Day 19, Moree to Thargomindah
On our job list today is to complete our counts along the Gwydir, Meehi and Gingham watercourses before heading west to the Ramsar listed wetlands of Narran Lake Nature Reserve. Then we’ll be on to Yantabulla before finishing up with the magnificent (also Ramsar listed) Currawinya lakes.
Photo: Lake Wyara
Survey details
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Date
Monday 27th October 2025
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Author
John Porter
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Project
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Observers
John Porter (NSW DCCEEW), Richard Kingsford (ºÚÁÏÍø´óʼÇ)
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Pilot
Thomas Martin
One of the reasons Narran Lakes Nature Reserve is an internationally significant system is because of the wide range of waterbird species that occur and breed here, sometimes in huge numbers. Â
Narran lakes wetlands are a group of terminal lakes, floodplains, watercourses and extensive lignum (Duma florulenta) swamps fed by the Narran River.
Lignum is especially important as it provides crucial nesting habitat for ibis and many other waterbird species. Today there are hundreds of waterbirds – mainly ibis, Grey Teal, Black Duck, Wood Duck, herons, spoonbills, stilts, cormorants, Pelican and darters.
We also discover a breeding rookery with thousands of Straw-necked Ibis and smaller numbers of White Ibis nesting.
Yantabulla swamp (Cuttaburra Basin) is a large wetland with unique hydrology as it is fed by Cuttaburra Creek (which arises from the Warrego River and delivers water to the Paroo River after it fills. Yantabulla can support very large numbers of waterbirds with high species diversity and is recognised as nationally significant.
Yantabulla Swamp
Yantabulla Swamp
Yantabulla Swamp
Yantabulla Swamp
Currawinya National Park protects the Ramsar listed lakes Numalla (fresh) and Wyara (saline). The lakes can support very high numbers of waterbirds and large breeding aggregations of Pelicans, cormorants, Black Swans, terns and gulls. We count Lake Numalla first - it is brimful and has thousands of waterbirds – mainly coot, Pelicans, Black Duck, herons, cormorants and darters.
Lake Wyara unexpectedly has much lower water levels than Numalla. But that clearly hasn’t bothered the birds because the lake is teeming with watebirds. There are very large numbers of Hardhead, Grey Teal, coot and Black Swans as well as good numbers of Wood Duck, Pink-eared Duck, terns, gulls and Pelicans.
There is a small rookery of Pelicans breeding as well as numerous Black Swan nests.Â
With our counts completed we head to Thargomindah to stop for the night.
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Centre for Ecosystem Science
The Centre for Ecosystem Science has a strong focus promoting the viability of ecosystems through understanding ecosystem function, trajectories of change across landscapes and solutions for conservation.Â