Tania Clancy is the owner of Wombat Lodge, a property situated in Mittagong, New South Wales. The property is a wildlife sanctuary and owner Tania aims to retain the property as wildlife habitat. Wombat Lodge acts as a buffer to the urban sprawl and helps protect the Land for Wildlife on the Natti River which is a category one riparian zone.
Wombat Lodge spans ¼ acre and features a combination of indigenous and introduced vegetation that is thick and dense. The property provides habitat for a range of species including red-browed finches (Neochmia temporalis), silver eyes (Zosterops lateralis), echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus), sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps), swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor) and also hosts wombat (Vombatus ursinus) burrows and shelters.
The property also acts as a wildlife corridor for adjacent bushland of an all-girls school. This adjoining bushland is thriving with native species including bird species such as the superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus), Pacific baza hawk (Aviceda subcristata), brown goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus), eastern spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris), buff-banded rail (Gallirallus philippensis), butcher birds (Cracticus sp.), white-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae), the great egret (Ardea alba), Australasian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae), purple swamphens (Porphyrio melanotus), Pacific black duck (Anas superciliosa), yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus), Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis), crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans), eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius), rose-breasted robin (Petroica rosea), silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), red-browed finch (Neochmia temporalis), tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides), laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), grey butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus), sacred kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus), satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), boobook owl (Ninox boobook), welcome swallow (Hirundo neoxena), galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), pink-faced corella (Cacatua sp.), maned duck (Chenonetta jubata), painted button-quail (Turnix varius), masked lapwing (Vanellus miles), spotted turtle-dove (Streptopelia chinensis), crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes), sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), long-billed corella (Cacatua tenuirostris), white-cheeked rosella (Platycercus adscitus), pallid cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus), ravens and crows (Corvus sp.), currawongs (Strepera sp.), magpie, (Gymnorhina tibicen), magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), bushlark (Mirafra javanica), black-faced cuckoo-shrike (Coracina novaehollandiae), blackbird (Turdus merula), willy wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), eastern whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus), white-browed scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis), red wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata) and spotted pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus). Mammals are also found on the adjacent bushland including eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster) wombats (Vombatus ursinus) and microbats in addition to platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in the Nattai river. Moreover, the adjoining bushland is also home to insects such as monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), walking sticks, bogong moths (Agrotis infusa), grasshoppers, beetles including christmas beetles, native bees and cicadas. Reptiles are also found in the neighbouring bushland such as water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii), snaked-neck turtles (Chelodina longicollis), blue-tongue lizards (Tiliqua sp.), copperhead snakes (Austrelaps sp.) and amphibians such as eastern banjo frogs (Limnodynastes dumerilii).
