Last weekend I headed to the northern part of the state. I wanted to revisit the Goschen Bushland Reserve on the edge of the Mallee country. The state has been receiving a higher than average amount of rainfall and the Mallee has exploded with lush green grass and flowers. While many of the rare vagrant birds have not yet returned to this green oasis amongst the wheat and rapeseed fields surrounding it, many of the local resident species are enjoying the bounty and have started nesting.
I camped in the carpark of the reserve to ensure an early start. It was a very cold, windy, stormy night but I was up nice and early for the dawn chorus and a bit of sun to warm me up.
Goschen Bushland Reserve
The early bird gets the you know what….
I ended up seeing 3 hares on this trip including this one watching me carefully.
Singing Honeyeater
Brown Treecreeper – a noisy part of the dawn chorus
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike – has a very distinctive call.
Male Hooded Robin
II
Usually quite dry and sparsely vegetated, the bushland has exploded in grasses and flowers
Historical marker – while Goschen is a failed town, the school serviced the area for a number of decades
The Bushland is under a recently active management plan – new fences, rubbish removal and limited access points – this one is a quite tight squeeze
The Gap Year and Beyond 