Established: 1999
Area: 411 ha
Location: 80km E of Canberra
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Burrin Burrin is mountain country, a place of deep, walled valleys and ferny valley floors.
During daylight hours these valleys echo with the calls of Superb Lyrebirds, while at night the forests can be filled with the resonant ‘whoo-hoo' of a Powerful Owl, or ring with the yap of a Sugar Glider in danger.
Eucalyptus forest with a ferny understory at Burrin Burrin. Photo: Wayne Lawler/Ecopix.
Then there's the distinctive sound of Greater Gliders, which end their flight from tree to tree with such a slap that echoes reverberate through the forest.
Just like their airborne predator, the Powerful Owl, these gliders are highly dependent on old growth forest for survival, and spend much of their time foraging for food in the highest parts of the tree canopy.
A Sugar Glider resident at Burrin Burrin. Photo Wayne Lawler / EcoPix.
They also need the deep tree hollow dens only old growth forests can provide, with a single glider using up to 20 different dens within its home range.
All this has been protected thanks to the generosity of our supporters.
What Burrin Burrin Reserve protects
Animals
Greater Gliders are a feature of Burrin Burrin. Photo: Wayne Lawler / EcoPix.
Gang Gang Cockatoo (vulnerable in NSW), Greater Glider, Spotted Quail-thrush, Glossy Black-cockatoo (vulnerable in NSW), Flame Robin (vulnerable in NSW)
Plants
Contoneaster, Pomaderris, Hairpin Banksia, Climbing Apple Berry, Thick-lipped Spider-orchid, Budawangs Wallaby Grass
Vegetation communities
Southern Ribbon Gum forest, Swamp Gum forest, Brown Barrel forest, Silvertop forest, Yellow Box grassy woodland (nationally critically endangered).
What we’re doing on the property
Burrin Burrin is one of those rare properties that's in such good natural condition, little management is needed.
Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum). Photo Graeme Chapman.
We found a pine seedling in there once, the odd thistle, and only one rabbit. It's never been cleared or farmed and so the forest is in really good condition, making it robust enough to resist invasion by exotic species.
That's not to say all we have to do is sit back and enjoy the view. Ongoing surveys are needed to monitor species and vegetation health.
Our monitoring has so far shown the reserve is an important refuge for a number of threatened bird species, including Gang-gang and Glossy Black Cockatoos.
Lights, camera, action
The Powerful Owl. Photo Peter Saunders.
Fingers pointed and cameras whirred when visitors to Burrin Burrin spied a Powerful Owl feasting on a Greater Glider while a Wedge-tailed Eagle flew overhead. The group stood wide-eyed as the spectacle unfolded. It was fantastic to get such a good view of the owl, which is the largest in Australasia and classified as vulnerable in NSW.
What's in a name?
In the 1970s environmental activist and thinker Richard Sylvan came across a bushland property destined to be cleared and decided to buy and protect it. He called it Burrin Burrin – a little piece of quiet and beauty among the busyness of farming land that surrounds it.