Birding under Ben Cruachan

     Home is ten acres to the north of Maffra, which is situated in the Wellington Shire, in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Ben Cruachan, 2765 feet above sea level, sounds better in the old language, is our familiar sentinel 27 kilometres to the north west. It is named after the 3689 feet high Scottish mountain in the Southwest Highlands east of Oban, in the Clan MacIntyre lands. It is properly pronounced "kroo a hn" and the word is the battle cry of the Clan Campbell, and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Translated, it means stack, so Ben Cruachan means "mountain stack", or "stacky mountain"
    We hope the following pages will give birders some idea of the birding to be had in our area below Ben Cruachan, as well as relating some of our own experiences, offering some local history, both Aboriginal and European, pages on the Moroka country and Maffra's Bellbird Corner, and a few other bits and pieces, in which you may find some interest.
    The Shire itself stretches from the coast in the south, to the Divide at Mt. Howitt in the north. A wide range of habitats exists, notably wetlands, both fresh, and saline, as well as heathlands, and moist and dry forest types, extending up to alpine herb fields above the snow line. Bird life is abundant, and birders, or people interested in other fields, such as native plants, would find our area a great place in which to spend time indulging their interests.
    The two birds which we have always associated with Maffra, come in the autumn. We know the season has changed, when we hear the rollicking calls of the Pied Currawongs, and more welcome, the creaking sound of the Gang Gang Cockatoos talking to each other. The two pictured at the top of the page were photographed in our garden, the female had been eating saw fly caterpillars, hence the green slime round her beak and bib. When in residence, they feed in our Ironbarks, which are the local pink flowered form of E. tricarpa. This hardy species grows northwest of Boisdale on the edge of the foothills, and with its pink flowers, and glaucous leaves, is a fine tree for a large garden. We hope you will find something to interest you in the following pages, for up to date bird and nature news from the district, please visit our Blog, the link is in the navigation bar above. Good birding!