Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra

Purple Swamphen

2007 Australian Capital Territory trip report #1

One of the places I wanted to visiting to go birding while in Canberra was the Jerrabomberra Wetlands near the centre of Canberra and adjacent to Lake Burley Griffin. I’d heard quite a bit about these wetlands from the internet chat group Canberra Birds.

We were able to spend about two hours at these wetlands and although the birding was quiet and a little slow, I was able to make a pleasing list of species. An Australian Magpie was feeding two young in a nest in the car-park and this was a good start to the morning. I grabbed a cuppa and headed off to the first bird hide. There are a number of good hides scattered around the ponds.

One of the first sightings was a Black Swan with two cygnets. Later I saw a Pacific Black Duck with about half a dozen ducklings in tow. I also saw plenty of Eurasian Coots, Purple Swamphens, Dusky Moorhens, and Grey Teal. A single pair of Chestnut Teal was also present. Incredibly, I saw my first White-faced Heron for the trip, although we think we’d seen one earlier in the trip, but I hadn’t recorded it.

I heard both a Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo and a Laughing Kookaburra but failed to see either of them. Welcome Swallows swooped low over the water and a Clamorous Reedwarbler sang off and on from the reeds in the middle of the wetlands. As we left I stopped briefly at the Sewage Works on the opposite side of the road. Here I was able to add Australasian Grebe which looked as if it was in breeding plumage. I also added Blue-billed Duck on a tip-off from a local birder I met earlier at the wetlands. This latter is always a good species to add to a list, and it’s a lovely species to see anyway.

Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra