Leader: Graham Possingham
Facilitator: Jenny Possingham
Total of 35 visitors over the two excursions
We arranged for a reserve key from the Council to open the short access track off Vigneron Drive and parked and met at the end. From there we took two out-and-back loops, northwards through open country towards Moorabool River Viaduct then southwards through a red gum woodland flood plain towards Batesford. We swapped the order to walk south first in the afternoon as it became warm and that gave better shade.
The area is the type locality of the Moorabool Viaduct Sand formation, with an easy to see riverbank cliff face, and several were glad to see the viaduct up close–dating from 1862 it is still in use as part of the main Melbourne to Adelaide rail line.
Several of us had excellent views of a Rakali in the morning, but no platypus sightings. ‘Perridak ngubiyt’, which is the proposed name for the reserve (open for consultation), means freshwater home of the platypus, and platypus are regularly seen in this stretch of the Moorabool River; we were likely just too late in what ended up to be a warm day. Both groups spotted a large adult male Koala near the viaduct: he has been at the location for a least a few months.
A few got excited by a large nest of Black-headed Bull Ants Myrmecia nigriceps, and we saw many moth (likely Abantiades sp.) larva cases on the ground under the red gums following the recent rain. We also noted what we believe to be Insect-egg Slime Leocarpus fragilis (or similar) on mown grass.
Notable bird sightings included several good views of Eastern Shrike Tits, the local population of Eastern Yellow Robins near the viaduct, morning views of both a Little and Wedge-Tailed Eagle, and a pair of Rufous Whistlers in the afternoon. We sadly missed out on the resident but rather isolated Brown Treecreeper. Combined bird list for morning and afternoon walks had 43 species, which is typical of the site at that time of year. https://ebird.org/tripreport/494230
ABN 23 918 778 150
Incorporation No A0044963D