Michael Adams is the owner of Colo Heights Wildlife Refuge, a property located approximately 50km north of Richmond. The property is a dedicated wildlife sanctuary, and it is Michael’s intent to preserve the property’s bushland from development.
The sanctuary covers 54 hectares fronting Comleroy State Forest and adjoining Parr State Conservation Area and Yengo National Park. It is situated on a ridge line featuring scenic values of gorges and deeply dissected plateau, with Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland being the dominant vegetation type.
The pristine dry sclerophyll bushland is teeming with native wildlife, with species known to occur on the sanctuary including common wallaroos (Macropus robustus), eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), red-necked wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus), brush-tailed rock wallabies (Petrogale penicillata), brushtail (Trichosurus vulpecula), ringtail (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) and eastern pygmy possums (Cercartetus nanus), short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus), bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus), koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), yellow-bellied (Petaurus australis), sugar (Petaurus breviceps) and feathertail gliders (Acrobates pygmaeus), and a variety of bat species.
Amphibians present include red-crowned toadlets (Pseudophryne australis), Spencer’s burrowing frogs (Opisthodon spenceri), striped marsh frogs (Limnodynastes peronii) and Peron’s tree frogs (Litoria peronii), while the range of reptile species includes lace monitors (Varanus varius), eastern bearded dragons (Pogona barbata), eastern blue-tongued lizards (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides), Southern leaf (Saltuarius swaini) and thick tailed geckos (Underwoodisaurus milii), carpet pythons (Morelia spilota), common death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus) and red-bellied black (Pseudechis porphyriacus), eastern brown (Pseudonaja textilis), yellow-faced whip (Demansia psammophis) and broad-headed snakes (Hoplocephalus bungaroides).
This impressive representation is capped off by a huge diversity of birdlife with species including wonga pigeons (Leucosarcia melanoleuca), common bronzewing pigeons (Phaps chalcoptera), brown cuckoo-doves (Macropygia phasianella), sulphur-crested (Cacatua galerita), gang gang (Callocephalon fimbriatum) and glossy black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami), magpies (Cracticus tibicen), laughing kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae), spotted pardalotes (Pardalotus punctatus), beautiful firetail finches (Stagonopleura bella), eastern yellow robins (Eopsaltria australis), yellow-faced honeyeaters (Lichenostomus chrysops), tawny frogmouths (Podargus strigoides), southern boobook owls (Ninox boobook), collared sparrowhawks (Accipiter cirrocephalus), powerful owls (Ninox strenua), and wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax).
