I am always on the lookout for new places to observe birds, and a while back, Bill, had suggested I visit the Central Coast Wetlands at Wyong. I looked up the area, and I could see that they could be reached by short walk from Wyong Station.
Square-tailed Kite
The Wetlands are situated on the site of an old dairy – The Pioneer Dairy, and there are still signs of the dairy in the area. I caught an early train to Wyong and it was a 15 minute walk to the Wetlands. On my visit, there was one large reedy pool – with a lot of birds present. In wetter times, some of the nearby pools do fill up. There is also Pioneer Creek which flows through the site. On my visit, the creek was very dry. There are two walks along the creek- and they were well worth doing.
Near the Wetlands is a nice pavilion with a few seats for bird watchers. Nearby is a large picnic area, old silos and a hall. One corner is a golf firing range. I was on the site from between 9:30 am to around 2 pm. A number of other bird watchers also made visits – but for shorter durations.
Here are some of the birds I observed –
White-breasted Woodswallow
Straw-necked Ibis
Little Black Cormorants
Australasian Grebes
Australian Pelican
Purple Swamphen
Australian Wood Duck
Royal Spoonbills
Australian Darters
White-faced Heron
White-necked Heron
Welcome Swallows
Cattle Egrets
Little Pied Cormorant
And here are some of the visiting raptors –
Whistling Kite
Black-shouldered Kite
White-bellied Sea Eagle
Brown Goshawk
Square-tailed Kite
Leaving the Wetlands, Here are some of the birds on the Pioneer Creek Walk –
Red-rumped Parrots
Purple Swamphens
Pied Butcherbird
Willie Wagtail
And some of the birds on the Tuggerah Walk –
Top-Knot Pigeons
Red-browed Finch
Superb Fairy-wren
It had been a very good with a lot of birds observed.