Churchill Island - Fishers Wetland
Tucked away on the left side of the road to Churchill Island, Fisher's is an expansive wetland and captivating landscape attracting various water-dwelling bird species. A number of walking tracks, boardwalks, bird hides and elevated platforms make it easy to enjoy the varied scenery and spot the birdlife, which includes geese, black swans, pelicans and purple hens.
This area was drained for farming in the early part of last century. In the late 1990's a section of the farm was reclaimed and returned to its wetland state.
Fishers Wetland Map
Access for Dogs:
Dogs are not permitted.
Review:
This is a lovely walk which skirts a large lake with lots of water birds on the lake and wandering around the grassy fringes.
There's a small car parking area outside the main gate just off Phillip Island Road which is handy if you arrive before 10am when the gate opens. At this entrance is a plaque which commemorates the planting of koala and wildlife habitat on this site by the children of Phillip Island in 1988.
There is also a main carpark for the wetland off Samuel Amess Drive. There is a sign pointing to the carpark beside the road.
Initially there is a gravel track though some bushland, where we saw some swamp wallabies, which changes to a boardwalk close to the wetlands lake. Unfortunately there's a lot of trees growing beside the boardwalk and so it's difficult to see the birds on the lake from the boardwalk. Near the carpark there is a more open view of the lake and a bird hide overlooking the water.
There are plenty of birds, wandering about or swimming in that water, including interesting looking Cape Barren geese, pelicans, black swans, and purple swamphens. Other birds you might see include Royal Spoonbills, Ibis and a variety of ducks. Unfortunately the pelicans stayed a long way away and binoculars would be very handy. We visited at the end of June.
You can continue to follow a track around the side of the lake, but the views are very obstructed by trees and bushes or you can continue on the track to the west to a mangrove area.
There is also another wetlands area beside Samuel Amess Drive (just before the bridge) which is just north of the Fisher wetlands car park where we saw lots of pelicans and Cape Barren geese.
Photos:
Location
246 Samuel Amess Drive, Churchill Island 3925 Map
