Friday, February 15, 2013

Greenfields Wetlands

After struggling to find detailed information on these wetlands, I've taken a bit of time to explore them a little so that I could share some information about them. Thanks is owed to Tony for his original information which enabled me to find the northern Magazine rd site in the first place.

Greenfields Wetlands are a series of man-made wetlands which were created in three stages in 1990, 1993 and 1995 and consist of three main sites (two of which I've visited recently).

The Watershed site: Google map with marker 
-Accessible directly from Salisbury Highway in both directions, the entrance and parking area is as for the Watershed Cafe.
-To the extent of my knowledge, the Watershed trails are accessible only during opening hours of the Watershed Cafe from which a key must be obtained for the gate. Although this information is second-hand to me from some time ago, I will update this blog when I find out.

Magazine road South: Google map with marker 
-Not accessible from Salisbury Highway, the turnoff for these wetlands is off of Cormack road. The wetland entrance is at the end of Magazine rd where there is an open gate in the fence.
-The walking trails consist of one main trail which forks at the pumping station (or at the grey fenced in box, whatever it may be).
-The fork to the right crosses Salisbury highway (though I've never taken it that far) and joins the northern section of Barker Inlet Wetlands. See here: Barker Inlet Wetlands brochure (While connected to Barker Inlet Wetlands, Magazine road South is still known as part of Greenfields, at the very least for the purpose of eremaea listing, as I checked with them regarding this issue as I wasn't 100% sure)
-The fork to the left can cross the wetland on a rocky divide, this may be seasonally underwater and may restrict access to the further reaches of the wetland at some times of the year.


Mud map with parking area (P) and walking trails (green and yellow)

-I'm unsure as to how much further the green trail continues as when I visited I didn't take it all the way, parts of the track further up seemed quite overgrown, but it may have just been overdue for a tidy-up.
-Views to the water at this site can be somewhat obstructed at times, but there are also plenty of easy viewing points.





Magazine road North: Google map with marker 
-Accessible directly from Salisbury highway in both directions (at the blue marker on the map), this wetland is visible directly from the road. The parking area and walking trail is located two hundred meters or so up the road (from the blue marker) on the right hand side next to a gate for the salt works.
-This location has a bird hide along the main path (keep to the left/straight), the sun sets behind it so the best time to visit the hide is from the afternoon onward. Views to the water are largely unobstructed on both of the trails.
-This area of wetlands is fantastic for waders and other water birds due to the varying depths and sizes of ponds, and the expanse of mud flats that gradually become exposed over summer.

Mud map of parking area (P), bird hide (H) and walking trails (green and yellow) at Magazine road North

-I'm unsure as to how far the walking trail extends beyond the hide as I have not yet continued past the hide.
-Looking out from the northeast corner of the yellow trail is an expanse of samphire flats, and is the best area to look for White-fronted Chats.



I hope this has been even the tiniest bit helpful to anybody who wants to visit these locations. I felt it was important to share as there have been many occasions when I've been seeking Information on birding sites and it isn't accessible, easy to find, or even written about at all! So if this helps even just one person, I will be happy.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks heaps for this valuable information. I went to Magazine Creek Wetlands, Gillman few times and was searching for information on Greenfields Wetlands too :)

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    1. Not a problem at all, I'm glad it was of use to someone :) Magazine Creek is the one I know as Whicker Road wetlands? I may have to add that location to this blog or an additional post.

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  2. I tried visiting this today with mixed results. I was with my wife and our son who is two years old. This limited what we could do as we took a stroller.

    The Watershed Site was the last place we visited and was accessible. We walked from the Cafe to the corner of Port Wakefield Road and Salisbury Highway. There was an undercover eating area (a bit dirty) and a few good viewing points. We didn't explore further as we got a puncture and the little guy was getting tired. It appears that there are more tracks to the North that we didn't explore.

    We didn't try Magazine Road South. However we did try to access that area from Salisbury Highway. We parked on the Northern side near the yellow annotations on your map. There was a big information board that was clearly outdated. It mentioned the Multi-Function Police development, a term I hadn't heard in a long time. We were met with locked gates on the Northern side of Salisbury Highway which blocked our access to the trails and the bird hides. We found a path that took us to a culvert under Salisbury Highway to the Southern Side. This took us right up to near the yellow path on your map. Once again we found a locked gate. It looked like it hadn't been opened for a long time. :-(

    After walking back to the car we drove up further and tried Magazine Road North. Only my wife got out of the car here, but it wasn't promising.

    Thanks for the information you provided. It's unfortunate that the areas are being locked off.

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  3. Hi Bec,
    hope you didn't find any animals / wild animals in the greenfields wetlands.
    I wish to know as am soon moving to a house in mawson lakes that is close to the wetlands.
    Appreciate if you reply early .

    Cheers

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  4. Just to let you know that the trails at the Watershed do not have to be accessed via the cafe. They are accessible separately. However, they are not really suitable for wheelchairs as designated by the Salisbury Council as they are just gravel covered and too hard to traverse by wheelchairs.

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