WCMN Members Visit Little Desert Nature Lodge

We arrived at the Lodge not long before the evening meal was served. The night spotlight tour was postponed to allow us to rest after the long journey of the day. But did we rest? No. We held a committee meeting to review all the activities of the WCMN during 2009. The activities were examined in such detail that we had to reschedule the planning session for 2010 until the following day.

On Friday we headed off on a four wheel drive tour of the Little Desert Park. The vehicle was a 1960’s Series 1 Land rover which evoked nostalgia for some of our group, and wonder for others. Our guide, Ken did a sterling job of pointing out interesting vegetation and provided plenty of historical information relevant to the park, all the time while negotiating the sandy and sometimes rocky tracks. Our tour covered a surprising variety of soil, geology and vegetation types and gave us a good picture of the diversity of landforms. Areas that had been burnt in recent years gave us a view of regeneration after fire. We were able to examine numerous plants and flowers that are unique to the area. Bird identification was a little hampered by lack of opportunities to stop and spend time looking for them.

The afternoon was devoted to a WCMN planning meeting. It was a productive time that has identified a diverse calendar of activities for WCMN over the next 12 Months.

That evening we waited until the tremendous thunderstorm and heavy rain had abated before walking to the Mallee Fowl enclosure for the evening spotlight tour with Mark as our guide. We viewed bettongs, bandicoots, sugar gliders, and two bush stone curlews. It began to rain just as we moved in to the covered viewing platform where we saw a Malleefowl perched high up in a tree. The rain abated long enough for us to return back to the lodge before more entertainment with heavy rain and power failures.

Saturday morning we returned to the Malleefowl aviary to view the Curlews in daylight as well as study the malleefowl in two areas with active mounds. Mark provided us with a most informative talk on the habits of the mallee fowl, and the history and activity of the birds we could see.

The visit to Little Desert Lodge was a most worthwhile experience, with opportunities to learn much about flora and fauna of the area and the unique history of Whimpey Reichalts involvement with Malleefowl conservation over the years. We were able to increase our knowledge and understanding of malleefowl in particular, which will be valuable for our ongoing involvement with this species in the Wedderburn Conservation Management Network.

Article and photographs by Annette Robertson