Hometown INVERELL

The Turtles at Lake Inverell

Turtles are wonderful and fascinating animals. In Australia, we have a total of 26 different species. Two of these, the long and short neck turtle are home at Lake Inverell and the Macintyre River. Ecologist Wendy Hawes is talking to our host Wildlife Photographer Heinrich Haussler, about the turtles and what is needed to safeguard their existence at the Lake. This podcast is part of  Hometown Inverell a totally independent project created by Heinrich Haussler, promoting Inverell and surrounds. 

 

 

The Pelicans at Lake Inverell

Welcome back  after the holiday break for yet another podcast on Lake Inverell’s Fauna. Today we are going to talk about the Pelican’s who are visitors to Lake Inverell and presently we are seeing flocks of up to 40 and 50 birds, a really welcomed sight after the crippling drought and bushfires of previous years where we hardly had any pelicans at the lake anymore.

The Australian pelican is a large waterbird widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant in New Zealand.

Our pelican’s as we know them from Lake Inverell are predominantly white birds with black wings and a pink bill. The pelican has been credited with having the longest bill of any living bird. It mainly eats fish, but will also consume birds and scavenge for scraps if the opportunity arises.

The Australian pelican is medium-sized by pelican standards, with a wingspan of 2.3 to 2.6 m. Weight can range from 4 to 13 kg, although most of these pelicans weigh between 4.54 and 7.7 kg. The average weight of  Australian pelicans is about 5.5 kg, making this the heaviest Australian flying bird species on average. The pale, pinkish bill is enormous, even by pelican standards, and is the largest bill in the avian world. Females are slightly smaller with a notably smaller bill, which can measure as small as 34.6 cm  at maturity. The total length is boosted by the bill to 152–188 cm. It has the largest bill of any bird.

Enjoy todays podcast with our host Heinrich Haussler and our resident Ecologist Wendy Hawes. Today the 24th of February 2021 is also Wendy's Birthday. So I may take this opportunity and also wish Wendy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and say a very big THANK YOU for the wonderful work she does.

 

 

Dr Cecelia O'Brien

Please listen to our newest podcast, in our Hometown Inverell series, portraying the people that are the faces and the fabric of Inverell. This is just another wonderful story about a young girls dream, battling all odds to achieve her goal and make her dream come true of being a doctor. It started all here in Inverell and we are talking to Dr. Cecelia O'Brien.

She has made it her goal to deliver high quality and equitable pregnancy care to women living in rural and remote North Queensland.

She has a background in perinatal research with ongoing interests in stillbirth, diabetes in pregnancy and improving access to timely antenatal care and outcomes for Aboriginal women and their babies.

She is a Senior lecturer at James Cook University. Dr. O'Brien shows a strong interest in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

Dr. O'Brien has a strong leadership background with excellent communication and organisation skills.

It was a privilege for me to interview Dr. O'Brien who I met on one of my kayak tours at Lake Inverell.

Michael O'Sullivan and Bandy Bill & Co

Michael O'Sullivan and Bandy Bill & CO. A fascinating story of a wonderful singer/song writer and an iconic Inverell band.

Michael O'Sullivan arrived back in Inverell, at the McLean Care Village in 2017, being transferred from the Armidale District Hospital by ambulance. They told him to find a place where he could die in peace and his good friend John Watts brought him to Inverell for Michael to spend the final days of his life in palliative care after suffering from a long illness.

What happened over the next twelve months has been a real miracle.

Music has always been Michael’s great passion and it was no surprise when Michael had the chance, that he joined Inverell’s bush band, Bandy Bill and Co. He started to write some wonderful songs for the Band and recorded a number of these songs including Modern Day Swaggie and Spinnin’ Yarns. Michael’s song, Happy Birthday Australia found its way onto Macca’s Australia All Over Volume II and sold close to 90000 copies.

