🟠 Bats, buildings, bulbs

Also including: The ultimate guide to events, live music and kid-friendly attractions in February

Author

Matthew Sims
January 30, 2026

⏱️ The 111th edition of our newsletter is a seven-minute read.

Hi there 👋 

Matthew Sims here, your reporter at the Eastern Melburnian.

One of my first forays into the world of journalism was a piece I wrote for Monash University’s journalism website, Mojo News, about the hidden world of the grey-headed flying fox and the large camp at Yarra Bend Park in Kew.

I remember driving down there in the middle of the day with my trusty camera hoping to grab an award-winning shot. To my disappointment, I quickly realised they didn’t really swarm and fly around until night-time.

But the sight of hundreds of these fruit bats flying around was worth the wait.

When I heard about the impact the weekend’s heatwave was having on Melbourne’s flying foxes, I wanted to learn more about the scope of the issue. So, I spoke with Tamsyn Hogarth from Olinda, who has been running a wildlife rescue organisation with her husband for the past 12 years or so.

Tamsyn told me she and 27 other volunteers spent hours spraying water into the trees at Brimbank Park in Melbourne’s western suburbs, as groups of bats huddled together, growing more dehydrated and delirious, with many simply falling from the trees and dying when their body hit the concrete below.

Extreme heat impacts every living thing on this planet and a mountain of evidence points to conditions only getting hotter. I hope the scales can be balanced so we do everything we can to cool down every critter and reduce the impact on Melbourne’s biodiversity.

Today we’re covering:

“In cities like Melbourne, we have the capacity to take action that can have local results and also global results.”

University of Melbourne Senior Research Fellow, Doctor Judy Bush, on Melbourne’s capacity to use nature-based solutions to reduce climate change’s impacts on cities

WHAT’S ON 🎟️

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

As record-breaking heat hits Victoria, experts say we need to rethink how our cities are designed or face a future where our cities are increasingly unlivable.

Victoria broke its record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Tuesday, with Walpeup in the state’s north reaching 48.9 degrees.

Parts of Melbourne breached the 45-degree mark, while Melbourne Airport hit 44.1 degrees.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology’s 2025 preliminary summary, Australia experienced its fourth-warmest year on record last year, with temperatures 1.23 degrees above the 1961-1990 average.

University of Melbourne Senior Research Fellow, Doctor Judy Bush, is an expert on nature-based solutions to climate change’s impacts on cities. She told the Eastern Melburnian there’s still hope to use our natural resources to make our cities capable of withstanding longer and hotter conditions – but action needs to be taken.

Bush said governments’ priorities should be shifting towards adapting our cities to deal with climate impacts, not aiming to avoid them altogether.

“Vegetation is one of the most effective and equitable ways to cool cities,” Bush said. “Governments at all levels have a huge role, but so do businesses and individuals. In cities like Melbourne, we have the capacity to take action that can have local results and also global results.”

A recent study from the World Weather Attribution, looking at the January 5 to 10 heatwave that hit south-eastern Australia, found it was the most severe in six years.

The research also found:

  • The heatwaves seen during this period had shifted from a one-in-25-year event to a one-in-five-year event in today’s climate;

  • The intensity of heatwaves would become three times more likely if the globe warms by another 1.3 degrees – a threshold we are set to reach by 2100 under current policies; and

  • Australia’s extreme heat events have become more frequent and more intense due to human-induced climate change.

Developed by RMIT researchers, the Heat Vulnerability Index found Melbourne’s outer suburbs had the highest vulnerability to extreme heat, due to limited tree cover and strong urban heat-island effects.

A 2023 study from the Australian National University and CSIRO predicted that if Melbourne’s infrastructure was moved towards including more ground-level vegetation and reflective roof surfaces, air temperatures would drop by 2.4 degrees.

Bush said the key places to target in terms of building with heat-resistant materials should be where people are the most vulnerable to extreme heat, including connections between transport hubs and other social and lifestyle hubs and cycling paths.

The smack of flesh on concrete, a mouth desperately panting for water and hundreds of dead flying foxes scattered across the parkland.

This was the scene that confronted Olinda husband and wife Tamsyn and Nathan Hogarth, who operate the Fly By Night Bat Clinic, a wildlife shelter currently caring for and rehabilitating about 76 bats.

