Gum Swamp, Forbes; a favourite wetland

Isn't Gum Swamp a quintessentially Australian name? I'm sure the fact that it already exists is the only reason I haven't come across it in the 'outback noir' genre of Australian crime novels that are currently so popular here, and which I read enthusiastically. It's the name of one of my favourite wetlands, and the one (outside of Canberra) which I've visited most often over the years. It sits just outside the very agreeable mid-sized town of Forbes (mid-sized by Australian standards anyway, home to some 8000 people), nearly 300km north-north-west of Canberra on the banks of the Lachlan River. It is in the Central West Region of NSW, close to the edge of the great western plains. Flooding is a surprisingly regular fact of life in Forbes - it has officially had a flood every seven years since 1887, though not since 1952 had it suffered from one as severe as that just last year, in November 2022. 

A portion of Gum Swamp as it looked earlier this month.

Gum Swamp is just outside the town limits to the south-west on the Newell Highway, and the turnoff along Warrull Road on the right is well-marked on the highway. (You can also access it from Greens Road, a few hundred metres further along the highway.) It is not a declared nature reserve but is managed, as far as I can tell, by the local council.

The approximate position of Forbes is marked by the end of the red arrow.

It was originally an ephemeral wetland, flooding when the Lachlan was high, drying out at other times. From the 1920s however it became permanent, with treated water from the adjacent sewage treatment plant flowing into it. In 2005 the plant was upgraded so that all outflow from it is now to 'sensitive waters standard'. 2.8 megalitres a day of this water now flows through the swamp daily, keeping it clean and full in all seasons and conditions. This means of course that it is now longer a 'real' south-east Australian wetland, which is ephemeral by definition, but it makes it a valuable drought refuge.

I've been going there for at least 30 years now, though until very recently the access was limited to a stretch of woodland and shoreline to the west and north of the Newell Highway, accessed by a dry-weather-only track and serviced only by an old concrete block bird hide. If that sounds disparaging, it isn't meant to - and I kept going back for (nearly) all those years!

The hide (and a birding group eschewing it!) in 2005. It was built in 1992 with
the support of the local National Parks Association, Shire Council and
National Geographic, among others. It doesn't seem very different now,
other than being painted grey.

However in the last decade or so I found myself visiting less frequently. The hide was becoming less salubrious (I don't demand much from a bird hide, but it was seemingly used for other pursuits as well) and there seemed to be fewer birds than in the past. The latter was probably due to the intense Millennial Drought, then the recent La Niña wet years when water across the landscape scattered the waterbirds. In May of last year (2022) we popped in on our way north to the Warrumbungles - and everything had miraculously changed! There was a totally new access which meant not having to dodge the speeding highway traffic, including semi-trailers, and good off-road all-weather parking. More importantly there were three splendid new two-storey hides and an excellent hard track system joining them. And there was some very impressive sculpture to complement it all. We were delighted, despite the cold rainy day. 

Here's the setup.

You might have to click on this map to enlarge it to see it properly. The old hide is
now called Sea Eagle, and the access was the track that leads to it from the highway.
The other three hides are new. Forbes is just off the map to the north-east.
Map courtesy Mapcarta.

The information signage is informative and attractive.

You might have to go there to read this one though!

The new hides were built in 2021 by a coalition of government, community and business groups.

Avocet and Stilt Hide (the others are of the same design). Its back is to the main swamp
(to the right of the photo) and it is facing a large shallow and presumably ephemeral wetland.

 

The view from upstairs in the Avocet and Stilt Hide on a very grey morning.

The view from Wood Duck Hide's upper level on a much nicer day.

Each hide is accompanied by an appropriate and delightful sculpture. That for Avocet and Stilt hide follows, then the others which I'll leave you to match to the hide names on the map above...

The artist is Brett 'Mon' Garling, who lives in the village of Mongarbon,
east of Dubbo. He has outdoor sculptures scattered across NSW, including the
Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney. You can see more of his work here.

However - and I am getting to the birds! - there is other art here as well. One is this impressive bird of prey, entitled The Hunter by Melbourne artist Damian Vick.

Made of steel with a 'rust and oil' finish, this powerful piece previously
stood in Forbes for a while. (Sorry about the rain drops on the lens,
which I'm sure you've noticed on previous pics too!)

But the dominating piece here is an extraordinary huge goanna called Varanus (which is the goanna genus name), 20 metres long and complete with hanging forked tongue.

The magnificent steel creation is the work of sculptor Glen Star.

However, appropriate as this artwork is in the setting (and I don't necessary think that a nature reserve for instance is the right place), ultimately Gum Swamp is about the real wildlife, notably of course the birds. And here I must confess to a certain frustration as to a relatively limited selection of photos to offer you. Partly this is because some of the more interesting things I've seen there were before I had a digital camera (slides of a male Musk Duck hunting Grey Teal chicks, and a female Musk Duck carrying her babies on her back, did not scan acceptably).  I've also mentioned the relative paucity of birds over the past decade or so. On our previous visit in 2022 there was a good number of birds present but we were on our way to somewhere else and the weather was truly vile (I've alluded to the rain on the lens but you can't see the vicious wind which accompanied it). To make up for that I very recently spent three nights in Forbes with a major aim of correcting this photo shortage for a blog post, but was unsuccessful; there were quite a few species present, but most were very distant near the far shore. I think I can explain this with the following photo from April 2023.

