Wingecarribee Swamp

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Wingecarribee Swamp (brown area left) and Fitzroy Falls Reservoir (right)

The Wingecarribee Swamp is a moor in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales . It is the only remaining fen in New South Wales and the largest of its kind in Australia.

geography

The moor is about 90 kilometers southwest of Sydney and 15 kilometers east of Bowral . and about 15 km southwest of Wollongong near the Macquarie Pass and Budderoo National Parks . Of it goes to the adjacent reservoir Wingecarribee Reservoir of the Wingecarribee River forth. There is no public road leading to the moor.

Emergence

Today's Wingecarribee Swamp is believed to be a holdover from a much larger bog from the last Ice Age . Most of this Ice Age bog, which had formed on the sandstone underground , dried out about 12,000 years ago as a result of elevations in the catchment areas of the Wollondilly River , the Nepean River and the lower Shoalhaven River . Today's remnants of this moor have survived to this day, as they are bordered in the north, east and south by basalt hills that prevent the water from draining into the aforementioned rivers.

The rainfall in this area reaches an average of 1,600 mm per year, which is unusually high for New South Wales.

Flora and fauna

With 120 higher plant species, the Wingecarribee Swamp has the highest biodiversity of any wetland in Australia. The endangered plant species include the leek orchid (Prasophyllum uroglossum) , the "swamp gentian " ( Gentiana wingecarribiensis ) and the common loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris var. Davurica) .

Many animal species are also native to the moor, including several endangered species. This includes the "giant dragonfly" ( Petalura gigantea ). But there are also many native birds, reptiles and other insects to be found there.

Inexplicable phenomena

Observations were made in and around the Wingecarribee Swamp for which local residents could not find an explanation. So in the spring at night periodic rattles and roars were heard as if from a bull. People attributed this partly to a fabulous monster named Bunyip , partly to the existence of an underground river. The latter theory was supported by chuckling noises that could be heard occasionally. However, there is no evidence of this. Also in a reported by swimmers, Blänke - mile Half-The Hole called - were pulled under water, as well as from fence posts, which inexplicably disappeared without a trace in the ground.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Sydney Catchment Authority: Wingecarribee Swamp
  2. ↑ a b Value of Wingecarribee Swamp - As a Unique Ecosystem . Uow.edu.au
  3. ^ A b Value of Wingecarribee Swamp - As Habitat for Endangered Species . Uow.edu.au
  4. ^ Wingecarribee Swamp - A Natural Mystery . Windsor and Richmond Gazette (January 7, 1927) ( September 13, 2009 memento on Internet Archive )