Vote #1: Brush-tailed Phascogale
Brush-tailed Phascogales are nocturnal and rarely seen. However, numbers are declining and threats such as habitat loss, fragmentation and feral predators, are putting it at risk.
I was hesitant about going out to the desert to volunteer for Bush Heritage in January this year. It’s such a long way and it’s dusty and hot. But a trip to Craven’s Peak Reserve was available and I thought I should – don’t I always say,“if you haven’t tried something, don’t knock it?”
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Sandy track through the grasslands
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Tree silhouette at dusk
So we went – our friend, my husband and me. It was amazing! Beautiful – breathtakingly beautiful! And fun. And I felt like we really contributed to the cause as well – helping out with jobs around the place. It felt good to leave the place much improved since we got there; it was very satisfying.
So, when the opportunity came up again to go to Ethabuka Reserve in June, I was keen as mustard! It was amazing to experience the desert in the middle of summer then again in the middle of winter and it was just as beautiful! There is something about the desert that gets under my skin. It’s mysterious and remote and untamed. And it touches me and resonates at a very deep level and I love it!
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Spinifex colours in the setting sun
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Spectacular desert sunset
Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself!
Yes.
I took some amazing photos mainly of skies. The sky is SO BIG out there!! You never thought the sky could be so big! And the sunrises and sunsets just blew my mind.
Spinifex is prettier than any fancy showy flower! The colour of it just as the sun rises and touches it with those first gentle rays against the background of red sand - I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. I just want to keep going back! Maybe Ethabuka again in December! I hope so!
Margaret Stockill
(proud Bush Heritage volunteer)
