Branches Visit South Australia

Forest and Bird, Issue 313, 1 August 2004, Page 43

Branches Visit South Australia

grant by winemaker Station of 20,000 to Waitakere Forest and Bird, for wetland protection and enhancement, led to a visit there by members of branches in the Auckland region. The Waitakere Forest and Bird secretary, Ken Catt, investigated possibilities and discovered that Banrock Station’s Riverland Biosphere had great potential for bird watching. A safari organiser was approached and in April a group from Waitakere, Auckland Central and North Shore branches assembled in Adelaide for coach travel to Berri, a small town on the Murray River

‘Guides led us for five days into the Mallee country, visiting Banrock Station on the first morning, writes participant Dr Michael Taylor. "We drove north on red dust tracks, over ridge after ridge, covering around 150 kilometres each day. A radio link between the cars and GPS way-points helped to confirm positions ‘We entered the Birds Australia Gluepot Reserve, 54,000 hectares for biodiversity protection, and stopped at its visitor centre. After three days we returned to Riverlands where vineyards prosper. Our personal bird checklists passed the hundred ticks each?