I had read about Shanes Park recently in Peter Ridgeway’s excellent book “A Wide and Open Land”, his account of a multi-day walk across a fair length of the Cumberland Plain. One of the gems of the plain seemed to be Shanes Park, near Shalvey, a 560 hectare area that had previously been used a a telecommunications facility. The Park is a bushland remnant in quite good condition and many interesting plants and animals can be found there still. When friend Deb, invited me to join her on a visit to the Park organised by the Bankstown Bushland Society I was glad to accept.
The Park has recently been transferred to National Parks and they intend to fence it off and use it for re-wilding. Introducing back animals such as quolls. You can read about their plans here.
We met near the Pistol Club and entered the reserve. At the entrance, a local birder pointed out a Restless Flycatcher that was hunting –
Nearby we saw some Double-barred and Red-browed Finches.
And there were Eastern Grey Kangaroos –
Unfortunately the reserve contains a lot of burnt out cars.
We followed a power line easement.
Another flock of Eastern Grey Kangaroos –
We then left the road and went off track along a creek. It was mostly open walking, but due to the recent very wet spell it was very swampy. it was hard to avoid getting wet feet.
This creek was remarkable, in that it is one of the best examples of a chain of ponds. The creek flows underground from one pond to another pond and the water remains very clear. These sorts of creeks were once very common on the Cumberland Plain, but unfortunately they have just about all been destroyed due to agriculture and property developments. And sadly, this once intact ecosystem here is now badly damaged due to a recent feral pig infestation. Pigs could have escaped from nearby farms, but it is more likely that breeding pair were induced by pig hunters. It is probably very unlikely that the ponds can be restored.
We then headed over to the old telecommunications facility. There are lots of signs of old radio antennas, and there are a few fenced off buildings that are maned by security guards.
As we walked back to the entrance, we spotted quite a few Horse Dung Fungi – Pisolithus arhizus. Most of these puffballs appeared out of ant nests.
It had been a very interesting visit. Many thanks to Deb for the invitation, and a lift there and back, and to the Bankstown Bushland Society.