For the Hogarths, seeing hundreds of grey-headed flying foxes die due to extreme heat exposure has become a regular occurrence since first launching the wildlife shelter back in early 2014.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the grey-headed flying fox – a type of fruit bat – is vulnerable to extinction. There's only about 300,000 remaining across Australia, including about 25 camps in Victorian places like Kew’s Yarra Bend Park, which often attracts flocks of 50,000 during the peak season.

On Tuesday, Tamsyn and a team of 27 volunteers spent hours at Brimbank Park, in Melbourne’s west, to spray water and care for flying foxes nearby, alongside Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action staff members conducting high-pressure ground wetting.

Tamsyn said the bats were “dehydrated” and “delirious” as the mercury climbed, with the 45-degree peak not occurring until about 8pm.

“You've got them falling from the heat and smashing onto concrete next to you,” Tamsyn told the Eastern Melburnian. “It's all very depressing. You don't have time to process the emotional side of it as a person until later, you've just got to keep going to save who you can.”

Tamsyn said she had been advocating for sprinklers to be installed at all Victorian camps for years, similar to the $180,000 custom-built system delivered by the State Government to Yarra Bend Park.

Extreme heat and bushfire damage led to mass power outages across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs yesterday, with more than 55,000 left in the dark for hours across the state’s east.

According to energy network operator AusNet, about 55,000 customers from areas across the eastern and north-eastern suburbs – including The Basin, Lilydale and Ringwood – lost electricity supply at about 10pm on Tuesday evening.

As of about 9am on Wednesday morning, 12,500 customers remained powerless due to 187 unplanned outages.

Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said power outages across the state peaked at more than 100,000 due to bushfires burning out electricity assets, strong winds causing trees to fall on poles and wires, and heat-related equipment failure.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said the state had “sufficient energy reserves to meet demand”.

Typically, operational demand is about 3,700 to 5,000 megawatts. On Tuesday, Victorians turning on air conditioners and other appliances after returning home from work drew 10,567 megawatts.

Multiple bushfires are burning across the western region of Victoria, with the Gellibrand-Carlisle River fire having now burnt through more than 11,000 hectares and destroyed three homes as containment lines were breached over the weekend.

More than 1100 residents in the Colac Otway Shire have been ordered to evacuate their homes since Monday evening, and more than 120 people have taken shelter in relief centres as of Tuesday afternoon.

Communities in the state’s north-east are tallying the damage sustained in the Longwood fire – which burnt through about 136,000 hectares – and the Walwa blaze – which covered more than 100,000 hectares.

An AusNet spokesperson said extreme heat was the major cause of the outages.

Police are seeking any information to track paintings and jewellery allegedly stolen from a Kew woman’s home late last year, with the haul estimated to be worth more than $400,000.

Police said in a statement the victim’s brother visited the Stevenson Street property on Sunday December 28, immediately noticing the front door was off its hinges and a number of items were missing.

Police said the items were believed to have been stolen across a number of visits between December 24, 2024 and 28 December, 2025, while the victim was away for an extended period.

Police said items stolen included a John Perceval “Sunflowers” painting worth more than $75,000, three Criss Canning works worth between $30,000 and $50,000 each, two antique Chinese paintings worth more than $10,000 each; and a strand of pearls worth more than $50,000.

The offender/s also stole household items including vacuums and tools, as well as a large wine collection.

Boroondara Crime Investigation Unit Detective Sergeant Warren Atkinson said the incident had been “extremely distressing” for the victim, due to a number of the items holding “strong sentimental value”, including a sculpture purchased in Germany about 50 years ago.

“We believe the offender/s have identified that the victim has not been at this property for some time and has taken this as an opportunity to revisit the premises again and again,” said Atkinson. “Any information we receive could lead to us identifying a person of interest and ultimately bringing some closure and comfort to this victim.”

Anyone with any CCTV footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make an anonymous report via www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

SEEN THIS WEEK

Here is the ultimate guide to what to do across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs in February.

What’s on in February

What's on across Melbourne's eastern suburbs in February

Events include a burlesque night for couples, a 12-hour pickleball marathon and a walk for mental health.

Live music events in February

February's best live music events in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs

Read about upcoming shows featuring local acts across Melbourne's east.

February’s kid-friendly events

The best kids’ events across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs in February

From cultural celebrations to festivals, there’s plenty to keep young eastern Melburnians entertained this month.

Thanks for catching up with us this week at the Eastern Melburnian. We hope you enjoyed this issue.

Cheers,

Matthew