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Date:ÌýSunday 6th October 2024

Project:ÌýEastern Australian Waterbird Survey

Observers:ÌýRichard Kingsford (UNSW),ÌýChris Sanderson

Pilot:ÌýThomas Clark

We started the survey on Band 8, just east of Biloela, south of Rockhampton on a hazy humid day. Ìý

The first wetland was the Callide Dam, which was lower than I have seen it for a long time. It was a pattern that was repeated across many of the wetlands. Much dryer than previous years.ÌýÌý

Callide Dam

After surveying a string of farm dams, we flew over the open cut coal mine at Moura.

Moura

Most of the farm dams were half full or less, reflecting the lack of rain earlier in the year. This makes for more shallow areas and so there are often more waterbirds on these drying farm dams than you usually get. Ìý

This is not true for full large dams used for irrigating cotton. These large areas of water are usually so deep that they do not provide good habitat for waterbirds, apart from fish eating birds. Ìý

Many swamps we visited were completely dry and so not offering any habitat for waterbirds. Ìý

Surveying another of the many drying swamps

One of the large natural wetlands just south of the town of Rolleston that was only about half full but had a reasonable diversity of about a hundred waterbirds. Ìý

We then surveyed farm dams until we reached the ranges which have no wetlands, not even dams. Here it is the Carnarvon Range.

Carnarvon Range

After this, we were in the Lake Eyre Basin, heading down the western flowing rivers. First it was Barcoo River flowing past the town of Blackall where we refuelled plane and people. Ìý

Blackall, Qld

After Blackall, we flew down the Thomson River. The Thomson and Barcoo rivers are the two rivers that join to form Cooper Creek to the south.

Surveying the Thomson River

The rivers here carve intricate patterns with their channels and vegetation across this dry landscape. This is the dry Farrers Creek which flows into the Diamantina River.

Dry Farrers Creek

Part of vast outback of the Diamantina River catchment. Ìý

A farm dam offers the only water for livestock in this very dry and hot landscape. Since we had left the ranges, the temperature had gone up. Ìý

Livestock at dam

One of the many dry channels of the Diamantina River floodplain.

In the main channels of the Diamantina River, there were a few drying waterholes with the odd Pacific Heron, Pelican and Great Cormorant. Mostly fish-eating birds capitalising on the drying river with stranded fish.

Diamantina River

One of the most important aquatic refugia in this part of the river is Pellenhah waterhole, which is a permanent billabong on the Diamantina River. There were a few fish-eating waterbirds but not much else on the waterbird front. Ìý

Patterns in the dry floodplain

Cracked floodplain on Eyre Creek, after the flood earlier in the year.

The edge of Lake Mipia, one of the small lakes on Eyre Creek. It had thousands of waterbirds, mainly Grey Teal but also a lot of Brolgas, Glossy Ibis, Pink-eared Ducks and the occasional Freckled Duck. It is a really impressive lake when it was like this, shallow and full of waterbirds. Ìý

Lake Mipia

Lake Machattie on Eyre Creek is a large freshwater lake. The Pelican numbers were spectacular, with regular flocks of hundreds as we flew past. They often breed here during the floods. We found no breeding rookeries. A stunning lake. Ìý

Lake Machattie

Surveying Lake Machattie

We finished Day 5 of the survey on Lake Torquinnie a salt lake on the Mulligan River, northwest of Birdsville. With nearby Lake Mumbleberry, these are magnificent lakes for waterbirds when they have water.

Today, they were very shallow and about 80% full. Perfect for feeding waterbirds. There were thousands of migratory wading birds, probably mostly Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, which have just arrived in Australia from the northern hemisphere. Brolgas, Freckled Duck, Glossy Ibis, and thousands of Grey Teal and Pink-eared Ducks were also capitalising on the food. A very impressive diversity.ÌýÌý

Lake Torquinnie

On the way to Birdsville to overnight, you could see where the flood earlier in the year had come down Eyre Creek floodplain and then joined the Mulligan River to fill freshwater lakes in the distance.

Evidence of a flood earlier in the year