The album was the curtain raiser for the iconic We Are Australian. "Best is Yet to Come" Michael’s first individual release was also a great success. He wrote and recorded several tracks that are featured on eight artist compilation albums. Six of them are featured with ABC Radio’s Australia All Over program. The songs include Macca on a Sunday Morning, Rain on a Tin Roof and Blue Outback Skies.

This is the remarkable life story of a talented singer/songwriter, it is a story written by life that features the highs and the lows in a man's life that subsequently was spared and a certain death sentence was turned around with the help of his friends and his love of music. Listen to Michael in this tell all and compelling podcast. This podcast is part of Hometown INVERELL.

Out at the Back of Coles. Singer/songwriter Michael O'Sullivan and the BANDY BILL BUSH BAND.

Michael O'Sullivan arrived back in Inverell, at the McLean Care Village in 2017, being transferred from the Armidale District Hospital by ambulance. They told him to find a place where he could die in peace  and his good friend John Watts brought him to Inverell for Michael to spend the final days of his life in palliative care after suffering from a long illness.

What happened over the next twelve months has been a real miracle.

Music has always been Michael’s great passion and it was no surprise when Michael had the chance, that he joined Inverell’s bush band, Bandy Bill and Co. He started to write some wonderful songs for the Band and recorded a number of these songs including Modern Day Swaggie and Spinnin’ Yarns. Michael’s song, Happy Birthday Australia found its way onto Macca’s Australia All Over Volume II and sold close to 90000 copies. 

The album was the curtain raiser for the iconic We Are Australian.  "Best is Yet to Come"  Michael’s first individual release was also a great success. He wrote and recorded several tracks that are featured on eight artist compilation albums. Six of them  are featured with ABC Radio’s Australia All Over program. The songs include Macca on a Sunday Morning, Rain on a Tin Roof and Blue Outback Skies.

This is the remarkable life story of a talented singer/songwriter, it is a story written by life that features the highs and the lows in a man's life that subsequently was spared and a certain death sentence was turned around with the help of his friends and his love of music. Listen to Michael in this tell all and compelling podcast. This podcast is part of Hometown INVERELL.

Episode 5 The Platypus

Welcome to our series on the Fauna and Flora of Lake Inverell and the adjacent Macintyre River. Today's Episode 5 features the Platypus  and is brought to you by Project Hometown Inverell. 
In the studio our Host Heinrich Haussler speaking with Ecologist Wendy Hawes.
The podcast is about a very special creature, a creature that is 
Australia’s own and unique to the rest of the world, the elusive and mysterious platypus.
The Platypus is one of the planets most evolutionarily distinct mammals, one of only five extant species of egg – laying mammals.
It is correct to say, we have an animal that lives at the Macintyre River and at Lake Inverell, that is a very strange and unique Australian animal  "Our Platypus".  It is the state animal of New South Wales, it appears on the bAustralian 20 cent coin and the Platypus was a much loved mascot for the 2000 Olympic games held in Sydney.  It is our duty to protect the Platypus, provide a habitat and help to preserve a animal that can only be found in Australia. In order to make it possible that future Generations can enjoy to watch this creature as we do today. 

Lake Inverell The Rakali with Wildlife Photographer Rob Smith

Welcome to todays Episode 4 on yet another creature that calls lake Inverell home. The Rakali. For this Episode our Guest speaker is Rob Smith. Rob’s love of photography started at the age of 17 years when he inherited his father’s camera.

In 2004 he purchased his first digital camera and started snapping away with a focus on wildlife, landscape and seascapes. His photography and documentation of wildlife especially birds is an art form that he has mastered and thousands of the most stunning images are testimony to it. The images and their presentation have become an artform that not only capture any audience but also educate and tell the stories of his subjects

Rob quotes: “It’s not a hobby for me. It really is a way of life; an artist’s way of life,” he says. “Looking at life through a lens has taught me to be observant.

