AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE SOUND RECORDING GROUP Inc
This group is holding a workshop for recordists,
experienced
or beginners, from 1-6 October 2007 at Utopia Environment Reserve Pty
Ltd
(UER). Details of Utopia are appended below.
The group is indeed fortunate to have both Don
Kroodsma and
Greg Budney, of ornithological fame in the United States,
attending at the
beginning of the week. Don Kroodsma is giving a keynote address and all
in all
the week has an interesting program of talks interspersed with ample
time for
sound recording.
We are happy to accommodate people for the entire
week or on
a daily/overnight basis. All financial enquiries to Howard Plowright,
and Tony
Baylis at Utopia would be happy to discuss accommodation if anyone
wishes to
attend. (details from Howard Plowright)
UER is
located c.70km W. of
Maryborough in SE Qld. It was
established 31 years ago when the former dairy farm was purchased.
It’s
1300 acres adjoins Mount Walsh
N.P. Today much of UER is forested with areas of mature Eucalypt and
Wattle interspersed with regrowth of various ages. There are a few
pockets of vine/rain forest in some of the larger gullies. There are a
number of small dams scattered through UER. The adjoining NP is a
small
range with the highest point being 711mtr. The NP is a wilderness area
and consequently has very little easy access. There is 1 path from UER
to
an area called the Rock pools, very scenic and about 45min easy to
moderate
walk. The only other access is at the Bluff at Biggenden and that
involves
a strenuous walk. However as UER is at the end of the public road
there
is no through traffic.. With 16km of tracks through UER, all walkable
and
some accessible by conventional vehicle, there is plenty of scope for
recording. The current bird list is at 132sp. (this replaces the
previous
list of c.180sp. which was lost in a fire). There are a number of
other
animals including gliders, possums, wallabies, dingos, etc, and a
probably
isolated population of Pebble-mound mice.