After leaving Salt Lagoon St Leonards Wildlife Reserve (1st March 2023), Marija and I headed to our next park, the Swan Bay-Edwards Point Wildlife Reserve VKFF-2444.

We drove south along The Esplanade and stopped briefly at the William Buckley Memorial and John Batman encampment site. In my previous post about Salt Lagoon St Leonards WR, I spoke about Buckley and Batman.

The Buckley monument reads:

“Near this site William Buckley returned to European society after having lived for 32 years with the Wathaurong people. He and about 70 members of the Bengalat Clan of the Wathaurong tribe, whose land this was, spent several months in 1835 with John Batman’s men, before the latter moved their settlement to Melbourne. Buckley was a pioneer in cultural understanding. This place of contemplation is dedicated to his memory.”

The Swan Bay-Edwards Point Wildlife Reserve is 281 hectares in size and was established on the 20th day of March 1979. It is located on the Bellarine Peninsula, east of Geelong.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Swan Bay-Edwards Point WR. Map c/o Protected Planet.

The park is located south of Bluff Road at Leonards, and to the east of Queenscliffe Road. The park follows the coast south to Knights Road. The park appears on maps as Swan Bay-Edwards Point Wildlife Reserve, while the park sign just read Edwards Point Wildlife Reserve.

Above:- Map showing the Swan Bay-Edwards Point WR. Map c/o Protected Planet.

The park was previously known as the Edward Point State Faunal Reserve which was established in March 1971.

The park protects the last remaining stand of coastal woodland on the Bellarine Peninsula. The park contains a magnificent coastline with remote beaches, cool coastal woodlands, and extensive salt marshes. The park is home to numerous native plants and animals.

The park is part of the Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area, which has been identified by BirdLife International. The critically endangered orange-bellied parrot can be found in the park. It also supports over 1% of the Australian population of four wader species: Grey Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Double-banded Plover, and Eastern Curlew.

Below is a great video showing the park.

The park is adjacent to Swan Bay, a shallow 30 km2 marine embayment at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula. The bay is partly separated from the much larger Port Phillip Bay, by Swan Island, Duck Island, and Edwards Point. Explorer Captain Matthew Flinders named the bay ‘Swan Ponds’ due to the abundance of black swans in the area. Up to 2,700 black swans can be found here during summer and early autumn.

Above:- Captain Matthew Flinders. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The park includes Edwards Point, which is a 4km long sand spit that extends to the south between Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay. With Duck Island and Swan Island, it forms the part-barrier which separates Swan Bay from Port Phillip.

Marija and I set up in the Bluff Road carpark.

Above:- An aerial shot showing our operating spot. Image c/o Google Earth.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3SQ
2. VK3PWG/p
3. VK2VH
4. VK4AAC
5. VK7QP
6. VK2EXA
7. VK3PF
8. VK5HS
9. VK3UAO
10. VK2XSE/p (Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps VKFF-3266)
11. VK3ZPF

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3SQ
2. VK3PWG/p
3. VK2VH
4. VK4AAC
5. VK7QP
6. VK2EXA
7. VK3PF
8. VK5HS
9. VK3UAO
10. VK2XSE/p (Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps VKFF-3266)
11. VK3ZPF
12. VK3ZSC
13. VK3CEO
14. VK1DI
15. VK4FW
16. VK8MM
17. VK3MCK
18. VK3BBB
19. VK2CCP
20. VK5FB
21. VK5FANA
22. VK5HAA

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4TJ
2. VK4SMA
3. VK4HAT
4. VK4NH
5. VK4DXA
6. VK2LEE
7. VK2IO
8. VK5NIG
9. VK4FW
10. VK8MM

I worked the following stations on 15m SSB:-

1. VK4HAT
2. VK4FFAB
3. VK4NH
4. VK4DXA
5. VK4SMA
6. VK4TJ
7. VK2IO
8. VK1AO
9. VK2MET
10. VK4FW
11. VK8MM

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3ANL
2. VK3PF

References.

1. CAPAD 2020.
2. Parks Victoria, 2023, <https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/sites/edwards-point-two-bays-lookout->, viewed 19th April 2023.
3. Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Bay>, viewed 19th April 2023.
4. Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_Point_(Victoria)>, viewed 19th April 2023.