Day 15, Sydney to Broken Hill
Lake Balaka, Menindee Lakes, NSW
Date: Monday October 21st 2024
Project:ÌýEastern Australian Waterbird Survey
°¿²ú²õ±ð°ù±¹±ð°ù²õ: John Porter (NSW DPE), Shannon Dundas (DPI)
°Õ°ù²¹¾±²Ô±ð±ð: Kurt Murphy (Vic GMA)
±Ê¾±±ô´Ç³Ù: Thomas Clark
After the usual pre-flight checks and preparation we departed Sydney and headed to Burrendong Dam in the upper reaches of the Macquarie River. The dam which is one of the largest in the state is currently at about 66% of capacity; it serves multiple purposes, including flood mitigation, irrigation, and water supply for the surrounding regions.
Pre flight preparation, Sydney
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Counting over Burrendong Dam
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Counting over Burrendong Dam
Spillway of Burrendong Dam
Large areas of deep water mean the dam rarely supports many waterbirds – as expected we find only low numbers of cormorants and ducks. After some further counts along the upper reaches of the Macquarie River with moderate numbers of black duck, grey teal and wood ducks we head to Dubbo to refuel and prepare for the long survey leg heading west to Broken Hill.
Our quick pit stop over we continue west from Dubbo – mostly counting small ground tanks and dams. It’s always fascinating to watch the changing patterns of the land, water and vegetation below as we progress into to drier habitats. Open eucalypt woodland with Callitris pines gradually changes to mallee and spinifex, then chenopod shrublands and red gum and black box. Ìý
We approached the Tallywalka creek wetlands and found them partially full with several of the lakes drying back. We counted moderate numbers of waterbirds, mostly Grey Teal, Pacific Black Duck, cormorants, spoonbills and egrets.
Counting on Teryaweynya Lake
Counting on Pamamaroo Lake
Our next major target was the Menindee Lakes system a series of large natural lakes on the Darling River near Broken Hill. They are now regulated by dams and locks and used for irrigation storage, recreation and water supply. The lakes were a little over half full (58%) but there was still plenty of habitat for waterbirds. We counted large numbers of birds (>10,000) on the Lakes that were drying back and provided more shallow habitats that many species prefer. The most abundant were Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Pink-eared Ducks, Black Swans, cormorants and Pelicans.
After a couple of hours counting flat out we stopped for the evening and headed into Broken Hill.
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