Thank you Martin, and Sandra has now advised me that those distinctive Griffith-sourced blast-resistant hides are even more widely distributed throughout the riverina, so the Lake Cargelligo Men’s Shed is not the only client. If I might resume my diary from yesterday, I took advantage of a one-hour lull in the rain to walk around the perimeter of the ponds. I must say immediately that if you do this on a day like yesterday you will collect on your boots about 5cm thickness of the peculiarly glutinous mud of which the original levees were constructed. Quite a few water-birds but not really anything you won’t come across in the course of the year at our own wetlands, except perhaps for a couple of avocets, and a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater feeding on – of all things - the tiny white flowers of an African Box-thorn, a common shrub of the area: 
Geoffrey Had you traveled further around the Lake (rather than the (former) sewage works you would have found a number of other hides also created by the Mens Shed movement. I think the ponds per se are now pretty much unconnected from the crap processing function, which has been upgraded on the other side of the road, and only the traditionalists, such as us, refer to them in a faecally influenced manner. On 16 July 2013 17:56, Geoffrey Dabb <m("iinet.net.au","gdabb");" target="_blank">> wrote: I have nothing against Lake Cargelligo. It is a friendly enough little town, if with a deserted air at most times. However it sits rather irrelevantly beside a shallow impoundment of the overflow from the nearby Lachlan River. It always reminds me of the town in the Clint Eastwood movie ‘High Plains Drifter’ that was built in 18 days, at Clint’s insistence, on the side of a lake in California, USA. The attraction for the passing birdwatcher is the so-called sewage works which are not signed as such, but indicated by a small sign saying ‘Bird Hide’. Indeed, there is little sewagy or worksy about this boutique wetland, which is a rambling layout of ponds, pleasantly vegetated and with no forbidding fencing. A feature of interest is a relatively recent structure which deserves its place in any catalogue of BIRD HIDES OF NEW SOUTH WALES. It is small and, to be frank, so exposed that at present it is of little use as a hide, although a bit of planting, of which there are already indications, should correct that in time. A main feature is that it is EXTREMELY ROBUST, being constructed of pre-formed concrete. This is a hide built to last. An informal inscription suggests it was a project of the Lake Cargelligo Men’s Shed, although the formwork bears the brand of a Griffith engineering firm. Anyway, well done to all involved for making the travelling birdwatcher know that this town wants him or her to feel at home. |
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