The Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 focused on protecting and restoring habitat for woodland birds. It lies in the state of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 in south-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, near the small town of Linton

Linton, Victoria

Linton is a town in Victoria, Australia off Glenelg Highway. It was first settled about 1840. The town was named after a pioneer family in an area. At the 2006 census, Linton had a population of 355. The Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary lies to the south-east of the township, near Springdallah Creek.-...

, 30 km south-west of the city of Ballarat.

History

The origins of the reserve lie in the 1960s with the efforts of Gordon Clarke, a sheep farmer

Sheep husbandry

Sheep husbandry is a subcategory of animal husbandry specifically dealing with the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. Sheep farming is primarily based on raising lambs for meat, or raising sheep for wool. Sheep may also be raised for milk or to sell to other farmers.-Shelter and...

 in the Linton district who was a keen birdwatcher

Birdwatching

Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...

 and conservationist. He began removing areas of gorse

Gorse

Gorse, furze, furse or whin is a genus of about 20 plant species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green...

, an invasive weed

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

 in the area, to replant one of his paddocks with a wide range of Australian native (though not necessarily locally indigenous) plants in order to attract and protect birds by providing them with food and shelter. This initial 31 hectares (76.6 acre) block of land, named the “Bird Paddock’’, had been purchased in 1957 and had never been heavily grazed; it was donated by Clarke to Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (BOCA), then known as the Bird Observers Club, in 1975 when formal reservation of the land took place.

In 1980 a second block of 13 hectares (32.1 acre) of land, named “Grantiella’’ after the generic name of the Painted Honeyeater

Painted Honeyeater

The Painted Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Grantiella.It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests...

, was also donated to the Club. During the 1980s Clarke purchased several additional small blocks of adjacent land which he donated to the Trust for Nature to supplement the existing reserve. Clarke died in 1996 at the age of 89, having established and endowed the Gordon Clarke Trust Fund to secure the future of the sanctuary.

Description

With adjacent crown land

Crown land

In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....

 dedicated as a flora and fauna reserve, the sanctuary comprises 535 hectares (1,322 acre), of which the private land titles are covered by conservation covenants

Conservation easement

In the United States, a conservation easement is an encumbrance — sometimes including a transfer of usage rights — which creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a qualified land...

. Much of the land used to be farmland, including a commercial orchard and a pine plantation as well as pasture for sheep. but is now subject to a program of environmental rehabilitation involving the restoration of indigenous woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

 vegetation. There are some small artificial wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s on the reserve, which is managed by a BOCA-appointed Committee of Management and a resident ranger

Park ranger

A park ranger or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Different countries use different names for the position. Ranger is the favored term in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within the United...

. Much maintenance and planting work is carried out by a volunteer group, the Friends of Clarkesdale.

Vegetation

The remnant native forest in the area is classified as Heathy

Heath

-Habitats:* Heath or heathland, low-growing woody vegetation, mostly consisting of heathers and related species* Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system...

 Dry Forest and has been subject to selective logging and other forms of disturbance for many years. The dominant trees include Messmate

Eucalyptus obliqua

Eucalyptus obliqua, commonly known as Australian Oak, Brown Top, Brown Top Stringbark, Messmate, Messmate Stringybark, Stringybark and Tasmanian Oak, is a hardwood tree native to south-eastern Australia....

, Candlebark

Eucalyptus rubida

The Candlebark is a medium sized tree of the genus Eucalyptus. It occurs in south eastern Australia and Tasmania, typically in open woodland around the lower slopes of the Great Dividing Range, but also in taller forests...

, Red Stringybark

Eucalyptus macrorhyncha

Eucalyptus macrorhyncha, commonly known as Red Gum, Red Stringybark, Cannons Stringybark or Capertee Stringybark, is a small to medium-sized tree with rough, thick fibrous and stringy, dark-brown bark....

, Narrow-leaved Peppermint

Eucalyptus radiata

Eucalyptus radiata is a medium to tall tree to 30 m high with persistent bark on the trunk and larger branches or persistent to smaller branches. The bark shortly fibrous , grey to grey-brown, shedding in long ribbons...

