What has happened to Winter

4. LIFE IN THE WETLANDS

INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENT

Over many centuries wetlands have been a source of food for the indigenous people of the time. Numerous shell middens along with stone artefacts can be seen in the undisturbed land fringing the southern boundaries.

ANIMALS THAT HABITAT THIS AREA

Birds

Frogs

Wallabies

Snakes

Rabbits

Fox

Fish

Insects & Microfauna – an important part of maintaining the life cycle.

BIRDS

The list below has been compiled over many years some with accompanied photos. Many birds are seasonal and numbers vary depending on the time of year, and conditions inland.

(Dragon fly)	Photo in report
(Eagle nest)	Photo in report
Arctic Tern	Sterna paradisea
Australasian Bittern	Botaurus poiciloptilus
Australasian Shoveler	Anas rhynchotis
Australian Hobby	Falco longipennis
Australian Magpie	Gymnorhina tibicen
Australian Pelican	Pelecanus conspicillatus
Australian Shelduck	Tadorna tadornoides
Australian White Ibis	Threskiornis molucca
Australian Wood Duck	Chenonetta jubata
Azure Kingfisher	Alcedo azurea
Black Swan	Cygnus atratus
Black-Shouldered Kite	Elanus axillaris
Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus
Blue-billed Duck	Oxyura australis
Brown Songlark	Accipiter fasciatus
Brush Bronzewing	Phaps elegans
Cattle Egret	Ardea ibis
Chestnut Teal	Anas castanea
Clamorous Reed-Warbler	Acrocephalus stentoreus
Common Blackbird	Turdus merula
Common Skylark or Pipit	Alauda arvensis
Common Starling	Sturnus vulgaris
Crimson Rosella	Platycerus caledonicus
Darter	Anhinga melanogaster
Eurasian Coot	Fulica atra
European Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
European Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris
Galah	Cacatua roseicapilla
Golden-headed Citicola	Cisticola exilis
Great Cormorant	Phalacrocoarax carbo
Great Egret	Ardea alba
Grey Fantail	Rhipidura fuliginosa
Grey Teal	Anas gracilis
Hoary-Headed Grebe	Poliocephalus poliocephalus
House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
Intermediate Egret	Ardea intermedia
Little Bittern ?	Ixobrychus minutus
Little Black Cormorant	Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Little Eagle/Pale morph	Hieraaetus morphnoides
Little Pied Cormorant	Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
Little Raven	Corvus mellori
Magpie Goose	Anseranas semipalamata
Magpie-Lark	Grallina cyanoleuca
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
Masked Lapwing	Vanellus miles
New Holland Honeyeater	Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Pacific Black Duck	Anas superciliosa
Pied Oyster Catcher	Haematopus longirostris
Purple Swamphen	Porphyrio porphyrio
Red Wattlebird	Anthochaera carunculata
Royal Spoonbill	Platalea regia
Scarlet Robin	Petroica multicolor
Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper	Calidris acuminata
Silver Gull	Larus novaehollandiae
Silvereye	Zosterops lateralis
Singing Honeyeater	Lichenostomus virescens
Spotted Turtle-Dove	Sterptopelia chinensis
Straw-necked Ibis	Threskiornis spinicollis
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo	Cacatua galerita
Swamp Harrier Male	Circus approximans
Wedge-Tailed Eagle	Aquila audax
Welcome Swallow	Hirundo neoxena
White -Faced Heron	Egretta novaehollandiae
White-Bellied Sea-Eagle imm	Haliaeetus leucogaster
White-Fronted Chat	Epthianura albifrons
Yellow-Billed Spoonbill	Platalea flavipes
Yellow-Faced Honeyeater	Lichenostomus chrysops
Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoo	Calyptorhynchus funereus

Brown Thornbill Acanthiza pusilla

Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans

Grey Shrike-Thrush Calluricincla harmonica

Snakes

There are a large number of Brown and Tiger snakes living this area to the extent that it is dangerous to walk through this area in summer months. Our neighbours moved out in their first year because of the number of snakes that inhabited their house area and bought a terrier dog.

Frogs

I have not studied these in detail but we find two species of frogs around our house and you can hear at least three different calls at night. There are a large number, given the sound they make.

Fish

I have seen Brown Trout, yellow-eye mullet and/or sea mullet, and short-finned eel in the river along with other smaller fish, we choose not to catch them but the area is known for it’s trout and eel fishing

Flora

There are some delicate native grasses surviving in the area especially where land has been fenced to keep the cattle out, there are tussock grasses and a lot of reeds and other grasses along the river and around the wetland ponds areas. There is cooch grass which is largely kept under control by the cattle currently grazing the block.

Orange Bellied Parrot (OBP) – there is a grass that I believe could be a species that the OBP feed on – I believe I saw an OBP in the dunes, but not well enough to report.