Bellbird Home Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache has been placed near a Bellbird Colony, so be quiet, just listen and enjoy. Don't forget to sign the log book.
We have known about this colony for a number of years and often stop to enjoy the sounds of these birds whenever we travel to Buchan. We wish to share this spot with our fellow geocachers - enjoy.
The cache container is a 400ml Sistema clip lock and contains a log book and pencil, a few swaps and a pathtag. It's hidden in a typical geocaching fashion.
Off road parking is available so please do not stop on the main road or bridge. All vehicles travel at 100klm/hr along this road so take great care especially with little ones. As there are livestock nearby and the Bellbirds themselves, please leave any geo-pooches in your car.
In the parking area there is a small pond, take care when turning around so as not to drive into it !!!
We would like to think that this colony will remain at this location for years to come, please do nothing to cause the birds distress.
"Bell-Birds" - Henry Kendall in his famous poem made them sound so idyllic and they certainly do if you hear them out on a Sunday drive.
Bell Miners (or Bellbirds) are actually honeyeaters, or more precisely miners, closely related to the Noisy Miner. They live in close knit colonies and amongst the 40 or 50 birds there are usually only about three or four pairs of breeding adults. All the others are helpers and do their bit for the community, helping to feed the nestlings and also to protect the colony.
Saturating the surroundings with song (= sound) is one way of getting rid of the competition. You won't find many other birds in a bellbird colony. And like other miners, if the subtle approach doesn't work, then they get physical - they actually attack any other bird (even quite large birds) and drive them out of their territory.
As the poem says, bellbirds are "down the dim gorges" - birds of the wetter forest regions of eastern Australia from near Melbourne, north to about Gympie in Queensland. Colonies are not always permanent - they can remain in the one area for many years, but they do move occasionally - nobody knows why.
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Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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