How many times have you passed Goulburn Wetlands without stopping to take a closer look?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Well you can have to chance to do just that thanks to a group of experts who will be present at an open day, held on Wednesday, February 2 for World Wetlands Day.
Organised by Friends and Residents of Goulburn Swamplands Landcare (FROGS) and Goulburn Field Naturalists Society, visitors will be treated to guided walks looking at birds, plants and the history of the wetlands.
FROGS volunteer and 2022 Goulburn Mulwaree Citizen of the Year Heather West said the wetlands had come a long way over the past 10 years after being created on an old brickwork site.
"People are really noticing the wetlands now," she told the Post.
"We've only been going 10 years but the height of the trees has really taken off in the last two or three years. We've put the trees back the way it would have been before settlers arrived 200 years ago and cut them down.
"The ponds of course have a clay bottom and so it naturally floods and holds the water. There are people who know more about the plants and wildlife and the Australian Plant Society will have local members there on Wednesday.
"They do a great job propagating all the plants we put in. All the vegetation on the site has been propagated from local seeds."
One of the guides who will be present on Wednesday is Goulburn Field Naturalists Society member and bird watching enthusiast Frank Antram.
He explained the importance of wetlands all over the world and why they need to be protected.
"There are major wetlands all over the world that are very important both for biological diversity but also processing storm water and flood water, they absorb the water, " he said.
"Some of them have usage for things like growing rice so it's a pretty important habitat. Too often wetlands have been drained so that people can build over them."
One of the challenges facing the wetlands has been the wet summer and whilst the vegetation has stood up, debris from storms as well as silt from a nearby subdivision has proved challenging.
But as Heather explained, nature has a way of being resilient.
"We've had about three floods through but everything we've planted has been put in knowing it will flood as it's a natural floodplain for the Mulwaree River," she detailed.
"Everything that's planted can take that inundation we just have to get all the debris off the bottom branches of the trees.
"Wetlands naturally filter but we weren't anticipating we would get all the silt of a heavily cleared area so it's silted up the ponds which affects the wetlands short term. But nature has a way of compensating.
"There were some grebes (birds) that had a nest on the site of the ponds that started floating in the flood water but the parents were still sitting on the eggs.
"We though the flooding would cause them to abandon it but we saw two little babies swimming around!"
Bird walks are at 8:30 and 10:30 and history/plant walks at 09:30 and 11:30. Please register your interest in attending to frogslandcare@gmail.com
If you can't make it on Wednesday please send an email to the above address and FROGS will plan a weekend open day if there is sufficient interest.
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a daily email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.