The stalks protruding from the water are of cumbungi, or bulrushes, Typha species.
There were no live cumbungi plants to be seen across the swamp, which previously
had supported good stands of this important habitat plant.

Compare that with this photo from last year, taken from Wood Duck hide. Compare too this photo with the view above from the same hide taken this year.

Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata and Grey Teal Anas gracilis in a sheltered
clearing in the cumbungi where they were protected from the unpleasant wind
whipping across the swamp. Dense stands of the cumbungi were present across the
swamp and were providing important shelter and habitat.
(More on the Magpie Geese later in this post.)

When Forbes (and many other places in the west of NSW and elsewhere) flooded in late 2022 I imagine that Gum Swamp was inundated at some depth for quite some time, apparently enough to kill, at least temporarily, the cumbungi. I am of course speculating and if you have other information I'd be glad if you could let me know, either via a message below or my email, also at the end of the post. Whatever the cause I'm assuming it will grow back eventually and I look forward to that. Now it's time finally for some birds without too many more words from me!

Hardheads Aythya australis. (This is an old shooters' name and hardly seems useful or appropriate now.
I think the alternative name of White-eyed Duck is more helpful, though admittedly it only applies
to the male.) It is the only Australian representative of a nearly world-wide group of diving ducks.

Little Pied Cormorant Microcarbo melanoleucos and Pink-eared Ducks Malacorhynchus membranaceus.
These first four photos show the importance of the fallen red gum logs as habitat.
This timber is essentially waterproof and doesn't rot.

Pink-eared Ducks and Grey Teal. The very attractive and distinctive Pink-ears comprise a
single-species genus which evolved on the inland waterways as the continent dried out.

Australian Shovellers Spatula rhynchotis. Like the Pink-ears they have unusually large
bills for filtering small animals and vegetation from water and mud.

Great Egret Ardea alba; a familiar species across much of the world, but always
a strikingly beautiful bird. This one is showcasing the very cricked neck, courtesy of an
elongated sixth vertebra, which enables it to hurl its bill forward like a harpoon.

Black-fronted Dotterel Elseyornis melanops, a common member of an essentially coastal
family, which adapted to the inland waters of a drying Australia and evolved there into a
distinctive single-species genus. This one's shoulder patch seems especially richly rufous.

The woodlands support a good number of species too, depending on the season and the flowering. Here are a couple of pretty ordinary photos.

Rufous Songlark Cincloramphus mathewsi, a woodland migrant which breeds in the south.

White-winged Choughs Corcorax melanorhamphos attending to chicks in the big
mud nest which the group has built cooperatively, which defines just about all other
aspects of their lives.

Last, and probably least in terms of interest, but not in numbers, is the huge population of Feral Pigeons (or Rock Doves if you prefer, though I think this is best saved for their wild ancestors) which inhabit the swamp, roosting on the numerous drowned River Red Gum skeletons, and breeding in the hollows.

At least they attract, and help support, predators such as the Peregrine
and Black Falcons which drop in from time to time.

Before I end this too-brief an introduction to Gum Swamp, I must mention what I am sure is, in practice, for many of the waterbirds an extension of the swamp, the tranquil Lake Forbes which is central to Forbes and is just 3km from the swamp. Originally a billabong (or anabranch) of the Lachlan, it is now managed to provide a permanent lake. 

 

Which brings us back to the Magpie Geese, and time for a bit of background. The Magpie Goose is the only member of an ancient family of waterbirds - not true geese at all - which are common in the Australian tropics and adjacent New Guinea, but until recently extremely scarce in the south. In the nineteenth century they were common in the Lachlan catchment area but by the mid-20th century they were very rare indeed in NSW, due to heavy hunting and draining of wetlands. But by the end of that century they were starting to make a comeback. I almost doubted my eyes when, in 1996, a small flock flew over Gum Swamp while I was there; they were the first I'd ever seen in NSW. Over the next couple of decades I saw a few more in scattered places including Kyogle, Narrabri and Narranderra and it felt as though they were making a slow return.

Then, in the last five months I've seen them, including some large flocks, in Leeton, Lake Cargelligo and Gum Swamp - and Forbes. To me this is good news indeed.

Part of a flock of at least 35 Magpie Geese at the north end of Lake Forbes in April 2023, in the
middle of town. I'm sure that it's no coincidence that these were sheltering in and by reedbeds
(not cumbungi this time but a grass, Common Reed Phragmites australis, which provides the
same sort of habitat as the cumbungi). I'd be very surprised if these weren't the birds I'd seen
last year at Gum Swamp, displaced by the loss of the cumbungi there.

While we're on Lake Forbes, at this same north end along a walking track is some excellent information, presented with and by the local Wiradjuri community, about pre-European cultural life. It also involves some more lovely sculptures, such as these.

Goanna.

Playtpuses (it was getting late on an overcast day by now).
And my apologies for not recording the name of the artist - mea culpa!

And to end this post here's another water animal which is certainly present in Gum Swamp, where I've seen it but not photographed it. This one swam up to us as we stood on a little bridge over Lake Forbes, and beneath us.

Australian Water Rat Hydromys chrysogaster, or Rakali as it's becoming increasingly known.
This is an Indigenous name, though not one from around here.

If you love pottering around wetlands as much as I do, you must make your way out to Gum Swamp some time, and take in some of Forbes, especially Lake Forbes, while you're about it. You may well find that it's a place you'll feel you need to come back to. I do.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 8 JUNE

 

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