Spring at Booderee National Park

Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay on New South Wales’ south coast consists of 6,379 hectares of highly varied habitats plus 875 hectares of crystal clear waters of the bay. Booderee is a Dhurga word that means plentiful fish - the park is owned and managed by traditional owners together with Parks Australia. Vegetation communities include eucalypt forest (Blackbutt and Bangalay), woodlands (Silvertop Ash and Bloodwood), dry and wet heathlands, coastal scrub and wetlands. The Booderee Botanical Gardens include relic rainforest (Hard Corkwood and Lilly Pilly).

Family of Tawny Frogmouths at Booderee Botanical Gardens.

Northern and southern vegetation types meet a Jervis Bay and the park is home to over 200 bird species. These include the endangered Eastern Bristlebird (see last week’s blog) and Eastern Ground Parrot. Little Penguins and three species of Shearwater breed on Bowen Island at the mouth of Jervis Bay.

This young Dusky Woodswallow, waiting to be fed by one of its parents, was seen at Hyams Heath Walk bordering Booderee National Park.

Another youngster, a Rufous Fantail at Hyams Heath Walk.

Eastern Bristlebird

Last week the Milton Ulladulla Birdwatching Group (MUD) fortnightly field trip was to Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay. A very profitable morning with a lot of interesting birds to see. My highlight was a first sighting and photograph of an Eastern Bristlebird. This was after hearing a number of calls, in fact we may have heard as many as eight birds through the morning.

Usually very shy and hidden within the low heath around Jervis Bay, this Eastern Bristlebird helpfully took to the path to provide this excellent photo opportunity.