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Location
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Kensington Bushland Reserve is a 9 ha bushland remnant
in the Town of Victoria Park, Perth, Western Australia. It is bounded by Baron-Hay Court, Kensington, and Etwell Street, Victoria Park.
Adjoining land uses include sporting fields, a school, the Department of Agriculture, a sandpit, a Police and Citizens' Youth Club, as well as ambulance, fire and police stations. The bushland extends into several of these sites.
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Importance of Kensington Bushland
The reserve is the best-preserved remnant urban bushland between the Swan and Canning Rivers, and is recognised by the State Government as a "Bush Forever" site.
Much of the bushland has been rated as being in very good to excellent condition.
Although the much larger King's Park is only 5 km away, this does not detract from the importance of Kensington Bushland, as the two reserves are on different soil types, and hence the ranges of plant species are significantly different.
Vegetation
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Kensington Bushland is a typical jarrah-banksia woodland on Bassendean Sand, in that the canopy is dominated by just a few species, particularly Eucalyptus marginata, E. todtiana, Banksia attenuata, B. ilicifolia, B. menziesii, Nuytsia floribunda and Allocasuarina fraseriana.
The greatest species diversity is in the understorey, with in excess of 150 native species in just 9 ha!
This diversity is typical of southwestern Australia, and places the region amongst the most bio-diverse places on the planet.
Nineteen species of orchids have been identified at the Reserve, many discovered by members of the Friends of Kensington Bushland.
These include nine types of spider orchids, two donkey orchids and two blue orchids, many of which are quite easily spotted on a walk in early spring.
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Wildlife
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Wattle Birds, Butcher Birds, Magpie Larks and several species of honeyeater are commonly seen enjoying the thickets of woollybush and other shrubs and trees.
A very beautiful bird is the migrating Rainbow Bee-Eater, which nests in the walls of the adjoining sandpit, as well as the sandy tracks of the bushland itself.
These have been observed removing the stings from bees before consuming them.
Overhead, hovering birds of prey such as the Black Shouldered Kite and the Brown Goshawk may be seen looking for food.
Black Cockatoos, including the Carnaby's Cockatoo (Declared Threatened Fauna) enjoy removing the Banksia flowers to eat beetle larvae.
From time to time, Black-faced Cuckoo Shrikes can be observed completely taking over a tree.
Dugites have been seen, as well as Blue-tongues, Little Dragon Lizards, the Smaller Spotted Gecko, and the rare Slender Legless Lizard.
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Access
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The three limestone paths which wind their way through the bushland are shown on this sketch map.
As there are no hills in the bushland, and the paths are wide and well maintained, the entire track system is wheelchair-accessible.
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