Sun Valley Bushcare Group
The Sun Valley Reserve is situated in a semi rural area, just off the Great Western Highway heading east between Warimoo and Valley Heights. If you follow Sun Valley Road down into the valley you will come across the reserve on the left hand side where the road crosses over the Sun Valley Creek.
The reserve is dominated by Cabbage Gum (Eucalyptus amplifolia), with Thin-leaved Stringybark (Eucalyptus eugenioides), Mountain blue gums (Eucalyptus deanei) and Rough-barked apple (Angophora floribunda). The understorey species include Parramatta wattle, Tickbush, Blady grass, Wallaby grass, Microlaena, Basket grass, Lomandra and Hard bracken Blue flax lily and the delightful Hyacinth orchid.
The Sun Valley Reserve soils have been formed from diatremes (pipes of volcanic material). Other diatreme substrates in the area support different dominant tree species and do not have Eucalyptus amplifolia.
The Sun Valley Cabbage Gum Forest is an endangered ecological community and is part of the Sun Valley Reserve which is protected under the threatened Species Act 1995.
Once upon a time this community originally formed tall open forest before it was cleared for timber and grazing. There is still good cover of remnant trees and regeneration is occurring; the trees remaining are often small and young (less than 20 years old) with few older trees. The ground vegetation has also been highly modified by grazing and other disturbance.
Disturbed remnants are still considered to form part of the community; these include areas where the vegetation - either ground vegetation, trees or both - would regenerate in response to assistance, such as where the natural soil and associated seedbank are still at least partially intact.
The Sun Valley Reserve forms part of a corridor allowing animals to move between grazed paddocks to more extensive bushland along the creek line.
Native wildlife such as the Spotted-tailed quoll (at left) have been seen by local residents and the glossy black cockatoo also visit the valley, Wedgetail eagles have been seen flying high above the valley. The reserve is visited by a variety of bushbirds from wrens to wattlebirds.
The Powerful owl divides its territory for hunting between the surrounding ridges of the valley to the properties adjacent to the reserve. Swamp wallabies also graze on the many native grasses in the reserve. The Red bellied black snake enjoys the moist conditions along with water dragons and a variety of skinks. The Grey-headed flying-fox also feed on the flowering eucalypts in the area.
The reserve is adjacent to the oval which is a community area and used by the Sun Valley Pony Club.
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