Bruce C. Smith
(19/5/1946-21/9/2024)
Many of you will know of Bruce Smith from visiting the Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary and wandering through “Bruce’s Patch”. Bruce was the assistant ranger at the Wildlife Sanctuary under George Paras through the 90’s until the early 2000’s and during his time worked on all manner of projects in the Wildlife Sanctuary, the adjoining Cherry St Grassland and Gresswell Nature Conservation Reserves.
Bruce was a keen naturalist and in particular, an avid birder. He always had one eye in the sky and was always hot on the trail of whatever rare vagrant species were camping over in the sanctuary. Bitterns, Crakes, Rails and Honeyeaters were his fancy and many of the wetland designs and other plantings around the sanctuary reflect the habitat requirements of these birds. When he wasn’t focused on birds he would turn his attention to butterflies. Many of Bruce’s plantings, particularly the ground flora was done with butterflies in mind, both food plants for caterpillars and flowering plants for the adults and the diversity of butterflies we now have in the sanctuary is a result of many of those early plantings.
Bruce’s plant speciality was grasses. Bruce loved the genus Rytidosperma (Danthonia back in his day), spending many days with his colleagues, volunteers and trainees in the field teaching ID techniques, field tricks and short which is now embedded within the plant ID component of the Habitat Conservation Management Course that Darebin Creek Management Committee run here at the sanctuary.
Bruce was a real visionary for the sanctuary and his dreams of a biodiverse landscape for waterbirds and educational zones for grassy woodland diversity has been embedded into the sanctuary and lives on as the Brindley Backwater, Bruces’s Patch and many other zones within the sanctuary, Gresswell Grange Lakes and neighbouring Nature Conservation Reserves which now afford novel biodiversity niches for birds, plants and everything else that utilises these habitat zones.
Bruce was instrumental in establishing the Indigenous plant nursery at its current location, digging out the site and laying the drainage system with his bare hands. When the nursery was complete, the very first species of plant to be grown was Prickly Moses (Acacia verticillata) which Bruce was imminently proud of, as this is well known for its abilities to provide sanctum for small birds amongst its spines. This was the beginning of the retail component of the indigenous nursery, guiding the way to where it is today.
Bruce’s dedication and appreciation of his job made him a shining light at the wildlife sanctuary. Bruce was a loving family man, an avid naturalist, a wonderful colleague and a true friend to all that knew him.
Bruce passed away on 21 September 2024.
We wish to pass our most sincere condolences on to Bruce’s family and all that knew Bruce.
RIP Bruce Smith.
