Date: Thursday October 17th 2024
Project:ÌýEastern Australian Waterbird Survey
°¿²ú²õ±ð°ù±¹±ð°ù²õ: John Porter (NSW DPE), Paul Wainwright (SA DEW)
°Õ°ù²¹¾±²Ô±ð±ð: Scott Henshall (Vic GMA)
±Ê¾±±ô´Ç³Ù: Thomas Clark
Clear blue sky and barely a breath of wind greeted us as we departed Wangaratta – perfect duck counting conditions! Ìý(Duck counters are always happy when they see a wind sock drooping limply on its pole). We continued eastward, counting along sections of the King, Ovens and Kiewa River valleys. These floodplains were very green and there was water in most of the dams and floodplain billabongs. There were low numbers of waterbirds; Straw-necked Ibis, Wood Duck, egrets, herons and spoonbills were the most common.
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Surveying over the King River
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Surveying over the Ovens River
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Surveying over the Kiewa River
The Mitta Mitta River was flowing stongly in the channel as we flew upstream into the upper reaches where the valley becomes much narrower and the surrounding hills increase in height. Once again the waterbirds were in low to moderate abundance; mostly Straw-necked Ibis, cormorants and Wood Ducks.
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Counting along the Mitta Mitta River
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Surveying over an impoundment on the Mitta Mitta River
Our final wetland in this section was Dartmouth Dam, built in the 1970’s for irrigation, hydroelectricity and town water storage. With a dam wall that is 180m high and deep waters it is generally not an attractive habitat to waterbirds. Today there were very few birds present, which is not unusual. What was unusual was the completely calm conditions – we rarely get to survey this wetland without being buffeted all over from the wind so it was a pleasure to see reflections of a few clouds in the glassy waters. Ìý
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Glassy waters on Dartmouth Dam
WIth our final count for the week done we set the navigation gear for Bankstown – the crew is happy with the week's work! Ìý