 No wonder this place has been used as a film set - Winton Wetlands is one of our (many) favourite places, and the wildlife and the scenery on this sizzling summer day were haunting. If you just want the short video version, with all the aerial shots, this is for you... the details... |
| Having completed our Joey Rescue Mission (!), we resumed our plan to spend the day at the Wetlands, heading along Lake Mokoan Road to Boggy Bridge Road. There was a disappointing number of dead kangaroos as we went along. |
But were greeted on arrival by two gorgeous eastern greys who had taken up their positions in the shade of a roadside tree, and they weren't giving up that shade for anyone.
The views along Boggy Bridge Road are mostly pretty stark - but don't let that put you off. It may look like the end of the world, but it isn't.
We continued on to the Nesting Ground campsite - this looks really inviting for a future visit, with toilet facilities and a big communal fire pit.
| We're not in camping mode yet but we decided this was a good spot to make our Troopy build video, so we parked up and went wild with the drone! The video does give you a bit of a sense of the camping space. Have a look if that's of interest to you. | |
Our bigger plan though was to move a little further on and see what birds we could see from Greens Point - this is an elevated area covered in bushland, sweeping down to the water. We have found it a good spot for bush birds in the past, though they were not so plentiful on this day. As usual the sulphur-crested cockatoos were holding their convention right there and then. They're a noisy crowd, except for this placid creature.
We were unsurprised to find the cockies, but surprised and delighted to find a kingfisher perching and calling.
Then we discovered the likely reason there were so few bush birds about - a brown falcon was hanging about.
We walked down to the water - a very gentle slop - and just marvelled at the clarity of that scenery.
On our previous visit, we really enjoyed the drive and then walk to the Lunette - this is a really amazing place right in the middle of the lake. It's a protrusion of land into the lake, with a hill at its conclusion giving you an amazing 360 view of the Wetlands. We drove in the direction but decided a cuppa was required before we headed into that midday sun. It's about a ten kilometre drive through paddocks into the Lunette (the track is quite good, if a little bumpy, though it can get pretty sloppy after rain). Then there's a small parking area near the gate, and it's an easy walk about another kilometre to the Lunette. There are no facilities here, and no shade...we were pretty glad we brought our own (shade).
The walk was as expected - stunning scenery, multitudes of birds. There were flocks clinging to the tree and moving en masse, but we couldn't identify them - grateful for any suggestions.
There was evidence that raptors were having a field day - lots of ducks that never made it home for dinner, and this snake. A good reminder that this place is teeming with them, and snake gaiters are the go.
And so we arrived at the Lunette - compelling as always, but inaccessible today - the recent floods had rendered the last section impassable. Our final pic of that scene is taken with the drone, of course...the aerial photography won the day on this occasion, so if the appeals, go back and have a look at the YouTube clip above.
Though the birds were scarcer this time (we're finding this wherever we go at the moment - we hope it's temporary), we really do recommend the Wetlands as a destination. Find out more here, including a short clip about the controversial history of this place. We cannot begin to imagine how glorious it was when it was the home of the Yorta Yorta people, and we pay our respects to their custodianship of this wonderland.
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