Michael Eades Reserve

Michael Eades Reserve in Katoomba is my local birding spot. It’s at the back of North Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia, and is named after Michael Eades, a champion of the environment in The Blue Mountains. It includes many bush trails, hanging swamps and creeks. I’ve been coming to this reserve since 2008 and have seen 79 bird species as of 2024.

Migratory path

It’s a regular migratory stop off for several birds including Flycatchers (Satin and Leaden) that breed there, as well as under the flight path of the White-throated Needletail. In 2023 a recently deceased White-throated Needletail was collected on the track by myself (after a lucky siting by an out of town visitor to the reserve), and quickly frozen and collected by the Australian museum for preservation. The species non-breeding time in Australasia is little understood (they migrate from around China) and rarely seen on the ground. They are usually sited high in the sky, with little understanding of where they stop. So having a fully in-tact bird was an important record.

Michael Eades

This is from the Hut News in 2006:

“Michael Eades joined Blue Mountains City Council in 1988, a pioneer of environmental management practices in local government. Mike made a major contribution to a heightened awareness and understanding of the special and fragile natural environment of the Blue Mountains. He was a champion of the need to protect the unique flora of the Mountains, achieving conservation of large areas of the natural environment through key planning instrument Local Environment Plan 1991 (LEP 1991). Mike was a key player in establishing the Blue Mountains urban runoff Control Program (URCP), which received $15 million from the State government. Mike passed away in April 2002 at the age of 47. On December 19th 2003, following a submission by Council, the Geographical Names Board assigned “Michael Eades Reserve” as a geographical name for the reserve.”

Below are some birds speices I’ve photographed in the reserve.