Wildflowers, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park

Wildflowers, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria

Sydney Trip June 2010

On our wanderings through Hattah-Kulkyne National Park I not only had my head held up looking for birds to photograph, I also looked around on the ground – well, below eye level, anyway – for any bushes and trees in flower. My wife spotted this beautiful example of an Atriplex plant (we’re not sure which species), a member of the saltbush family of plants.

It’s a very attractive plant, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Wildflowers, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria

Hattah-Kulkyne National Park

Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria

Sydney Trip June 2010

On the last day of our trip home from visiting family in Sydney earlier this year we planned to spend a few hours in one of our favourite places – Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. This park is south of Mildura in far north west Victoria. The park has two predominant habitats: eucalypt mallee scrubland and large eucalypt riverine vegetation around the creeks, river and lakes. The park contains over a dozen ephemeral lakes which fill when the nearby River Murray is full, or in flood. In recent decades the lakes have been artificially allowed to fill.

On this visit we came in from the Mildura, or northern, end. We left the Calder Highway and followed the route of the old highway through the mallee section of the park (see photo above). When a section looked promising for birding, we stopped for morning tea and a spot of birding. (Go to Trevor’s Birding for details.)

Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Victoria