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Birds and Words
Where Waters Meet: Nyleta Wetlands, Hasties Swamp National Park, Far North Queensland
Water, woodlands and bird watching in comfort
What a difference a week makes. At the close of 2020, Hasties Swamp was more edge than lake, with glossy ibis and pied stilt trudging through the mud and grey teal paddling in what puddles they could find. But seven days later, after more than 200 mm (8 inches) of rain, the swamp is brimming. Coots, hardheads and wandering whistling-ducks have replaced the waders, and a pair of cotton pygmy-geese has moved into the reed bed at the northern end of the park. Melicope trees are in blossom and honeyeaters are busy around the clusters of pink flowers. The park is a glorious place to spend an hour or two.
The wetlands lie a short distance south of Atherton in a dip where a young lava flow meets the foot of the much older Great Dividing Range. Nyleta, the Yidinji word for this rich and peaceful place, means ‘meeting of the waters’. Only in the most exceptional years does the swamp dry out completely.
Gum trees overhang the unsealed road that runs between wetland and farmland. Behind them, a palisade of tall grass provides cover for buff-breasted rails, and seeds for flocks of chestnut-breasted mannikins. Red-backed fairywrens are common. In the breeding season, the black and scarlet males are like glowing embers among the leaves.
The tropical scrub around the bird hide attracts forest birds, including brown gerygones, large-billed scrubwrens and rufous shrikethrushes. Victoria’s riflebirds drop in from time to time. On a good day, you might add crested shriketits and grey whistlers or a little kingfisher to the list. Over 270 species of birds have been recorded in the national park. You never know what you might see.
Following the rain, this week’s stars are wandering whistling-ducks and cotton pygmy-geese. Wandering whistling-ducks have taken over the southern end of the swamp. You might only see them in twos or threes, but dozens hide among the vegetation. And despite the combination of pure white and iridescent green…
