Donnelly’s Weir is in the Yarra Ranges National Park, 3km from Healesville in an open forest area. It is the start of the Bicentennial National Trail up the East Coast of Australia to Cooktown in Queensland, a 5330km walking trail and the longest marked trekking route of its kind in the world.

We reached the car park by crossing a shallow ford and explored the area near the old weir looking at the flora and keeping an eye and an ear out for the resident birds. The tracks were good and much time was spent identifying botanical specimens.

After morning tea we walked alongside the aqueduct that carries water from the Maroondah Dam to Melbourne. The main eucalypts were Manna Gum, Mountain Grey Gum and Messmate. The middle and lower stories had acacias, pomaderris, bedfordia, and other mountain forest shrubs, with tree ferns in the moist gullies. Birds included Golden Whistler, several different honeyeaters and parrots.

Highlights were:

• a Sacred Kingfisher resting on a dead branch overhanging the aqueduct track
• bird orchids and some Mountain Greenhoods on the forest track margins
• magnificent Manna Gums by the creeks
• the almost abrupt change from dominant Gums to a Messmate/Peppermint mix after climbing only about thirty metres.

Bird List

Short plant list

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