I welcome you to todays podcast  with renowned photographer, videographer and, more significantly, artist Rob Smith who also holds degrees in Zoology and Ecology.

This is part of our series Hometown Inverell and you can listen right to the end on all information about this podcast series and where to find Lake Inverell.

Jack Griffin and the Grafton to Inverell Cycling Classic

JACK GRIFFIN OAM.

The story of a man’s vision & the legacy of Australia’s biggest and toughest one day Cycling Classic.

But was it much more than a race? Was it maybe the start and inspiration for some of the big names in cycling. Let’s find out when we talk to Jack’s son Ray. Listen to Jack’s Life Story - BEYOND THE RACE - as told by Ray Griffin.

Hometown INVERELL Episode 3 The Black Swan's

Lake Inverell and the Macintyre River are home to the Black Swan.

The black Swans form isolated pairs or small colonies in shallow wetlands. They pair and stay together for life. Both adult Swans are raising one brood per season. Their \eggs are laid in an nest made of reeds and grasses. The nest is placed either on a small island or floated in deeper water. The chicks (cygnets) are covered in grey down and are able to swim and feed themselves as soon as they hatch. Listen to the podcast about these Black Swans that call Lake Inverell Home. THE MEETING PLACE OF THE SWANS

Hometown INVERELL Episode 2 The Sea Eagle

Few Australian birds of prey are as spectacular as the White-bellied Sea-Eagle. It is similar in size and shape to the  Wedge-tailed Eagle.  The sea-eagle is easily recognised  by its white and ashy-grey plumage, giving the bird a striking appearance as it soars effortlessly on broad wings in the Australian sky. Despite its name, the sea-eagle is not confined to the coastal area, and it can be found at terrestrial wetlands far from the sea,  along larger inland rivers and at freshwater swamps and lakes. Lake Inverell has become home to the stunning bird and we have several couples nesting at the Lake and Macintyre River.

Hometown INVERELL Episode 1

Hometown Inverell is a totally independent source that promotes Inverell and district and the people that call this town home.

Heralding an incredible pool of talent and achievers in all different walks of life.

Over several month you will be introduced to top athletes that gave Inverell a name all over the World.

You will be able to listen to some incredible musicians that also call Inverell home.

You will be introduced to top achievers and characters that are a very important part of the fabric that makes up Hometown Inverell.

A town with a proud history and a wonderful variety of recreational activities for you and your family to do while visiting Inverell and where you can have your Adventure Holiday right in Natures Backyard. This Podcast is brought to you by Hometown Inverell a project created by Heinrich Haussler.

Today we feature Lake Inverell and are giving you an overview on another 9 Episodes coming up about the lake.

Lake Inverell is a 7 hectare Nature Reserve and has become Inverell’s  major recreation facility. For locals and visitors the lake and its surrounds it is now the number one destination where you can relax, bushwalking, kayaking, fishing or bird watching. Tranquillity and the natural beauty of the lake with an abundance of unique wildlife is what this Nature Reserve offers its visitors.

The area is home to a large variety of birds, the elusive platypus, kangaroos, wallabies and a huge variety of waterbirds. The Lake formed in 1938 when a dam wall was build across the Macintyre River upstream of Inverell. For a long time it was used to supply the town with water.

 

There are two walking tracks providing a nice and relaxing walk. The Lake Inverell Walk is a three kilometre return trip and is an easy walk. Keen walkers can continue on the Barayamal Walk, which passes through Barayamal National Park, and is a medium grade six kilometre return trip walk.

Dogs are not permitted in Barayamal National Park.

Located just 2km from the town centre the Lake is situated on the eastern outskirts of Inverell  on the Road going towards Glen Innes. A few hundred metres from the 8okm sign you turn right into Lake Inverell Drive. Follow that road for approximately

350 meters and you are at beautiful Lake Inverell. Parking, toilets, shelter, BBQ areas and a kayak launch are all provided and you are ready to start your Hometown Inverell Adventure.