Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park is not your average park. What it lacks in show-stopping, knockout attractions is made up for in its incredible biodiversity. Nobody knows this more than the dedicated volunteers from the Friends of Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park.
Just ask Neville Bartlett, the group's treasurer.
"The park is a very unassuming park when you look at it - there's nothing immediately spectacular about it. In fact, this particular section of the park has a town in it, the Hume Highway running through it, a gas pipeline, and the railway line, so it's really fragmented with bits all over the place," Neville said.
"But when you start looking bit closer at the flora and fauna in the park, birds in particular, you get a real richness of biodiversity that sets it apart," Neville said.
The park contains the highest number of mammal, bird and reptile species recorded at any Box-Ironbark site, making it a fantastic location to spot and photograph native wildlife.
More than 200 bird species have been spotted in Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, including two of Australia's most threatened birds – the Swift Parrot and the Regent Honeyeater. The Friends group helps monitor these fleeting visitors by participating in twice yearly bird surveys.
