Bird Sanctuary

Our August field trip was to the Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary in Linton. This is a reserve dedicated to woodland birds, which came about through the work of one man, Gordon Clarke.

This commemorative plaque is attached to the lichen-covered boulder seen below:

There is a bit more information about Gordon and the sanctuary on Wikipedia here.

Ironically we didn't see many birds at all, although it was not because we weren't looking:

Looking for waterbirds from one of two bird-hides overlooking this large dam:

We did see lots of ant nests:

And pretty fungi:

And scented sundews (Drosera aberrans) flowering:

An unidentified flowering gum with pretty pink buds:

Bushy needlewood, Hakea decurrens:

A lovely pink hakea of some variety:

A lot of the flowering plants around the sanctuary are not indigenous to the area. Many of them come from other parts of Australia, but were planted by Gordon to provide food for nectar-eating birds.

This elegant little nest belongs to a grey fantail:

And this slightly messier one belongs to a brown thornbill, or possibly a superb fairywren:

The nest is a sort-of bag shape, with the opening at the top on one side. The photo above is the entrance, and the photo below is a side view:

The nest is in a honeybush, Hakea lissocarpha, a prickly hakea covered in scented flowers:

It is a Western Australian plant, but it would be very useful in the garden here, for both the birds and the bees.