Day 7, Charleville to Thargomindah

Date: Tuesday 10th October 2023

Project: Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey

Observers: John Porter (NSW DPE), Shannon Dundas (NSW DPI) 

Trainee: Chris Sanderson (Qld DES)

Pilot: Thomas Clark

Flying east from Charleville we surveyed a series of small farm dams and drainage lines which have low numbers of waterbirds. The majority we observed were Wood Duck, Black Duck, herons and spoonbills. Increasingly we fly past solar farms and wind turbines (which we give a wide berth)!

Solar farm near Turallin

Wind power turbines near Jackson

Lake Barambah supplies water to the South Burnett region, mostly for irrigation purposes. It supported moderate numbers of waterbirds mainly Wood Duck, Grey Teal, cormorants, Pelicans and Whiskered Terns, which were predominantly in the southern shallow reaches of the reservoir.

Surveying Lake Barambah

After refuelling at Dalby we head for Coolmunda Dam which is on the Macintrye Brook, a tributary of the Dumaresq River near Goondawindi. The main purposes of the dam are for irrigation businesses and potable water supply. We found moderate numbers of waterbirds, mainly cormorants, Wood Ducks and Black Swans.

From Coolmunda we headed west along parts of the Macintyre and Balonne river systems which have been heavily modified by irrigation storages and intensive floodplain developments. We surveyed many water storage dams and find low numbers of waterbirds on most of these dams – mainly cormorants, egrets and herons.

As we headed west the landscape again became progressively drier – the Warrego River channels south of Cunnamulla were mostly dry with few waterbirds, as was the Paroo below Eulo. We finished the long day's counting at Thargomindah.