Our efforts at Murbpook Nature Reserve over the past financial year have focused on collaborating with the Regent Parrot Recovery Team and Australian National University (ANU) to better understand our local population of Regent Parrots (Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides). This work continues with surveys and observations throughout late winter and early spring, in peak nesting and breeding season.

We are pleased to share our summer edition of Nature Matters with you.

It’s a bumper issue, with updates from across our reserves, the team, recent events and more. 

On the Mount St. Mungo nature drive that takes in the north-east section of Hiltaba, the track passes Trump Dam — named after a racehorse, “The Trump”, 1937 winner of the rare Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup double. Lying beside the track just past the dam were the disintegrating remains of an early 1900’s horse-drawn wagon, abandoned where it was last used decades ago.

Our conservation efforts with the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard were recently in the news, with InDaily and ABC Regional Drive sharing updates about our recent Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard crawl and surveys at Tiliqua Nature Reserve and another location with a Pygmy Bluetongue population near Burra.

Since 2018, we've been conducting targeted annual fish surveys to monitor the fish community's status and provide a temporal and spatial comparison of fish abundance within Watchalunga Nature Reserve. The recent 2024 spring survey, conducted by Nature Glenelg Trust for our Science and Knowledge team with the support of Nature Foundation volunteers, revealed some intriguing and promising results following the 2022/2023 floods.