Over 50 species of birds

By Tara Ulbrich

YOU ARE standing in an excellent place for bird watching. So promises one of the interpretive boards on the Li ffey River Reserve.

Read on and you’ll be invited to sit down and seek out varieties of the more than 50 species that have been recorded in the area. This one-hour walk, or two depending on how long you sit, offers bird watching and much more.

As a loop track you will have to make two creek crossings. Therefore, recent observation of rainfall is a must. At first the walking is easy along Pages Creek with its own plumage of rich fernery but then some light climbing is involved.

Every five minutes or so you’ll want to pause. The landscape radically changes and although you might think that your senses are tuned into the scenery, transitions can be missed. A boardwalk across grassland suddenly turns into a rocky path with thicket of musk daisy-bush.

In 1990 Bob Brown donated this 105 acres to the then fledgling organisation Bush Heritage Australia. Now its volunteers manage the site, protecting the place for the fauna and flora, but also for our appreciation. This location of myrtle beech rainforest and dry and wet eucalypt forest is part of a collection of national treasures.

The Liffey River Reserve walk is easily accessed from the lower car-park of the more frequently visited Liffey Falls. Enjoy this track for its opportunity to read about the birdlife, the forest and the rock formations or enjoy it for the chance to sit in a pristine, ornithological utopia.

Fairy Wren spotted at the Li ffey Falls Reserve Walk. Photo by Jade Hallam