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Date:ÌýWednesday 2nd October 2024

Project:ÌýEastern Australian Waterbird Survey

Observers:ÌýRichard Kingsford (UNSW),ÌýChris Sanderson

Pilot:ÌýThomas Clark

Maroochydore lies within one of our survey bands and so soon after we got in the air, we headed west to pick up the first few dams to be surveyed.

One of the large dams in the hills behind Noosa

Then on to Lake Weyba, a large estuarine lake. It had a few cormorants but never has many waterbirds for the size of lake.

Lake Weyba

We then finished the survey band near Noosa and headed up the coast, over the cliff to fly along the shoreline of Cooloola National Park.

Then it was flying across Hervey Bay with its many islands and spotting the odd dugong and turtle on the way.

Hervey Bay

Survey Band 8 is around Baffle Creek, north of Bundaberg. Ìý Here there were very few waterbirds. The high tide made it difficult for migratory shorebirds to be on show because they were probably roosting.

Baffle Creek

Surveying Baffle Creek

The same was true of the small creeks and their estuaries around this part of the world. There were one or two pelicans but not much else in the way of waterbirds. Ìý

This has been an interesting part of the world for the rapid development of aquaculture but it seemed two of the large ones we have seen in previous years were now dry. Ìý

Even the large dams up here don’t seem to have more than about five waterbirds, usually the odd cormorant and black duck.

Large dams with few waterbirds

We had morning tea at Gladstone before heading north again to survey Band 9 which is north of Rockhampton. Ìý

Areas of bauxite mining near Gladstone

Liquid natural gas port on Curtis Island at Gladstone

We continued to fly up the coast towards survey Band 9, north of Rockhampton.

This was the first time in the survey that we had seen large concentrations of waterbirds, in their hundreds. They were mostly Magpie Geese, Black Ducks and egrets. But there were a range of other waterbird species. It was spectacular to see so many waterbirds, with Green Pygmy Geese and Brolgas.

Surveying large concentrations of waterbirds

Coal port at Hay Point, just south of Mackay

We then surveyed the floodplains of the Proserpine River.ÌýThere was very little flooding on the Proserpine floodplain, an ongoing pattern of loss of this floodplain area for waterbirds, probably due to the impacts of Proserpine Dam. At the beginning of this survey thousands of waterbirds were regularly on these floodplain lagoons. Ìý

Proserpine floodplain

Surveying one of the large dams on the Prosperpine floodplain, with its flocks of Swans and Great Cormorants. Ìý

Surveying the limited flooded areas on the Prosperpine floodplain, with very few waterbirds. Ìý

We finished the survey at Shute Harbour airstrip with its many planes and helicopters ferrying tourists to the Whitsunday Islands. Ìý

Shute Harbour airstrip