SITE DETAILS

THE BIRD SANCTUARY

Sadly due to the drying up of the wetland most of the red bishops have not returned this summer (2005/6) I am sure that many of you who enjoyed a meal at the Red Bishop Coffee Shop will remember the abundance of these birds that once nested in the Phragmites reeds. It is also sad that with all of the development which has taken place over the past few years in the surrounding areas that birds displaced by such development could have made the sanctuary their new home. The dried up areas do not appeal to the Red bishops nor the Masked weavers.

REHABILITATION

We still have not given up hope of restoring the flow of water to the Sanctuary by the management of the Willows. In fact only last week the newly appointed Chairman and one other member visited the Sanctuary to discuss possible ways of restoring the flow into the sanctuary that was cut off by the Willows staff during 2001. we are still awaiting some feedback in this matter.

OWL BOX

An owl box has been placed high up in a willow tree but is not yet occupied. A pair of Spotted Eagle Owls have been inspecting the box over the past few weeks and we are hoping that either they will move in or tell their friends about the box.

BAT BOX

A bat box, purchased from the renowned Nigel Fernsby, whose knowledge of bats is amazing, has been placed on the bird hide and we are endeavouring to attract bats which would control mosquiotos which will appear once our wetland is re-instated.

BIRD HIDES

There are two bird hides for bird viewing. One is facing into the reeds and the other overlooks the duck pond. Both have been most exciting and the number of species sighted has been quite substantial.

WETLAND AREA

This area, previously a wetland, has dried up due to various reasons including development and diversion of the river upstream and erosion of the river, beds etc. 'Working for Wetlands', a government department involved in the re-instatement of wetland area did make promises to assist in the reinstatement of the wetland area this never materialized as our contact there moved on to another department. The heavy rains over Dec/ Jan 2006 have once again changed the wetland and the water is presently aprox. 300mm deep over a large area of the Phragmites reed beds. It really is a beautiful sight. The bird life is more abundant with all the water being retained in the wetland structure. This is the way it should be.

SAVANNA

This area was overgrown with Spanish Reed, which has been cut down and poisoned by 'Working for Water'. The root formation which remains is extremely dense and has made seeding impossible. The grasses which we seeded during 2001 have really taken well and include Smuts finger(Digiteria eruantha) and Guinea grass (Pannicum maximum)

THE NURSERY

Due to the size of the property it is extremely expensive to purchase plants; for this reason a large number of plants are propagated from seed or cuttings. Only indigenous plants which would likely have been found in the area are planted in the sanctuary. Excess plants and plants not suitable for planting are sold to the public via the nursery. A large variety of species are available.

 Landscaping advice is also given by experts and we can recommend a landscaping company, if required.

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED -

OPEN MON TO SUN 8:00AM TO 5:00PM

ABLUTION FACILITIES

We have erected both male and female toilets which are also suitable for paraplegics.

 

REFRESHMENT KIOSK

 

 

 

Unfortunately the coffee shop was closed down as this was just tooo much work and detracted from our main aim of conserving the land. We did try letting the facility out but this was not successful.

We will be selling cool drinks and snacks from the office.