But if you look carefully you’ll ­usually find something of interest, so I decided to head up the valley for the day to a place that has been quite productive in the past.

This was really a walking trip, so arriving on site, armed with camera gear, water and tucker I headed into the bush.

There were a lot of birds calling and it was starting to look interesting.

I soon came to a swampy area, with ducks in abundance and a pair of swans in the distance.

I noticed a marshy pool with a few small birds rising, which looked interesting and, as it was time to have a break, I placed myself in a good location, semi hidden in the scrub.

It wasn’t long before a group of silver eyes came in for a drink and I managed to get some nice shots. 

Twenty minutes or so later, popping in for a drink from a different was a surprise, a noisy friar bird. One shot and it was gone.

Things went quiet, so I moved on round the swamp and spotted a swamp hen with two chicks. I was able to get quite close, and eventually it moved out of the reeds and I grabbed a few shots.

These birds are common and can be found breeding any month of the year.

Moving on, I got a few decent shots of robins, honeyeaters, and warblers, but with a few hours to spare I returned back the Hunter wetlands.

There were not many birds about – one or two raptors, a number of stilts and a few sharp tailed sandpipers. It was hard to get close, but I did get one nice shot.

Migrating in large numbers from Siberia, they arrive in our area in August  and are usually gone by April, heading  back to their nesting grounds.

Stilts are found worldwide and we have large numbers in the Hunter.

 I have included a shot taken some time earlier of a whole flock lifting off with a kite above. 

I also photographed one nesting this year, standing over four eggs,  going back to the pool at the edge of the swamp.

 I forgot to mention the pair of striated thornbills that arrived and had a bath. They are very small and the average life span is only about one year. The striated thornbill is often confused with the brown thornbill.

For a quiet time for bird watchers, it was an interesting day out.