Muchea

History

The area was first surveyed as farmland in 1845 as part of a property to be owned by George Moore. The opening of a railway siding in the area between 1892 and 1898 caused permanent structures to be built and by 1903 farmlots were surveyed close to the siding. The townsite was later gazetted in 1904. In 1960, the Muchea Tracking Station was established about SSW outside of town as part of NASA's Mercury project. In 1962, the first Australian to speak with a space traveller did so from the Muchea facility. The station was closed in 1964. Western Power has a substation in the area to which a 164 MW / 905 MWh grid battery is being built.

Most-observed species

• Australian Ringneck

  Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805) · Aves
  785
• Weebill

  Smicrornis brevirostris (Gould, 1838) · Aves
  718
• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  687
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  673
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  665
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  620
• Western Gerygone

  Gerygone fusca (Gould, 1838) · Aves
  579
• Brown Honeyeater

  Lichmera indistincta (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  572

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2005-05-06
  5 km NW of Bullsbrook, Australia
• M 2.5 — 2005-04-15
  10 km SSW of York, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2003-07-18
  42 km N of Toodyay, Australia