12 
BIRD GROUP REPORT 
17 April 2001 
.. John Bottomley 
The Long Forest: A unique area 
Speaker: Marilyn Hewish 
Introduction 
Marilyn noted that in his book 
Natural Victoria, published in 1978, 
Trevor Pescott refers to the Long 
Forest as a unique area. He says lt 
comes as quite a surprise to realise 
that there is a unique area of mallee 
vegetation near Melbourne. 
Between Bacchus Marsh and 
Melton ... Many club members, 
Marilyn suggests, are still unaware 
of its existence despite the richness 
of its bird life. She indicated that she 
became interested in the birds of the 
Long Forest in the mid-eighties and 
thought that she was a pioneer. In 
this, she discovered, she was 
wrong. Bird-watching has in fact 
had a long history in the area with 
three main periods of activity, 1889- 
1910, 1930-1969 and 1984 to the 
present. As a result there are a lot 
of historical records upon which to 
draw to inform present 
observations. 
Location and topography 
As noted above the Long Forest lies 
between Melton and Bacchus Marsh 
in an area well known by bird- 
watchers which includes Werribee 
Gorge, Lerderderg Gorge, Exford 
Weir (Melton Reservoir) and Lake 
Merrimu. The Long Forest is on 
tongue of high ground connected to 
the Pyrete and Wombat Forests to 
the North, and protruding into the 
Werribee Plains to the south. It 
consists of a plateau with the steep 
gullies of Coimadai and Djerriwarrh 
Creeks on either side. Running 
north south, these creeks drain the 
Pyrete Forest eventually joining the 
Werribee River to the South. 
Much of the area is a State Flora 
Reserve. Opened in 1985 it 
consisted of three discrete areas. By 
1993 it had grown to a total of 550 
hectares and is administered by the 
DNRE. 
Some areas were subdivided into 1- 
2 acre blocks for housing in the 
1960s and 1970s. Development still 
occurs adjacent to reserve lands 
with all the problems this entails. 
GEELONG NATURALIST Vol. 37 No. 1 
Vegetation 
As noted the Long Forest 
contains mallee. This is an 
isolated pocket of this vegetation: 
. being 120 km from the nearest 
other occurrence which is to the 
north of Bendigo. It is the only 
mallee South of the Divide in 
Victoria. Scientists believe that a 
tongue of mallee extended south 
from the Bendigo area to the 
Long Forest thousands of years 
ago and that this retreated when 
the climate became wetter, and 
soils became richer because of 
volcanic deposits. The Long 
Forest mallee persisted because 
it is in a rain shadow, and on poor 
soils that have not been enriched 
by volcanic deposits. 
The most significant plant is the 
Bull Mallee, E. behriana, in pure 
stands. It occurs on the plateau 
in patches surrounded by box 
woodland. The distribution of 
mallee is determined by soil type 
and water run-off with mallee 
being found in areas with shale 
soils that are resistant to water 
penetration. Box woodland is 
found in areas with more 
absorbent clay soils. Grey Box is 
characteristic of the plateau, Red 
Box of creek slopes and Blue Box 
of creek flats. A dense shrubby 
growth of River Bottlebrush, 
Woolly Tea-tree, Cumbungi, 
Reeds etc. occurs along creeks. 
A few grassy creek flats have 
been formed by clearing. 
Birds of the Long Forest 
The Long Forest supports a 
woodland bird community that 
includes many typical woodland 
species such as Scarlet Robins, 
Thornbills, Brown-headed 
Honeyeaters etc. Its great interest 
derives from the occurrence of 
four distinct categories of birds in 
addition to typical woodland 
species. These are: 
e Island populations of dry- 
country and mallee specialist 
birds such as the Crested 
Bellbird, 
e Birds which are uncommon 
elsewhere near Geelong such 
as the Speckled Warbler, 
e Birds making use of the 
Coimadai and  Djerriwarrh 
creeks as migratory or 
dispersal flyways such as 
Swift Parrots, Rose and Pink 
Robins, Rufous Fantails, and 
e Bizarre sightings such as King 
May 2001 
Parrots and an immature Brush 
Cuckoo. 
Island populations 
These are species with isolated 
populations in the Long Forest. 
Included are Crested Bellbirds with 
an estimated population of forty, 
Chestnut-rumped Thornbills with an 
estimated population of 20-100, the 
yellow-rumped mallee form of the 
Spotted Pardalote and the Red- 
capped Robin. Recent breeding 
records exist for the latter two birds. 
Birds uncommon elsewhere near 
Geelong 
These are all species that can be 
seen elsewhere in the Geelong 
region but which have a stronghold 
in the Long Forest. Included are 
Specked Warbler, Diamond Firetail, 
Weebill, Zebra Finch, Black-eared 
Cuckoo, Barking Owl, Black- 
chinned Honeyeater and Chestnut- 
rumped Heathwren. 
Add passage birds and the 
occasional real oddity and the area 
has much to offer the birder. 
Birds formerly found in the Long 
Forest but no longer recorded 
there 
Some birds have unfortunately 
disappeared from the area as it has 
been impacted by development and 
other changes. These include Bush 
Stone-curlew, Bustard and Regent 
Honeyeater, all recorded in the 
1880s-1890s but not since, Grey- 
crowned Babbler recorded until 
1910, White-browed Babbler which 
appears to have disappeared in the 
late 1940s, and Southern Whiteface 
and Hooded Robins which 
disappeared in the mid 1980s. 
Birds whose numbers are 
declining 
The numbers of records for several 
species have been low in recent 
years. These include Crested 
Bellbird, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, 
Painted Button-quail, Jacky Winter 
and Restless Flycatcher. 
Conclusion 
Marilyn concluded her talk by noting 
that Margaret Cameron had 
remarked that Marilyn’s bird records 
from the Long Forest showed the 
value of obsession. Marilyn admitted 
to being somewhat obsessed with 
the area and we thank her for that as 
it informed a very interesting talk. 
A 
