Tilligerry Habitat Reserve

Tilligerry Habitat Reserve & Environment Centre

Eco-tourism, passive recreation and education.

 Situated on the south-western shore of Port Stephens, the Tilligerry Peninsula is just 2 1/2 hours from Sydney and 45 minutes from Newcastle and Nelson Bay. 

The Tilligerry Habitat is a tranquil, 9 hectare  Reserve bordered by a variety of park lands and the picturesque foreshore of Tanilba Bay.  Its diverse flora and fauna make it an excellent place to observe and study nature.

The network of scenic paths and boardwalks, over mostly flat terrain, make it accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. Much of the area is wheelchair friendly. The Reserve includes forests, heath and wetlands and is home a variety of fauna including; koalas, a range of birds and seven species of frogs.

Other features of the Reserve include a straw-bale building that is our Environmental Centre. It contains an Arts and Crafts Gallery and has space for audio/visual presentations and small functions. It has a large deck looking out across the reserve where filtered water views of the bay may be seen through the swamp mahogany forest. Next door to the Environmental Centre is our Native Plant Nursery where visitors can buy native plants and learn about native plant propagation, rehabilitation of sand-mined land and plant rescue activities.

Happenings

 

 

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE HABITAT

Environment, Gallery & Information Centre

    is welcoming to tourists and shoppers.

Nursery is open for sales and is training in seed collection and propagation

Tourism provides eco-tours and hospitality tours. Overseas visitors can see koalas in the wild and learn about the Australian bush.

Site includes boardwalks, is continually being improved and maintained by volunteers.

Office is busy keeping up with paper work needed for our activities and keeping the members up to date with happenings.

Regular Activities

Creative Art: Wednesday 9.30am-12

Nursery Potting: Tuesday 9am to 12

Community BBQ; 3^rd Sunday of the month 12 noon

Community Garden; every Thursday 8.30am

Nature Watch: Every 2^nd Saturday

 Other Activities

Fund Raisers and Social Activities: These are many and varied but most of all fun, enjoyable, educational or a celebration.

Paths and walks

There are several walks around the Habitat to take in the various eco systems.

The boardwalks provide easy access and meander throughout. these were built primarily by Volunteers with assistance from Tafe students, Port Stephens Council and various Landcare groups

 The construction involves careful planning to minimise disturbance to the Native vegetation, awareness of water flow in heavy rain, Fauna habitats and life cycles, If that isn't enough we also need to provide access for Fire and other emergency vehicles to the site.

Generators are used for power tools but apart from that luxury it is a manual task.

Minimising erosion is another important consideration for us

Construction also involves bridge building in some areas. Although we are a relatively flat reserve waterways need to be able to continue unimpeded.

Some jobs just take on a mammoth proportion when nature decides to have her way.

Designing areas such as "The Hub" was a major venture and thank you to all those bodies who made it possible.

The Hub now has History, information on the posts and is definitely worth a stop to see.
The history of the area and time lines contain a wealth of information

All this work amounts to the ability to view Nature  and our beautiful waterways up close and personal

Seating is provided along the paths for a rest and a chance to just sit and admire what is around you

 Tranquility, Soldier Crabs, flora, fauna  and harmony. It is a delightful walk and one that is taken regularly by locals

 The view from "Birdsong Boardwalk" is a favourite amongst visitors and members alike.

"Blue Wren Bridge" leads you to this and the wrens can be seen hopping about as well as Pardalopes

 This bridge is our latest pride and joy, Designed and constructed by our "Monday and Tuesday" volunteers with the assistance of Dick for engineers advice.

and of course, there are the Koala sightings

Cicadas

When you visit in the Summer months, you would be forgiven for thinking that a bunch of us are just sitting around in the sun.
Chances are you may be right or we may be watching another of Nature's marvels at work
(and sometimes this takes time)

    With there being about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, with more than 200 being in Australia, then chances are that you have already witnessed this metamorphosis and understand the attraction.

Australian cicadas differ from many other types because of our diversity of climate and terrain. Here cicadas are found on tropical islands and cold coastal beaches around Tasmania; in tropical wetlands; high and low deserts; alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria; large cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane; and Tasmanian highlands and snowfields.

About us

The Tilligerry Habitat is a tranquil, 9 hectare Reserve bordered by a variety of parklands and the picturesque foreshore of Tanilba Bay. Its diverse flora and fauna make it an excellent place to observe and study nature. The network of scenic paths and boardwalks, over mostly flat terrain, make it accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. Much of the area is wheelchair friendly. The Reserve includes forests, heath and wetlands and is home to a variety of fauna including; koalas, a range of birds and seven species of frogs.

 

Part of the reserve was sand mined back in the 60’s and Tilligerry Habitat Ass has restored and re vegetated the degraded land, by propagating from seed in the Nursery on site. This Nursery is also open to the public and welcomes visitors.   

The Tilligerry Habitat experience starts at the Environment Centre which is made from straw bales. It contains an Arts and Crafts Gallery, Souvenir’s, Educational displays, the Local Visitors Centre, and has space for audio/visual presentations and small functions. It has a large deck looking out across the reserve where filtered water views of the bay may be seen through the swamp mahogany forest.

Visitors can book a tour of the of the reserve with our trained guides, who will tell them about koalas, the eco systems, Worimi people, bush tucker and other flora and fauna of the Tilligerry Habitat. Self guided tours can be done at any time.

Anyone can become a member of the organisation.

To continue our work we need Volunteers

Contact us at 
tilligerryhabita@tsn.cc

or phone/fax us on
0249845677

Information

The Tilligerry Habitat is a tranquil, 9 hectare Reserve bordered by a variety of parklands and the picturesque foreshore of Tanilba Bay. Its diverse flora and fauna make it an excellent place to observe and study nature. The network of scenic paths and boardwalks, over mostly flat terrain, make it accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. Much of the area is wheelchair friendly. The Reserve includes forests, heath and wetlands and is home to a variety of fauna including; koalas, a range of birds and seven species of frogs. 

Part of the reserve was sand mined back in the 60’s and Tilligerry Habitat Ass has restored and revegetated the degraded land, by propagating from seed in the Nursery on site. This Nursery is also open to the public and welcomes visitors.   

The Tilligerry Habitat experience starts at the Environment Centre which is made from straw bales. It contains an Arts and Crafts Gallery, Souvenir’s, Educational displays, the Local Visitors Centre, and has space for audio/visual presentations and small functions. It has a large deck looking out across the reserve where filtered water views of the bay may be seen through the swamp mahogany forest.

Visitors can book a tour of the of the reserve with our trained guides, who will tell them about koalas, the eco systems, Worimi people, bush tucker and other flora and fauna of the Tilligerry Habitat. Self guided tours can be done at any time.

Anyone can become a member of the organisation.

To continue our work we need Volunteers

IF YOU HAVE TIME ON YOU HANDS WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU HELP US BY VOLUNTEERING FOR THIS WORTHWHILE ORGANISATION.

CALL IN OR

PHONE 02 49845677