Oakey Hill (Canberra)
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Oakey Hill is a hill near
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
,
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
. It rises above the adjacent south Canberra suburbs of Lyons, Curtin and Weston, and its 66 hectares (163 acres) is one of 33 areas which form Canberra Nature Reserve. The highest point of the hill, 684 metres above sea level, is marked by a survey station. The hill’s name is thought to come from the stands of she oaks (casuarinas,
Allocasuarina verticillata ''Allocasuarina verticillata'', commonly known as drooping she-oak or drooping sheoak, is a nitrogen fixing native tree of southeastern Australia. Originally collected in Tasmania and described as ''Casuarina verticillata'' by French naturalist ...
) growing on the hill, mainly on the eastern side. About half of Oakey Hill is open space with a mix of native and exotic grasses, while the remainder is bushland with stands of native eucalypts including
yellow box ''Eucalyptus melliodora'', commonly known as yellow box, honey box or yellow ironbark, is a species of medium-sized to occasionally tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern, continental Australia. It has rough, flaky or fibrous bark on part o ...
and Blakely’s red gum. A number of walking tracks circle or cross the hill. The walking tracks are popular with day walkers and they also see some cycle and equestrian traffic. The walks are generally rated as easy with some short steep climbs. The views from the summit are impressive: east to Red Hill and Isaacs Ridge, north to
Scrivener Dam Scrivener Dam is a concrete gravity dam that impounds the Molonglo River in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The dam creates Lake Burley Griffin, which was established for recreational and ornamental purposes. Named in honour of surveyor C ...
and Mt Painter and the Belconnen hills, northeast beyond the Captain Cook memorial water jet towards
Mount Ainslie Mount Ainslie is a hill with an elevation of that is located in the northeastern suburbs of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Mount Ainslie lies within part of the Canberra Nature Park. Location and features Mount Ains ...
and
Mount Majura Mount Majura is a small mountain with an elevation of that is located in the northern suburbs of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Mount Majura lies close to the more prominent Mount Ainslie and is the highest point wit ...
, and west over Cooleman Ridge to the
Brindabellas The Brindabella Range, commonly called The Brindabellas or The Brindies, is a mountain range located in Australia, on a state and territory border of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The range rises to the west of C ...
.


History

For many years, the northern Canberra region, including Oakey Hill, was home to the Ngunnawal Aboriginal people. More recent European history includes references to Oakey Hill being included in
Woden Valley The District of Woden Valley () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions ( suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Woden Valley ...
farming leases which allowed stock to graze on the hill and adjacent lands. With the development of nearby suburbs in the late 1960s/early 1970s, the grazing leases were terminated. A water reservoir was established near the top of the hill, power lines were erected on the lower slopes, and more recently a mobile telephone tower was erected near the reservoir. Canberra Nature Park, including Oakey Hill, was gazetted in 1993. In January 2003, bushfires swept in from the western side and about 80 percent of the hill was burned. While the fire damaged or destroyed many of the hill’s trees, it also stimulated growth, particularly of eucalypts and
casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...
s, and parts of the lower slopes are now heavily timbered.


Wildlife

The grasslands and timbered slopes provide habitat for a large number of small to medium-sized birds common to the Canberra region.
Boobook owl ''Ninox'' is a genus of true owls comprising 36 species found in Asia and Australasia. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the northern hawk-owl (''Surnia ulula'') is not a member of this genus. Taxonomy The genus was introduced ...
s,
kookaburras Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...
and
king quail The king quail (''Synoicus chinensis''), also known as the blue-breasted quail, Asian blue quail, Chinese painted quail, or Chung-Chi, is a species of Old World quail in the family Phasianidae. This species is the smallest "true quail", rangin ...
are frequently sighted. The rocks and grass provide a home for lizards and snakes including brown snakes,
bluetongue lizard Bluetongue Lizard is an old man in Australian Aboriginal mythology. He is a trickster and a powerful sorcerer, as well. The myth involving him is the wellspring of the Warlpiri fire ceremonies. He is often regarded as a deity, but this notion ...
s, native gecko (
eastern stone gecko ''Diplodactylus vittatus'', commonly known as the eastern stone gecko, stone gecko, and wood gecko, is a species of diplodactylid lizards that occurs in forest, shrubland and arid regions across Australia. It is widespread across the states of Q ...
or wood gecko - Diplodactylus vittatus) and the threatened
pink tailed worm lizard The pink-tailed worm-lizard or granite worm-lizard (''Aprasia parapulchella'') is a rare legless lizard found in Australia. The animal looks like a combination of small snake and worm. Its total length is up to 14 cm. It has a pink tail and ...
(Aprasia parapulchella). Scorpions and huntsman spiders also hunt among the rocks and fallen bark in the treed areas. Oakey Hill has a resident population of eastern grey kangaroos and provides a corridor for fauna travelling through the Canberra Nature Reserve. Brush tailed possums are frequent visitors to residential gardens adjacent to the hill. The hill is also home to introduced species, including red foxes (
Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
), hares and Indian Mynahs.


