It was a great pleasure to spend a day at Hexham Swamp now that all the floodgates have been opened and returned the place to its former glory.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hexham Swamp is an internationally recognised wetland and we can now look forward to great numbers of waders returning.
In fact they have already returned – large numbers of Australian waders as well as migratory birds from as far away as Siberia.
It is also, of course, a thriving nursery for fish and prawns.
My visit started early on a perfect morning. I’d been told by members of the Newcastle bird club that there were large numbers of birds present.
Driving in took some time, but on reaching the track which runs through the wetlands it was not long before I spotted my first subject for the day, the incredible cisticola.
Many migratory birds have been spotted by the bird watchers – ruffs, sharp tailed sandpipers, avocets, eastern curlews, the yellow wagtail which is very rare in this area ... these were a few of a large number spotted.
I was impressed by the number of our own birds present and recorded them throughout the day – the plumed egret, large egret, little egret, blue heron, pacific heron, white breasted swallows, white breasted chats, and last but not least, a lathams snipe – rare in this area and the first I have spotted.
There appeared to be a great number of large fish breaking the surface, and the waders appeared to be having a feast.
It is hard to display all the images, but a few have been printed to let the public know how lucky we are to have such a wetland as Hexham returned to its original state.