Sitting under this Western Myall and looking out over the salt lake is one of my favourite spots to stop for lunch and is luckily exactly the halfway mark when I do my rounds, checking the camera monitoring grid on Bon Bon Station Reserve.
This has been my lunchroom for one day every month for the last two years. While I'm here, I like to think about whom, over the years, has visited this area and also admired its beauty. I love the feeling of being out in the bush, on Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara country, and knowing I'm the only person out here within thousands of hectares.
I enjoy listening to the wind blowing through the Black Oaks that hug the western side of the salt lake (right of photo). I love listening to the chorus of birds, which always seem to be chirping away; I never forget to pack my binoculars. I notice the different birds that visit during different times of the year and the buzzing of the many native bees and wasps as they busily pollinate plants such as the Sturt's Pigface, which grows below the canopy of the great Western Myall when in flower.
An insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge have placed Erica Suosaari at the forefront of research into the humble beginnings of life as we know it.
The re-formed Golden-shouldered Parrot National Recovery Team, led by Olkola Elder Mike Ross, is providing fresh hope and optimism for the bird’s future.
Emerging technologies are bringing a new dimension to our conservation work. Examples include song meters to monitor Plains-wanderers, Grooming traps to manage feral cats, DNA analysis of rock wallaby scats and satellite fire mapping.
Tarcutta Hills Reserve provides vital foraging habitat for the Swift Parrot and other woodland birds, but ensuring it continues to do so in the future will require forward-planning and fast action.