Nardoo Hills Guided Trip
Published on 23 August 2018
It will be BYO lunch and walking shoes when Bush Heritage Australia’s Victorian regional reserve manager, Jeroen van Veen, leads the first of two nature walks in the Nardoo Hills Reserves.
Planned for Monday 10 September, from 10.30am to 3.30pm, the excursion will highlight the area’s vital role in protecting its resident population of more than 110 bird species, rarely seen native animals and diverse vegetation.
Established in 2004 and open for public tours since 2006, the four blocks that comprise the 1207ha Nardoo Hills Reserves are located 12km north of Wedderburn.
They support a mix of vegetation communities, including grey box, grassy woodland, box-ironbark forests and mallee.
Native fauna present includes the endangered Swift Parrot, Lace Monitor and Crested Bellbird, as well as the Fat-tailed Dunnart, Brown Treecreeper, Chocolate-wattled Bat and Malleefowl.
Floral rarities include the nationally critically endangered Robust Greenhood Orchid, Drooping Sheoak, Southern Swainson Pea and Creamy Candles.
The reserves are also home to the largest protected population in Australia of a small yellow orchid known as the Northern Golden Moth.
Mr van Veen said tours of the reserves were usually booked out quickly.
“We normally take around 30 people, but every year there’s a waiting list, with demand from our supporters in Melbourne always strong,” he said.
“These tours operate alongside others at our J.C. Griffin Reserve, near Stuart Mill, so participants can go to both over a weekend if they want.
“We start the day with an introductory talk before going on a walk to look at different types of landscapes and hope to spot some of the flora and fauna there.”
The second tour is scheduled for Sunday 14 October. Both are free, but donations to the work of Bush Heritage are warmly welcomed.
For more details, go to www.bushheritage.org.au or, to obtain a festival brochure, phone the Loddon Visitor Information Centre on (03) 54943 489 or visit www.loddon.vic.gov.au
Photo by James Cowie