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Birdcage Flora and Fauna Reserve VKFF-2268

Posted: 04 Dec 2019 03:43 PM PST
https://vk5pas.org/2019/12/04/birdca...rve-vkff-2268/


After packing up at the Sheepwash Flora Reserve Marija and I travelled back
to the Western Highway and headed towards the town of Jeparit.Â* We had
briefly visited Jeparit a few weeks earlier and we were keen to have a
better look at the town and the Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum.

We travelled passed the Kiata Wind Farm which is one of a number of wind
farms in the Wimmera district of Victoria.



We soon reached the town of Jeparit which is situated on the Wimmera River
about 350 km north-west of Melbourne.Â* The name Jeparit is believed to be
derived from a Gromiluk aboriginal word meaning home of small birds.Â*
European settlement in the area commenced in the 1880s when Lutheran
immigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia began to settle and grow wheat.Â* The
town was surveyed in 1883 and gazetted in 1889.



We headed to the Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum on the eastern side of the
town.Â* I had read about this little museum on the internet and it looked
well worth the visit to discover a little bit of the history of the Wimmera
district of Victoria.



The museum features the Albacutya Homestead which was originally built on
Albacutya Run, the regions first sheep station.Â* The homestead and log
cabins were gifted to the museum in 1969.






There is quite a bit to see here, so allow yourself a few hours to wander
around the four-hectare grounds of the museum.





There are numerous buildings which contain various artefacts from the
pioneering days of the Wimmera.











I even found a few old radios, including a 1926 Astor Five Valve Family
Receiver.Â* The Astor Radio Corporation commenced operating in 1926.Â* It was
the largest Australian electronics manufacturer, manufacturing across the
retail sector of products from Washing Machines to Radio.






In another building, I found some more radios including an Alf Traeger
transceiver.Â* Alfred Traeger was born in 1895 and died in July 1980.Â* He
was an electrical engineer and was asked by John Flynn of the Australian
Inland Mission to design a Pedal Operated Radio Transceiver.Â* The first
transmitter was installed in a church as Cloncurry in 1928.Â* The person who
operated the transmitter had to pedal the machine to generate electrical
current so that one could transmit by morse code up to a distance of
approximately 300 miles.Â* Later the sets were equipped with batteries and
microphones replaced morse code.








The museum also contains two old jails, including the old Heywood jail
which dates back to April 1870.






You can also find the old Methodist church from Woorak West which dates
back to 1886, the old Detpa State School, a chemist, blacksmith shop, and
various other buildings.







The museum has an extensive collection of old cars, trucks, tractors and
machinery.Â* Many are in working order and are demonstrated at the Annual
Vintage Rally which is held each year on the Queens Birthday Long Weekend.
Click to view slideshow.

After leaving the museum we had a look at Menzies Square.Â* The town of
Jeparit is the birthplace of Sir Robert Menzies, Australias longest-serving
Prime Minister.Â* Menzies was born in Jeparit in 1894.Â* His father was a
local shopkeeper.Â* Sadly neither Menzies home or his fathers shop remains.Â*
One was burnt down while the other was demolished.Â* Menzies Square features
a number of information boards detailing the like of Menzies.








There is also a largeÂ*outdoor chess set featuring Australian Prime
Ministers and Menzies-era politicians.






We then headed west out of town, stopping briefly to have a look at the old
wooden bridge spanning the Wimmera River.Â* Â*The bridge was built in 1891
and was opened in 1892.Â* It is one of Victorias oldest surviving timber
road bridges.





We then stopped at Lake Hindmarsh, a eutrophic lake, meaning that it is
rich in nutrients and so supporting a dense plant population, the
decomposition of which kills animal life by depriving it of oxygen.Â* The
lake is Victorias largest natural freshwater lake.Â* Unfortunately at the
time of our visit, the lake was bone dry.

In October 2009, water from the Wimmera River trickled into Lake Hindmarsh
for the first time in thirteen years.Â* After more than a decade of drought,
in early 2011 the lake filled as a result of flooding in the region.

Due to a lack of recent rain, the lake is again dry.

In 1838, the explorer, Edward Eyre, camped at Lake Hindmarsh whilst
searching for an overland route between Melbourne and Adelaide.Â* He named
the lake after the Governor of South Australia, John Hindmarsh.






We then drove north on the Rainbow-Nhill Road to our second park of the
day, the Birdcage Flora and Fauna Reserve VKFF-2268.Â* The park is located
about 410 km northwest of Melbourne and about 21 km southwest of the town
of Rainbow.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Birdcage Flora & Fauna Reserve.Â*
Map courtesy of Protected Planet.

The park is located at the northwestern tip of Lake Hindmarsh.Â* Just to the
northwest of the park is the very large Wyperfeld National Park.
Above:- An aerial view of the Birdcage Flora & Fauna Reserve looking south
towards Dimboola.Â* Lake Hindmarsh is clearly visible.Â* Image courtesy of
Google maps.

The park is about 6,533 acres in size.Â* The name of the park derives from
the number of Mallee birds which are contained within the reserves
floodplain and Big Desert communities.Â* The park contains Black Box, Yellow
Gum and Slender Cypress Pine.






The park was certainly alive with wildlife during our visit, particularly
wrens.Â* Other birds which are known to call the park home include
honeyeaters, robins, parrots, Curlew and Gilberts Whistler.








We set up in a clearing amongst the scrub off a dirt track which ran off
the Rainbow-Nhill Road.Â* Equipment used for this activation was the Yaesu
FT-857d and the 20/40/80m linked dipole supported by the 7-metre telescopic
squid pole.

