Location: Harcourt North Reservoir is on Barkers Creek. It has frontages on McIvor Road and on the Harcourt North Road.

What to do

• look for water birds. Look in the deeper water near the dam wall, and in the shallow water at the edges
• walk around the reservoir, if the water level is not too high. There is not a formed path, and gum boots are strongly recommended.
• look for aquatic plants and plants of the drying mud-flats
• have a picnic at the picnic ground at the south-west end
• drive northwards along Harcourt North Road, through the granite uplands.

Birds. The reservoir has a diverse bird population. The eastern and northern sides of the reservoir are shallower than than the water near the dam wall. The varied habitat helps make this an interesting place to see birds.

Plants The reservoir is surrounded by vegetation. During dry periods some of the exposed lake bed has a variety of mud-bank plants.

Some of the plants of interest include:

• Trees: Red Gum, Lightwood, Blackwood and Swamp Gum (east side).
• Sedges: Flecked Flat-sedge, Spike Rushes, Tall Sedge, *Umbrella Sedge, Sedge (C. tereticaulis).
• Rushes: Broom, Finger, Common and *Jointed Rushes.
• mud plants: Small Mud-mat, Swamp Isotome, Swamp Crassula, Lilaeopis.
• cushion-plants: Swamp Starwort, Lesser Joyweed, Old Man Weed.
• Taller plants: *Aster Weed, Common Reed, Purple Loosestrife.
• Water Plants: Water Ribbons, Milfoil.
• Scramblers: *Water Cress.
• Nardoo: Nardoo

Harcourt North Reservoir at dusk, from the picnic area. The hills in the background are granite. Red Gums line much of the reservoir.

Barkers Creek rises in the granite hills a few kilometres to the north. It continues southward to Harcourt and joins Forest Creek at Castlemaine, and then Campbells Creek. Downstream the combination is called Campbells Creek. Campbells Creek joins the Loddon River at Newstead. Barkers Creek has cut a broad valley through the granite hills to the north.

EP