Residents Helen and David Jobson enjoying the sunset from the Whitehead St Wetland, and their favourite birds, a pair of resident swans.
The Whitehead St wetland is critical to wildlife populations around Corowa, and six months after being razed to the ground by bushfire its natural regeneration is showing just how resilient nature can be.
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In early January this year, fire raged through the wetland, decimating vegetation, melting the boardwalk to the viewing hut, and turning the area into a charred, blackened mess.
The fire, which is suspected as not accidental by local authorities and still under investigation, took out the entire wetland area of approximately 10 to 12 hectares, threating homes and wildlife.
Rural Fire Service Federation Zone group captain Grayd’n Davis said the January fire was incredibly severe, fuelled by regrowth from the fire that razed the same area only two years before.
“With the hot weather and windy conditions of the summer it created a firestorm that was challenging to handle,” Captain Davis said.
“It was the most active and unpredictable fire, given the conditions, that I’ve seen in more than 30 years as a fire officer.
“We were patrolling the area, monitoring conditions and performing ignitions for weeks afterwards because it was so severe.”
People are well catered for in the Whitehead Street Wetlands with a bitumen track for riding and walking, undercover shelters with seating and picnic tables, and birdwatching huts, but the wetland is primarily a home for many species of wildlife, including the critically endangered Plains Wanderer and Sloane’s froglet.
Corowa Landcare coordinator Claire Birch at one of the organisations education sessions.
Local Landcare co-ordinator Claire Birch said the Whitehead St Wetland site was important because there were several ecosystems at work that catered for the local biodiversity.
“We’ve got the swampland and a range of borrow pits where soil has been excavated for other purposes,” Claire said.
“There’s an ephemeral swamp, which fills and dries naturally with rainfall, and a larger water body which has deeper water for fish and larger birds that need a landing zone, like pelicans and swans.
“There's a good range of native aquatic vegetation as well, so when you've got that mixture, it’s completing the food webs, and the vegetation around the perimeter of that area of wetland is integral for species like the Sloane's froglet.”
The miniscule Sloane’s froglet relies on the waterside vegetation of the wetlands for its survival.
Establishing the Whitehead St wetland
The wetland was established in the early 2000’s following the purchase of land by Corowa Shire Council for a new water treatment plant.
Planning was also in the works for construction of Federation Bridge at the northern end of town, which eventually opened in 2005, and clay was needed to raise the land profile for the approach (the Tim Fischer Bridge) to achieve the height needed to cross the Murray.
Bob Parr, Director of Planning for Corowa Shire at the time, said Council always had plans for a wetland once they took ownership of the land, and clay needed for construction of the bridge presented an opportunity to excavate and establish a successful wetland environment.
“We (Council) agreed they could take the clay free of charge because it was giving us a second crossing over the Murray,” Mr Parr said.
“As long as they excavated the soil in the particular shape and varying depths to achieve that wetland effect; they got the clay they needed, and we got the profile we wanted to start the wetland.
“Through grants we were able to put the right type of plants in, and we changed some of the drainage patterns in the town so when it rained the water entered and then spread through creating the wetland swamp area.”
A haven for local birdlife
The critically endangered plains wanderer is just one of many species of birds that rely on the Corowa wetland as an avian refuge.
Claire Birch said the Whitehead St site is one of the top sites for bird watching in Corowa, owing to its diversity of woodland and water birds.
Every year BirdLife Australia’s Aussie Bird Count catalogues birds around the country during a week-long counting frenzy.
Last year’s count in October catalogued a record breaking 5 million birds, with the Aussie magpie coming out on top as the most sighted bird around the country.
Around 64,000 birdwatchers took part in the count nationally, the 12th year running of what has arguably become Australia’s most popular citizen science event.
In Corowa, several bird enthusiasts who journal their sightings on a regular basis participated in the Birdlife count last year.
Self-confessed ‘bird nerd’ David Harrison participates in the count most years.
He said Birdlife Australia had been doing the counts for long enough and that they have a data set that’s now picking up change in birdlife habits.
“I'm a real geek; whenever I go somewhere for the weekend or the day, I write down birds I see in a little notepad,” David said.
“I've had a look at them over the years, and I can see the changes that develop.
“You can walk around the wetland in Corowa on any day and get 20 species of birds that are there all the time.
“The robins are magnificent at the moment, there have been brolgas in there, and there are lovely zebra finches; it’s a refuge for them.”
Bringing people and nature together
Not just a refuge for local wildlife, residents and tourists also take the time to enjoy the wetland ecosystem.
Corowa locals Helen and David Jobson are regular visitors, riding their bikes around the track for exercise and to keep watch over a pair of resident swans, dubbed ‘Mr and Mrs Swan’.
They ride in a bike group each Wednesday with eight to 12 riders around Corowa, and do a couple of laps around the wetland because it’s a favourite riding spot.
Helen said the wetland was a great place to bring their grandkids when they visited
“We’re down here a couple of times a week,” Helen said.
“We see a lot of people down here walking their dogs, and our grandkids come with us when they’re in town.
“It works for them because it’s safe, there’s no traffic.
“Before the fires there was growth everywhere, you couldn't see a lot of the areas because of everything that was there; then suddenly it just disappeared.
“All the burnt trees now have new growth, and there is ground cover coming back, which is good to see.”
The positive effect of a negative catastrophe
While fires destroyed much of the vegetation at the wetlands in January, there is already substantial regrowth as the area regenerates, and the wildlife is following.
David Harrison said despite the immediate negative impact of fires on an area, wildlife that is able to escape the blaze often returns once plant regrowth starts to take hold.
“There wasn't a lot of bird loss from the January fires,” David said.
“They were able to get away from it, but they come back.
“There are a lot of green shoots coming through now; it’s not there yet, but regeneration can be more prolific with bird life than mature vegetation.
“The insectivores and wetland waders will come back.”
Landcare’s Claire Birch said the regeneration at the wetland so far has been fantastic, and it would be great to get some replanting done to solidify that process, but there’s still a lot more to be done.
Anyone wishing to get involved with Landcare efforts at the Whitehead St wetland or other projects in the area can visit Corowa District Landcare, located at the Federation Council offices, or call 0417 858 533.
