woady Yaloak and Moorabool catchments, and the Leigh Catchment Group's From the Ashes project.
Ms Ryle said she hoped more visitors would come to enjoy the space.
"Because we've got the tall trees as well as the little trees, there's quite a variety of bird species," she said.
"The longer you sit quietly, the more you'll see."
As the group posed for a photo, they watched as a wedge-tailed eagle was chased into the sky by a trio of crows.
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