Walka Reserve

The historic Waterworks, just outside Maitland, features a beautiful old pumphouse with highly decorative brickwork, and a lake with extensive walking tracks through the surrounding bush.

I met up with Maureen and we started off along the miniature railway track alongside the lake, hiding in the shrubbery from time to time to coax the ducks, swans and grebes into coming back closer to shore. The grevilleas were in full flower and little birds chased insects amongst the blossoms. There were few honeyeaters though. We did the whole circuit focusing our lenses alternately on the lake and the bush.

White-winged Choughs are a favourite of mine. When I lived in one of the new southern suburbs of Canberra a group would come by regularly and take food from my hand. They are highly social birds, living in family groups of up to twenty birds. Nesting and breeding is communal, with all birds helping to raise the young. Choughs spend most of their time on the ground, foraging for worms, insects, grain, and snails in a loose group. They walk with a distinctive swagger, and call softly to one another every few seconds. When one bird finds something special they all come running to share it.

Bird list:

White winged Chough (pictured above)

Blue billed Duck

Musk Duck

Black Swan

Australian Shelduck

Australian Wood Duck

Pacific Black Duck

Australasian Shoveller

Grey Teal

Chestnut Teal

Hardhead

Australasian Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

Darter

Little Pied Cormorant

Little Black Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Australian Pelican

White faced Heron

Great Egret

Cattle Egret

Australian White Ibis

Royal Spoonbill

Purple Swamphen

Dusky Moorhen

Eurasian Coot

Spur-winged Plover

Crested Pigeon

Eastern Rosella

Superb Fairywren

White-browed Scrubwren

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Red Wattlebird

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Golden Whistler

Magpie-lark

Grey Fantail

Willie Wagtail

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

Red-browed Finch

Australian Magpie

Australian Raven

Welcome Swallow

Silvereye

Common Myna