Day 4, Mt Isa to Rockhampton
As usual we decide on an early start for this leg of the survey.
Photo: Lake Galilee
Survey details
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Date
Friday 2 October 2026
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Author
John Porter
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Project
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Observers
John Porter (NSW DCCEEW), Heath Dunstan
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Pilot
Thomas Clark
Leaving Mt Isa in darkness and timing our departure so we arrive at our first site on the Georgina River floodplain just after sunrise.
The waterhole (Lake Katherine) is full of action with thousands of cormorants and pelicans, with large numbers of darters, egrets and herons. Some of the riverbank trees are absolutely black with comorants which rapidly spill from the foliage in all directions as we pass overhead – the counting is fast and furious!
Continuing eastward our next major site is the Diamantina floodplain – which only has traces of water so not many waterbirds are in residence.
After refueling at Winton our next important stop is Lake Galilee – an amazing saline lake that often supports huge numbers of waterbirds – today is no exception; the Lake is teeming with birds and there are thousands of Grey teal, Black duck, Hardhead, Coot, Black Swans as well as large numbers of Pelicans, gulls terns, stilts, lapwings, grebes, herons, spoonbills and egrets. There is a small breeding colony of Pelicans with the chicks almost fully fledged as well as hundreds of Black swan broods swimming with the parents.
As we finish counting and head to Rockhamption for our overnight stop we compare notes and observe there were relatively few Pink-eared ducks which are normally in abundance here - and muse on where they might have gone. That is a question that may be answered later in the surveys so stay tuned!
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