Hi Bruce,
The "wetland" is about 50m x 100m in the paddock on my place
over Mulgoa road from "Notre Dame"s entrance, the Curlew Sandpiper must have
been desperate to land there. I recently made a short causeway across a
wetpatch hoping to attract Crakes and the like. The Curlew Sandpiper is the
first really interesting bird seen, on the narrow strip of mud next to the
water, not visible from the road. Herons, Egrets, both Spoonbills, various
ducks, an occassional Black-fronted Dotterel feed or loaf there when there
is water. The season and destocking have allowed rushes and tallish grass to
grow, hopefully will eventually entice even Bitterns!
Fertiliser and lime were added to encourage snails, worms,
frogs and other wetbird feed, but the wetness is ephemeral, so it may not
come up to the highest of expectations, time will tell.
As Mayfair Rd is our birding "patch", we know it well, but
haven't been up much of late being otherwise occupied. From the dams on the
corner up to the top of the hill we usually see about fifty species, and
occassionally good stuff, Gang-gangs with the male clowning upside down were
up there a couple of weeks ago, a White phase Grey Goshawk lives around
somewhere and appears intermittently, if the birding is quiet it's usually
around . Sunny days are best.Our ocall list over twenty years Is about 120,
the Curlew Sand a local first.
The areas north of Mayfair Rd between the Valley floor and Blue
Mountans NP are privately owned, but the NP is accessible on footb from
Fairlight Rd which runs up from Mulgoa Village.
Cheers
Michael
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