Geology and geography

Oakey Hill is elongated in a north-northwest direction. This is parallel with the general direction of the nearby
Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...
. A low ridge extends southwards to Mt Taylor (856 metres above sea level) and this separates the Woden Valley from Weston Creek. The rocks on Oakey Hill are remnants of volcano activity in the
Middle Silurian Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ( ...
period and are part of the
Deakin Volcanics The geology of the Australian Capital Territory includes rocks dating from the Ordovician around 480 million years ago, whilst most rocks are from the Silurian. During the Ordovician period the region—along with most of eastern Australia—was p ...
, the series of lava flows that cover much of the southern half of Canberra. Examples of the acid volcanic rocks of the Deakin Volcanics can be seen in the road cutting along the
Tuggeranong Parkway Tuggeranong Parkway is an major highway in Canberra, Australia. Often referred to as "The Parkway" by locals, Tuggeranong Parkway links Civic to the southern Canberra metro district of Tuggeranong, and is a bypass road to the Woden Valley-Westo ...
between
Hindmarsh Drive Hindmarsh Drive is a major arterial road in the southern suburbs of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It is named after John Hindmarsh, first Governor of South Australia. The road forms the major east to west link through the Woden Valle ...
and Cotter Road. There are areas of porphyry which have intruded into the volcanic rocks and these also are Middle Silurian in age.


Park care

While Oakey Hill has been a green reserve since the 1960s, it formally became part of the larger Canberra Nature Park with a gazettal in 1993. Following the Canberra bushfires of 2003, the ACT Government began an ambitious fuel reduction program on the hill to remove the remaining stands of Tasmanian blue gum which is not endemic to the ACT. This galvanised local residents who, together with Environment ACT rangers, explored options for ongoing practical conservation work.John Butcher "The Scribbly Gum" ACT Parks and Conservation Service Spring 2009 A parkcare group was formed and initially it worked according to a plan developed by the Parks, Conservation and Lands (PCL) Branch of the ACT Government, targeting areas of high conservation value. Over time, as the hill has recovered from the fires, the group itself has determined its work program in consultation with rangers. The parkcare group’s principal focus is on helping the hill to heal itself by reducing the competition of introduced and exotic species, thereby allowing endemic species to flourish. Since the bushfires, many fire-adapted species such as casuarina (Allocasuarina verticillata) and the native black cypress pine (Callitris endlicheri) have recovered strongly. Native grasses – such as kangaroo grass, wallaby grass and lomandra - and a wide variety of shrubs have also made a comeback and are now competing with introduced species. In the main, the parkcare group undertakes weed control, focussing on introduced species such as Cootamundra wattle, Tasmanian blue gum,
firethorn ''Pyracantha'' (from Greek "fire" and "thorn", hence firethorn) is a genus of large, thorny evergreen shrubs in the family Rosaceae, with common names firethorn or pyracantha. They are native to an area extending from Southwest Europe east t ...
,
cotoneaster ''Cotoneaster'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region (temperate Asia, Europe, north Africa), with a strong concentration of diversity in the genus in the mountains of southwestern China an ...
, briar rose and assorted woody weeds. Although the group has undertaken some planting of wildflowers, grasses and trees, drought conditions prevented any significant planting. The group also undertakes repair and maintenance of formal and informal walking tracks, weather and materials permitting. Since it began in December 2003, the group has held monthly working bees on the third Sunday of each month (except January and February) to improve the site.


References


External links

* Map of Oakey Hil

{{coord, -35.33773, 149.06800, type:landmark_region:AU, format=dms, display=title Landforms of the Australian Capital Territory Hills of Australia