A solid week of rain has revitalised the Hunter Wetlands Centre and attracting rarely seen birds to the area.
Ponds that have been dry for the past five or six months are now overflowing.
"The wetlands are coming back to life now. It's great," Hunter Wetlands Centre general manager James Wilson said.
"With all the recent rain our ponds are full and brimming with bird life, making it the perfect time for bird watching in the wetlands.
"Our BHP Pond is reaching levels we haven't seen in quite a while."
Summer at the wetlands was, he said, uncharacteristically quiet. The constant chorus of bird calls was missing. But with the rain the calls have made a welcome (and noisy) return.
Three Black-necked storks (Jabiru) were spotted on one day at the wetlands over the past week, and another the following day.
"The black-necked stork is one of the birds the Hunter Bird Observers Club have created nests for, to try to get more of them in the area," Mr Wilson said.
"One of their tagged storks was visiting so we let them know and they were very excited.
"It's a very rare occurrence."
Similarly, watching the ponds fill and overflow has provided a rare opportunity to watch the hydrology of the wetlands in action.
"It's been designed so that we can control, at least a little bit, where the water goes in the wetlands, and it's only when it's full that we really get to see how well it works," Mr Wilson said.
"We can see one pond flowing into another, and then another, and another, and it ends up flowing out into Ironbark Creek and into Boatmans Creek, which means the hydrology of the wetlands is working exactly as it should.
"If need be we can shut gates on those channels so that we can hold more water in the pond."
The rain might even entice hundreds of egrets to return to the wetlands to nest this summer.
"Every year in December or January we normally have hundreds of egret nests on one particular area of our site, and this year they came for three days and then they left without nesting," Mr Wilson said.
"We think it was because it was so dry. There was no water in any of the ponds; we had a dry winter and as soon as the heat picked up in spring and summer the ponds started to dry up.
"We'll find out next summer if they return. If this water stays - and there is a lot of water at the moment, which is fantastic - they might come back."
