Working on Hindmarsh Island in the Murray Mouth, South Australia

Hindmarsh Island is an island about 15 km long and 6 kms wide situated in the delta region of the Murray River. The islands environment is unique because it is exposed to both salt  and fresh water.

Before European settlement, Hindmarsh Island was a beautiful place, heavily wooded with she oaks, paperbarks and abundant with flora and fauna. It provided a home to many Ngarrindjeri people. It is also an area used by migrating birds. The loss of food and shelter has reduced the numbers of native animals and birds.

The original tree coverage of the island was depleated to supply fuel to the steam boats that navigated the Murray River.

The flow of the river to the ocean has been drastically reduced due to agricultural irrigation in upper regions of the river. This is the main cause of the environment change that is affecting the migratory birds.

HINDMARSH ISLAND LANDCARE GROUP

The Hindmarsh Island Landcare Group is a small orginsation of volunteers who's aim to conserve and reestablish original habitat on the island. CVA assists the group in seed collection, plant propogation and tree planting.

Collecting seeds:

Straining seeds out of pods:

Storage of seeds:

Potting plants:

Examples of different bush plants:

Protecting plants so they get a good start:

The Malleefowl in Brookfield

The Mallefowl is a bird threatened with extinction. We were very fortunate to see an active mound when we were at Brookfield.

Its a shy bird and very well camoflaged, freezing and hiding under bushes and that is why he is seldom seen.

The male builds and looks after the nest. He ensures that the temperature and the conditions are correct for the eggs by adding or removing sand and foliage from the mound.

 This illustrates how he makes the mound:

The female lays a clutch of individual eggs from two to over 30, mostly 15 eggs. The male will stop the female from laying a ready egg if the conditions are not right in the mound. Incubation time  is about 50 days. The chicks hatch individually, when they are out of the mound they disappear into the scrub. In an hour they are able to run and flutter a short distance and within a day they can fly. They have no contact with adults or other chicks.

Mallefowl footsteps in Brookfield.

Malleefowl mound in Brookfield

 

Working with Wombats

The Southern Hairy-nosed wombat and farmers have trouble living together. The wombats are always digging new burrows to get from one paddock to another concequently making big holes in the fence through which the domestic animals can escape.
A farmer was denied permission by the authorities to destroy the wombats.CVA was assigned to help by creating tunnels for the wombats and to mend the existing fence. It was a hot job but we are all confident that the wombat will prefer the convenient tunnel way instead of digging a new burrow.

The Wombat Rescue and fixing the fence:

A job well done!

THE SOUTHERN HAIRY NOSED WOMBAT

Brookfield and surrounding area is a harsh semi arid land where food and water is often scarce and the sun extreme. The wombat survives by spending hot days underground in burrows to conserve energy and water. They drink almost nothing and get their moisture from native grasses which are their main food.

Wombats mature when they are 3 years old. They need three good seasons to survive as adults. First season to promote fertility, second for good milk production and the third enough grass must grow to feed the juveniles. The joeys live in the pouch for 6 to 9 months. The female pouch opens backwards to hinder dirt getting in the pouch, a useful adaptation. They are stocky in body, have strong muscular legs and clawed feet  which is useful for digging burrows. A mature wombat weighs 25 kgs and is a metre in length.

Wombats are nocturnal, they are most active at night. We went looking for wombats and only saw one at night running accross the road. It was just too hot for them when we were at Brookfield! They "test" the temperature by backing out of their burrows and if it is too hot they crawl back inn again!



THE WOMBAT INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

The wombat rescue team has saved many wombats that have been hurt by cars, domestic animals or people. They are often well enough to return to their environment within  30 to 40 days. If a wombat is raised in captivity, they remain there or placed a zoo or park.

This is a baby wombat called Eve. She was rescued from the pouch of her mother who was killed by a car. Often there is a young "joey" in the pouch. They can survive up to three days after the mother is killed. Eve is less than a hundred grams and needs feeding every hour.

This is Barney.

 These wombats have taken over the house!

The Onion Weed Problem in Brookfield Conservation Park

The main aim of our project at Brookfield was to remove onion weed that was introduced by the early settlers. Neither native or introduced animals eat this weed. The weed spreads rapidly and takes over natural areas of native bush, this threatens the existence of the Southern hairy-nosed wombats in the area.

Onion Weed

 Uncleared area!

Cleared area 

Brookfield Conservation Park, The Riverland in South Australia

Brookfield Conservation park is about 50 km2 in area. It has an important conservation value because it is a major area of mallee vegetation in the Riverland district. The climate is hot and dry during summer and in winter the temperature can reach down to about minus 1 degree.

It was very hot when we were there in january. The temperature reached 46 degrees. To avoid the worst heat we would get up at five in the morning and we had to stop work around noon. The camp was very primitive giving little relief from the heat. It is very important to drink alot of water to avoid dehydration.

The area is the home of Southern Hairy Wombats. A major aim of the park is to conserve their habitat.

Brookfield Conservation Park has been given to Conservation Volunteer Australia to manage on a ten year lease. Their aim is to study regeneration and rehabilitation of native habitats after agricultural activities. pressure.

Early 20th century woodccutting for charcoal and fence post depleted the park for trees. This resulted in less habitat for birds and native animals.

Typical malleebush area:

Burrows made by Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat

Old charcoal pit

Swimming with Australian Seals

The pictures tell it all. It was like a fairytail!

Little Penguins on Montague Island

A little penguin hiding in its burrow

Little chick out looking for mum

Closing the lid after viewing

During regeneration habitats are placed out

The Little Penguin or Fairy Penguin, estimates 8.000 breeding pairs on Montague Island (third largest colony in Australia) They are underwater acrobats, wings become flippers acting as efficient paddles.
Their wedge-shaped bodies zoom through the water. Under water their short legs transform into well designed rudders.

Happy Couples:
They mate for life, they nest in the same burrow each year, they usually lay two eggs.
They share their jobb, every 1 to 4 days one parent will come to replace the other in the burrow until the chicks hatch.
Parents then take turns to guard and feed the chicks until one week old then both parents fish every day to feed rapidly growing chicks until they fledge after two months. To ensure that at least one chick survives they feed one until it is completely satisfied and then they feed the other chick.

They are a part of a food chain and can become meals from white breasted eagles and fur seals. Penguins biggest threat are people and dogs! Thats is why we are so fortunate to be able to be here and observe these beautiful creatures on the island.

Penguins shed all their feathers once a year in january to march. Their new suit of feathers  developes over 3 weeks.

Our experience:
We sat on the rocks at night and saw them come up from the sea and walk to their burrows. We could not take flash pictures so this is documented in our heads. The waves were quite big as it was blowing this evening (They have probably gone through much worse weather). They come together in what is called a raft when coming on to shore. It seems that they wait for their group members before they start their walk up the penguin highway to their burrows. As we sat there, the penguins marched up around us (we had to keep still not to disturb them).They go quite far up the hill and all around the island in a short time.
Overhead the Shearwater birds flew back to their nests. They fly beautiful acrobatics at sea but land clumsily - quite exciting to watch. They were still laying on their eggs.