This would be a first-time activation of this park for the World Wide Flora
Fauna (WWFF) program.
Above:- Map of the Birdcage Flora & Fauna Reserve showing our operating
spot.Â* Map courtesy of Protected Planet.

We were set up and ready to go by around 4.00 p.m. local time.Â* After a
spot being placed up on parksnpeaks by Marija, I headed to 7.144 and called
CQ.Â* First in the log was regular park hunter Peter VK3PF with a beautiful
5/9 signal.Â* This was followed by another regular Brett VK2VW, Nev VK5WG
and then Dennis VK2HHA.

Within 8 minutes I had qualified the park with ten contacts in the log.Â*
Contact number ten was with John VK4TJ who is a very avid park hunter.

I went on to work a total of 38 stations before the callers dried up, so we
decided to swap positions in the operators chair.Â* I had logged stations
from VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK5.Â* As this was later afternoon, band conditions
on 40m were very good, with some very strong signals.



Marijas first contact was with Peter VK3PF, followed by Lee VK2LEE, and
then Ivan VK5HS.Â* It took Marija just 6 minutes to get contact number ten
in the log, a QSO with Ray VK4NH.

Marija logged a total of 17 stations from VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK5, before we
once again swapped the mic.

I was now just a handful of contacts away from 44 QSOs.Â* I started calling
CQ again and this was answered by John VK5BJE, followed by Andy VK4KY and
then Roy VK7ROY.Â* It wasnt long and I had contact number 44 in the log, a
QSO with David VK5LSB.

I logged a further 3 stations on 40m before heading up to the 20m band
where I called CQ on 14.310.Â* I logged 4 stations on 20m from VK2, VK3,
VK4, and VK6.

To conclude the activation I moved down to 3.610 on the 80m band and logged
5 stations from VK3 and VK5.



It was time to pack up and head off to Dimboola and book into our
accommodation.Â* Between us, we had a total of 73 contacts in the log from
the Birdcage.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK3PF
VK2LEE
VK5HS
VK2LUV/p
VK5FANA
VK4RF
VK4HA
VK2VH
VK4AAC/2
VK4NH
VK4DXA
ZL4TY/VK4
VK2HHA
VK2IWU
VK5BJE
VK5LSB
VK4FDJL/5


I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK3PF
VK2VW
VK5WG
VK2HHA
VK5GJ
VK2PKT
VK3AHRD
VK2YK
VK5FANA
VK4TJ
VK4/AC8WN
VK4/VE6XT
VK4SSN
VK5HS
VK2IO
VK2LUV/p
VK7FJFD
VK2LEE
VK4NH
VK4DXA
ZL4TY/VK4
VK3CM
VK3OHM
VK2VH
VK4AAC/2
VK3TKK/m
VK2HBO
VK3ADM/m
VK5TW
VK4FDJL/5
VK5FRSM
VK4FARR
VK2KNV
VK3UH
VK5AR/m
VK3ARH/m
VK3MKE
VK3FCMC
VK5BJE
VK4KY
VK7ROY
VK3PWG
VK3KAI
VK5LSB
VK3CBP
VK3VJP
VK3MCK


I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

VK2LEE
VK3PWG
VK4TJ
VK6TU


I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

VK3PWG
VK5HS
VK3CBP
VK5BJE
VK3VEK


After packing up we drove into the town of Rainbow and then headed south on
the Rainbow-Dimboola Road.Â* We stopped briefly at the little town of
Antwerp which takes its name from Antwerp in Belgium.Â* In 1846 Horation
Ellerman arrived in Victoria and successfully applied for 130,000 acres
which he named Antwerp after the city in which he was born.





Today very little remains in Antwerp.Â* You can find a monument which
commemorates the settlement of the Antwerp Station.





There is also a monument for the Antwerp State School which opened in May
1891 and was closed in 1982.





We continued south on the Rainbow-Dimboola Road passing through cropping
lands.Â* Many of the farmers were busy in the harvesting of their crops.



We then turned off to head to the Ebenezer Mission.Â* In 1858 Brother
Hagenauer and Brother Spieseke, two Moravian missionaries, arrived in
Victoria to work with local aborigines.Â* By 1859 they had moved to the
Wimmera district and chose a site about 3 km south of Antwerp Station.Â* A
total of 1,897 acres was provided by the Government for the establishment
of the Ebenezer Mission Station.

Sadly, the site was closed and has a large fence around it.Â* After speaking
with locals, apparently, the site has been closed for a number of years.Â*
We left feeling rather disappointed as we were very keen to explore the
site.





We continued south and soon reached the town of Dimboola which takes its
name from the Singhalese word Dimbula meaning land of figs.Â* We booked into
our accommodation, the Motel Dimboola.Â* We then headed out for tea to the
local hotel.Â* Unfortunately, it was extremely busy and there was a
45-minute wait for meals, so we headed to the local cafe and got some
takeaway and headed back to the motel room.









References.

Aussie Towns, 2019, https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/jeparit-vic,
viewed 4th December 2019

Aussie Towns, 2019, http://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/rainbow-vic,
viewed 5th December 2019

Aussie Towns, 2019, https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/antwerp-vic,
viewed 5th December 2019

Heritage Council Victoria,
2019,https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/68607, viewed 4th
December 2019

The Sydney Morning Herald, 2019,
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/rainbow-20040208-gdkqwc.html, viewed 5th
December 2019

Wikipedia, 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeparit, viewed 4th
December 2019

Wikipedia, 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Hindmarsh, viewed 4th
December 2019

Wikipedia, 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Radio_Corporation,
viewed 5th December 2019