Get Twitching Upper Hunter!

HAVE you seen a Regent Honeyeater?

There are only an estimated 400 of these feathered friends left and some are flitting around woodland areas in the Upper Hunter.

Hunter Local Land Services (HLLS) have partnered with the national government’s Landcare program and launched “Bringing Back the Regent Honeyeater” and want to work with landholders in the Merriwa Plateau area to rejuvenate native woodlands, explained Carolyn Jenkinson, project officer for Hunter Local Land Services Natural Resource Management Team.  

“Through these projects we are looking to partner with land managers in the Cessnock area and Merriwa Plateau to restore significant woodland bird habitats on their land,” said Ms Jenkinson.

“To navigate this through the drought and ensure good planning, all projects are supported by a site specific Revegetation Plan and choosing appropriate species lists, our staff will work with landholders to coordinate site preparation, planting and maintenance with community and volunteers over the next one to two years, to give the plants and trees the best chance of rebuilding habitat,” she said.

HLLS will support landholders with a range of incentives to protect and enhance remnant native vegetation, such as  through fencing, off-stream watering and weed control.

“We will also be running a series of related workshops and field days for landholders including demonstrations of revegetation techniques and woodland bird information days to build relevant skills and knowledge in our community,” says Carolyn. 

There are 28 bird species in the Hunter which are on the BirdLife Australia conservation action plan for protection, including the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater and Swift Parrot, and other vulnerable species such as Grey-Crowned and White-Browed Babblers, Brown Treecreeper, Hooded Robin and Little Lorikeet.

If you are a landowner near the Merriwa Plateau and would like to help visit the HLLS’s view the Incentives Priority Map and submit an expression of interest. please complete an Expression Of Interest.

A pair of Regent Honeyeaters. Photo: Hunter Local Land Services.