, Broad-leaved Peppermint

Eucalyptus dives

Eucalyptus dives or broad-leaved peppermint is a small tree native to temperate dry sclerophyll woodlands and forests of south-eastern Australia. The juvenile leaves are ovate and glaucus, and adult leaves are lanceolate to broad-lanceolate. Leaves are aromatic.-Uses:There are two notable...

, Scent–bark and Swamp Gum

Eucalyptus ovata

Eucalyptus ovata, commonly known as Swamp gum or Black Gum, is a widespread occurring Australian eucalypt.The swamp gum is a small to , medium sized tree, rarely a mallee, with bark that sheds over most of the trunk revealing a smooth, grey, whitish or pinkish-grey surface. The rough bark is...

 forming an open overstorey about 20 m in height. The understorey

Understory

Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...

 is a low and sparse shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 layer containing Myrtle Wattle

Acacia myrtifolia

Acacia myrtifolia, known colloquially as Myrtle Wattle or Red-stemmed Wattle, is a species of Acacia native to Australia. Its specific epithet 'myrtle-leaved' is derived from the Latin myrtus 'myrtle', and folium 'leaf'. It is a small shrub 0.3–3 m in height, and 2–3 m spread...

, Black Wattle, Golden Bush-pea

Pultenaea gunnii

Pultenaea gunnii, commonly known as Golden Bush-pea, is a shrub which is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a member of the genus Pultenaea and the family Fabaceae. The species occurs in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales....

, Drooping Cassinia

Cassinia arcuata

Cassinia arcuata, commonly known as Drooping Cassinia, Chinese Scrub, Chinese Shrub or Sifton Bush, is a shrub species in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to southern Australia. It grows to 2 metres high and has sticky leaves which are 40 to 15 mm long and 1.5mm wide. The pale brown...

, Heath Tea-tree

Leptospermum myrsinoides

Leptospermum myrsinoides, commonly known as Silky Tea-tree or Heath Tea-tree, is a shrub species that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It grows to between 1 and 2 metres high and has narrow leaves that are about 5 to 10mm long and 1 to 3 mm wide...

, Common Heath, Small Grass-tree

Xanthorrhoea minor

Xanthorrhoea minor is a species of grasstree of the genus Xanthorrhoea native to south-eastern Australia. It was one of the many species authored by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown....

, Austral Bracken

Pteridium esculentum

Pteridium esculentum, commonly known as Austral bracken or simply bracken, is a species of the bracken genus native to a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere....

 and Grey Tussock-grass.

Aims and achievements

The original aim of Gordon Clarke was to provide a habitat for birds that was richer in food resources than native forest, and towards that end most of his early plantings were of nectar-producing shrubs and trees, especially from Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. He refused to plant the local stringybarks and scent-barks as they did not fit within that vision. This has resulted in areas of Clarke’s plantings benefiting some species of honeyeaters, such as New Holland Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater

The New Holland Honeyeater is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named Certhia novaehollandiae...

s and Red Wattlebird

Red Wattlebird

The Red Wattlebird , also known as Barkingbird or Gillbird, is a honeyeater; a group of birds found mainly in Australia and New Guinea which have highly developed brush-tipped tongues adapted for nectar feeding...

s, to the point where they are much more common there than in native forest. On the other hand, birds such as treecreepers

Australasian treecreeper

There are 7 species of Australasian treecreeper in the passerine bird family Climacteridae. They are medium-small, mostly brown birds with patterning on their underparts, and all are endemic to Australia-New Guinea. They resemble, but are not closely related to, the Holarctic treecreepers...

 have benefited far less and are more common in adjacent native forest.

The current vision for the sanctuary however, as stated in the 1999 management plan, is ‘to optimise, manage and create habitat at Linton as a Sanctuary to increase the diversity and populations of native birds in perpetuity’. The main aim of the management program is to help reverse the decline of the woodland bird community, which is listed as a threatened community

Community (ecology)

In ecology, a community is an assemblage of two or more populations of different species occupying the same geographical area. The term community has a variety of uses...

 under Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. Clarkesdale was a finalist in Category 6 (Protecting Bush, Land and Waterways) of the 2003 Banksia Awards

Banksia Environmental Foundation

The Banksia Environmental Foundation is an Australian organisation created in 1989 to support and confer recognition on individuals and organisations that make a positive contribution to the environment. The Foundation launched the annual Banksia Environmental Awards in the same year...

.

External links

• Friends of Clarkesdale