It was just over a year ago that the Currawon bushfire raged through Conjola National Park south of Sydney, burning most of the park. At the survey sites I monitor the rains of the last year have meant a faster recovery than expected, but progress varies greatly depending on the terrain. Where the hottest fires struck in tall eucalypt forest there is a mix of trees recovering through epicormic growth and other trees, usually the smaller ones, that appear to be dead at this stage. In coastal scrub there are large areas where all the trees are dead but the undergrowth is renewing.
Bird numbers are recovering but still not to the pre-fire levels. The most noticeable absence is the large honeyeaters, especially the Red Wattlebirds.