In less than five hours over 300 Ha of the Clydebank Morass State Game Reserve was devastated by fire caused by a lightning strike during the afternoon of Wednesday 19th March.
A large part of the bushbird habitat has been destroyed by a very hot fire fanned by winds at times up to a speed 50 kph.
Two of the three regular banding sites are now burned bare and will be unable to sustain a population of small bush birds at least for a while.
The pictures of the fire are on the left, the Western end of the Morass at about 10.00pm and those on the right are  near the Lake Wellington Yacht Club after midnight