Birdies but no Eagles

	Birdies but no Eagles The back 6 holes of the Deniliquin Golf course are formed from land shaped by the chicken wishbone of the confluence of Aljoes and Tarangle Creeks. These names dance off the tongue and ring in the air but, although they appear on the earliest of maps, no one seems to have a clue as to their origin. The back holes have a different character from the rest of the course. They include some of the longest holes and always seem to have fewer players about. The landscape resembles parkland held within the grasp of watercourses and connected by bridges. There are stands of black box trees in lowlying areas which collect run-off after heavy rain. These trees are not classically handsome; the leaves are a dull green on a spreading crown; the branches droop and the bark is dark, rough and furrowed. However, they are an excellent shade and shelter tree which epitomise the semi-arid Riverina. And after all, shade and shelter are what trees are meant to provide. Black Box on the Deniliquin Golf Course - photo M. Simpson ©2003 Black box trees were once abundant but less so in recent times. Many of the trees on the golf course are hundreds of years old. They are gradually disappearing. A past President-Treasurer and benefactor of the golf club, Bruce Laing, explained the reasons he had been planting trees on the course for many years. “We lose about 10 trees a year through age and decay. We can’t leave dead trees on the fairways as they are a danger. Bill Mulham advised me about species to plant and I put them in and watered them for about 4 years. It was not easy keeping the water up to them as they are planted in locations all around the course, but I must have planted 200 and 90% have survived. I want to keep the fairway divisions and to make the course a beautiful place to be.” The presence of nesting sites and water has attracted an abundance of birdlife: honeyeaters, parrots, robins, wagtails, pee wees, butcher birds, magpies, kingfishers, plovers, ducks, ibis, spoonbills, herons and pelicans. Club members tolerate or appreciate the wildlife except for the damage done to greens at certain times of the year by foraging corellas. A flock of corellas intent on eating the bulbous roots of the grass can pock-mark a green within minutes. The solution? Black ‘snakes’ have been placed on the greens. These ‘snakes’ are cut-offs of rubber pump-hose tapered at he ends to form heads and tails and with eyes and ringbands painted on to give realism. It is disconcerting to encounter these ‘snakes’ because, even when you KNOW they are fake, you still feel uneasy about their presence. The corellas must feel something similar because they stay away from the greens. The fairways are grazed by wood ducks. They breed at a faster rate then black ducks which rarely forsake the dams and creeks. The wood ducks seem to have a problem in supervision of their off-spring and get confused about who belongs to who. I have seen ostensibly ‘childless’ wood duck pairs and ‘mega parents’. It is not unusual to see ‘Mum’ and ‘dad’ with as may as 30 ducklings from newly-hatched to juveniles being marshalled along the fairway like spectators at a tournament. Deniliquin Golf Course has 5 star accommodation for wood ducks with over 200 taking up permanent year-round residence. I like to finish off a long hot summers day with a cooling evening walk dodging the sprinklers going on the course. As night falls, the tree line is silhouetted against a navy blue sky. An owl is heard. Reflected moon light changes the shape and form of things and the familiar landscape becomes dark and mysterious. The brilliant stars of the Milky Way draw ones eyes to the sky and away from earthly concerns.


Margaret Simpson ©2003

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