Windsor Downs Nature Reserve is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

established in 1990 by the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

. The nature reserve, which occupies an area of , between

Windsor Downs Windsor Downs is a suburb of Western Sydney, within the City of Hawkesbury in the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in the early 1990s. The suburb is located 53 km north west from the CBD of Sydney Sydney is the capital ...

and

Bligh Park Bligh Park is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia located near Windsor and Richmond. Bligh Park is located 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local governm ...

, was established on land formerly owned by the Riverstone Meatworks for the grazing of cattle. It is one of the last remains of the

Cumberland Plain Woodland The Cumberland Plain Woodland, also known as Cumberland Plain Bushland and Western Sydney woodland,Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The nature reserve contains a wide range of flora including a number of Eucalypts as well as the threatened '' Persoonia nutans'' and '' Dillwynia tenuifolia'' as well as hosting a range of native fauna, including endangered species such as the

Regent Honeyeater The regent honeyeater (''Anthochaera phrygia'') is a critically endangered bird endemic to southeastern Australia. It is commonly considered a flagship species within its range, with the efforts going into its conservation having positive effec ...

History and Prior Land Use

Windsor Downs Nature Reserve is situated on the land of the

Darug The Dharug or Darug people, are a nation of Aboriginal Australian clans, who share ties of kinship, country and culture. In pre-colonial times, they lived as hunters in the region of current day Sydney. The Darug speak one of two dialects o ...

tribe. There are known to be aboriginal campsites in the reserve and a number of stone tools have been found. The land was occupied by the Riverstone Meatworks for over 100 years, during which time it was cleared and used for grazing cattle. Many of the structures from this period, including the old water tower and concrete water troughs are still standing to this day. In the late 1980s, shortly before their closure, the Meatworks sold the land to New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife, who opened the reserve as a state park in 1990 The nature reserve was affected by a major fire on 10 September 2013. An investigation found that the fire was caused by a power line being blown down by strong winds.

Flora

The reserve's flora is largely determined by its varying soil types. Open forest environment dominated by Iron-barks such as

Eucalyptus fibrosa ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, includin ...

and ''

Eucalyptus sideroxylon ''Eucalyptus sideroxylon'', commonly known as mugga ironbark, or red ironbark is a small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has dark, deeply furrowed ironbark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of s ...

'' occur on the clay-based soils, while sandier soils host woodlands of ''

Eucalyptus sclerophylla ''Eucalyptus sclerophylla'', known as the scribbly gum, is a tree native to eastern Australia. Very similar to the related Scribbly Gum (''E. haemastoma''), a better known tree. The best way of distinguishing the species is the smaller hemisph ...

''. Meanwhile, sub-mature ''

Hakea ''Hakea'' ( ) is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants in the family ''Proteaceae'', endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are s ...

s'' grow on former grazing land in the reserve. Additionally, the reserve is home to a number of rare and threatened flora including '' Dillwynia tenuifolia'', ''Pultenaea parviflora'', '' Persoonia nutans'' and '' Grevillea juniperina''.

Fauna

Mammals

The nature reserve hosts a healthy population of the

Eastern grey kangaroo The eastern grey kangaroo (''Macropus giganteus'': gigantic large-foot; also great grey kangaroo or forester kangaroo) is a marsupial found in the eastern third of Australia, with a population of several million. Although a large ''M. giganteus ...

(Macropus Giganteus) as well as being home to

Swamp wallabies The swamp wallaby (''Wallabia bicolor'') is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. This wallaby is also commonly known as the black wallaby, with other names including black-tailed wallaby, fern wallaby, black pademelon, stinker (in Que ...

Sugar glider The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its ability to glide through the air, much lik ...

Common brushtail possum The common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula'', from the Ancient Greek, Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus ''Phalangista'') is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae ...

s and

Common ringtail possum The common ringtail possum (''Pseudocheirus peregrinus'', Greek for "false hand" and Latin for "pilgrim" or "alien") is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants ...

Birds

The nature reserve is reported to contain at least 68 bird species including

Yellow-tailed black cockatoo The yellow-tailed black cockatoo (''Zanda funerea'') is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring in length. It has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has prominent yellow ...

Sulphur-crested cockatoo The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...

s and

Laughing kookaburra The laughing kookaburra (''Dacelo novaeguineae'') is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye-stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown but there is a mottled light ...

s. Notably, the endangered

Regent honeyeater The regent honeyeater (''Anthochaera phrygia'') is a critically endangered bird endemic to southeastern Australia. It is commonly considered a flagship species within its range, with the efforts going into its conservation having positive effec ...

is known to reside in the reserve as well as possibly one of the few populations of

Red-capped robin The red-capped robin (''Petroica goodenovii'') is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Found in drier regions across much of the continent, it inhabits shrubland, scrub and open woodland. Like many brightly coloured robins of the family ...

s left in Sydney.

Reptiles

The nature reserve is home to a number of reptiles including

Goanna A goanna is any one of several species of lizard of the genus ''Monitor lizard, Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous r ...

s, Eastern brown snakes,

Red-bellied black snake The red-bellied black snake (''Pseudechis porphyriacus'') is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae, indigenous to Australia. Originally described by George Shaw in 1794 as a species new to science, it is one of eastern Australia ...

s and Blue-tongued lizards.

References

External links

Official webpageWebpage on the Protected Planet website
{{Nature reserves of New South Wales , state=collapsed Nature reserves in New South Wales Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in Australia