of NSW – Lower Hunter 5 RAY LAWLER PARK, MORPETH 7 EARTHCARE PARK, This picturesque park is located off Edward Street Morpeth. TENAMBIT Its manicured lawns and small ponds This council-owned reserve are home to a surprising number of is located off Metford Road, species and over the years 115 Tenambit. A former grazing species have been recorded. property, Earthcare Park is Common species include Figbird, being restored by local Maitland Olive-backed Oriole, Blue-faced and groups and now attracts Striped Honeyeater, parrots, Yellow- many species of such rumped Thornbill and Nankeen Night-Heron. as parrots, honeyeaters, Eastern Koel, White-winged Triller, Leaden thornbills, and Area Birding Flycatcher and Rainbow Bee-eater are regular fairy-wrens. Below the Summer visitors, whilst White-naped vegetated hill lies a Honeyeater, Rose Robin and freshwater wetland system are present during the colder months. and extensive reed beds Route Rarities include Black Falcon, White- which are home to a wide headed and Topknot Pigeon, Baillon’s Nankeen range of waterbirds. Purple Night Heron Crake, Buff-banded Rail, Flame Robin, Swamphen and other HUNTER REGION Regent Bowerbird and Plumed Whistling-Duck. waterfowl, grassbirds and Fuscous Honeyeater There are picnic facilities, toilets and a play ground. Golden-headed Cisticola Lower Hunter are common while Australasian Bittern, crakes, Chestnut- 6 GOSFORTH breasted Mannikin and Black-necked Stork turn up from The locality of Gosforth is found at the end of Anambah time to time. A wide range of of prey also inhabit Road which meets the just west of the area. There are no facilities. Rutherford. The area is mostly private property but road-side birding is possible along Anambah Road and 8 HANDS LAGOON Valley Street, Gosforth. Yellow-billed Spoonbill, White- This wetland is situated on the western side of Paterson necked Heron, Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterel, Road, shortly before the junction with Flat Road. There Latham’s Snipe and Black-necked Stork are sometimes is a small pull-in bay adjacent to some water supply seen on the wetlands and small dams in the area. The infrastructure. This spot offers good views of most of the vegetation in the area is drier than that found to the east so Lagoon; it is also possible to walk partway around it. holds a few more western species like Weebill, Speckled Eurasian Coot, Black Swan and a variety of other Warbler, Jacky Winter and Double-barred Finch. waterfowl can usually be found there. Large flocks There are no facilities. of Long-billed Corella sometimes are present nearby. Australasian Bittern and Spotted Harrier have been recorded there, while a solitary Cotton Pygmy- Factfile Weebill (Smicrornis brevirostris) goose put in a rare appearance in 2002.

Prepared (Nov 2013) by Grant Brosie and Alan Stuart for: Hunter Bird Observers Club Inc. PO Box 24 New Lambton NSW 2305 www.hboc.org.au

HBOC meets at 7:00pm on the second Wednesday

of each month (except January) at the Hunter Michael Morecombe Field Guide to Australian Wetlands Centre, off the roundabout at Sandgate Rd, Birds, digital version by mydigitalearth.com ’s smallest bird at 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) long. It is an olive-yellow Shortland. Also, monthly outings on songbird with a grey bill, brown wings, pale yellow eyes and grey feet. Its tail first Tuesday and third Sunday of each feathers are brown with a black bar and white spot on the tip of all inner month – check our website for details. webs but the central pairs. The sexes are similar. Design & artwork by [email protected] 0420 821 460 This map is not to scale Maitland Area Birding Route and is for illustrative purposes only 3 MAITLAND FLOODPLAIN HUNTER RIVER This extensive area of low-lying 6 agricultural land is located north of the Hunter River between Lorn in the west and the

Anambah Rd to the east. The area is largely privately owned but some good road side birding can be had along

Tocal Rd Clarencetown Rd Glenarvon Road, Phoenix Park Road and Unicomb Road. Spring and summer are best as species like Banded Lapwing, Horsfield’s Bushlark, Rufous and Brown Songlark, White-winged A43 New England Highway Triller and Stubble Quail 4 are present and vocal. Paterson Rd Zebra Finch, European 1 Goldfinch and 8 3 Australian Pipit are HUNTER RIVER year round residents. MORPETH 5 Keep an eye open for Black, Brown and Peregrine Falcon, MAITLAND Spotted and Swamp 7 Harrier, Little Eagle, Maitland Rd Black-shouldered,

A43 Whistling and Black Kite. A night time drive can 2 produce Barn Owl, Southern Whistling Kite Boobook and Tawny Frogmouth. 4 BOLWARRA WETLANDS

Cessnock Rd This former sewage treatment works 1 WALKA WATER WORKS Eastern Yellow Robin, Rose Robin (winter), Bar-shouldered has been converted into an attractive Horsfield’s wetlands with a small area of adjacent Walka Water Works once supplied Maitland’s water Dove and Mistletoebird. Walka Water Works has excellent Bushlark picnic facilities and toilets. Opening hours are 7am – dusk. bushland and walking track. Access is from needs but is now only used for recreational activities. the Bolwarra Sporting Complex on Victoria Road (which The reserve is relatively small and contains a wide range of 2 WOODLANDS ESTATE, THORNTON runs off Paterson Road) - habitats including open water, reed beds, open grassy One of the last remaining accessible patches of eucalypt park your vehicle at the areas, eucalypt woodland, lantana scrub, floodplains and woodland in the Maitland LGA. Woodlands Estate is located Sporting Complex and agricultural land. This range of habitats supports a large off Woodlands Drive, Thornton (access via Whiteley Avenue, it is a short walk variety of birds and a trip list of 40-80 species is always Metford). Park your vehicle where Four Mile Creek crosses downhill to the possible. The entrance is at the end of Scobies Lane, the road; there are tracks heading north and south from this Wetlands. Latham’s Oakhampton. Water birds can be sporadic depending on point. The southern track follows the creek and eventually Snipe are often present surrounding water levels. In drought years as many as 9 enters ironbark woodland. The northern track also follows the in Summer. A variety of species of water fowl and 3 species of grebe can be seen creek but enters denser habitats. White-throated Treecreeper, waterfowl can usually be on the lake, including Freckled, Blue-billed, Musk and Eastern Yellow Robin, Eastern Whipbird, Varied Sittella, found there, sometimes in Pink-eared Ducks. Great Crested Grebe are common and White-cheeked Honeyeater, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike large numbers. Black-tailed regularly breed in the reed beds. Spotless, Spotted and and Crested Shrike-tit are resident while in Summer Black- Native-hen occasionally are Baillon’s Crake, Buff-banded and Lewin’s Rail, Latham’s faced Monarch, Rufous Fantail, present, while Zebra Finch Snipe, Black-fronted Dotterel and Little Bittern Leaden Flycatcher, Rainbow Bee-eater have been recorded in the can sometimes be seen on the lake’s edge. The and White-throated are bush alongside the wetlands. surrounding bush contains Scarlet Honeyeater, regular. There are no facilities. There are no facilities. Brown-headed Honeyeater, Variegated Fairy-wren, Dollarbird (summer), Rainbow Bee-eater Zebra Finch