The recent news involving a Sea Eagle flying off with a remote camera in the Kimberley has inspired us to put together this video of a Superb Lyrebird, that seemed to think the reflection in the front of the camera was a rival and hence went to war. This happened in September 2012 and thankfully we have not had a repeat. However we did stop putting cameras quite so close to the ground.
Heavy snowfalls are a relatively rare event at Tarra Bulga National Park. A large dump in August 2005 caused a lot of damage to the park’s vegetation due to the weight of the snow. Today’s snow is the biggest dump since this event and hopefully the damage will not be too severe but it certainly will have an impact.
This morning there were plenty of tree branches cracking under the weight of the snow and in more open areas shrubs were taking a battering. Tree Ferns are an ideal shape to catch snow on their fronds, but thankfully they seem very good at recovering from damage. The area where our working bee was a week and a half ago was covered in snow, which is not an ideal start for our newly planted Mountain Ash seedlings.
It was interesting to see the Fauna’s reaction to the sudden icy change to their landscape with a confused Kangaroo hopping about (outside the park boundary) and Lyrebirds and other species buzzing around and looking a bit agitated. The snow would have affected mainly the higher elevations in the park, with sites along the Grand Ridge Rd catching the heaviest falls.
Welcome to Balook
Turn-off into Visitors Centre
Grand Ridge Rd next to Park Entrance
Visitors Centre Entrance
Visitors Centre
Next to the Visitors Centre
Nice day for a picnic, Not!!
Not the best day for a BBQ
Snow Scene
Grand Strzelecki Track Sign – Prepare for all conditions.
A row of Blackwood Trees planted in honour of Cedric Ralph
This deciduous tree near the park entrance is coping better with the snow than the indigenous species.
Shrubs struggling under the weight of the snow
Snapped branches on this Sapling due to the snow.
This Silver Wattle has snapped in half at the trunk.
Tree fern fronds bending down under the weight of the snow.
Tree fern fronds bending down under the weight of the snow.
Eastern Yellow Robin not enjoying the snow.
Plantation across the road from Tarra Bulga copping a battering.
Off to the right is where had our planting day a week and a half ago. Not great for the new trees.