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A Waterbird Census of Selected Wetlands Along the Coastal Margins of the Esperance District, Feb-Mar 2003

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A Waterbird Census of Selected Wetlands Along the Coastal Margins of the Esperance District, Feb-Mar 2003 A Waterbird Census of Selected Wetlands along the Coastal Margins of the Esperance District, Feb-Mar 2003. Report by A.G. Clarke & J.A.K. Lane WA Department of Conservation and Land Management October 2003 CONTENTS SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................2 Background ..........................................................................................................................................2 Census Area..........................................................................................................................................2 Selection of Wetlands...........................................................................................................................2 Objectives.............................................................................................................................................3 Methods................................................................................................................................................4 RESULTS.................................................................................................................................................4 Barker Inlet...........................................................................................................................................4 Beaumont Lake.....................................................................................................................................5 Benje Benjenup ....................................................................................................................................5 Boolinup Lake ......................................................................................................................................5 Coomalbidgup Swamp .........................................................................................................................6 Ewens Lake ..........................................................................................................................................6 Exchange Road Swamp........................................................................................................................7 Lake Gore.............................................................................................................................................7 Mainbenup Swamp...............................................................................................................................8 Mortijinup Lakes ..................................................................................................................................8 Mullet Lake ..........................................................................................................................................9 Lake Nambarup ....................................................................................................................................9 Quallilup Lake....................................................................................................................................10 Round Lake (name is not official)......................................................................................................10 Shark Lake..........................................................................................................................................11 Station Lake........................................................................................................................................11 Stokes Inlet.........................................................................................................................................12 Lake Warden ......................................................................................................................................12 Wheatfield Lake .................................................................................................................................13 Wheatfield Lake overflow lake south of Fisheries Road....................................................................14 White Lake .........................................................................................................................................14 Windabout Lake .................................................................................................................................14 Woody Lake .......................................................................................................................................15 SUMMARY OF RESULTS ...................................................................................................................15 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................................18 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................................................................................................19 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................................20 FIGURES Figure 1. Study Area................................................................................................................................3 TABLES 1. Common and scientific names and total counts of waterbird species on Esperance coast wetlands in Feb-Mar 2003..............................................................................................................21 2. Waterbird species ranked in order of abundance in Feb-Mar 2003................................................22 3. Wetlands ranked in order of total number of waterbirds counted in Feb-Mar 2003.......................23 4. Wetlands ranked in order of number of waterbird species recorded in Feb-Mar 2003...................24 5. Wetlands ranked in order of number of highest counts of waterbird species in Feb-Mar 2003. ....25 7a. Comparison of numbers of waterbirds recorded on wetlands of Lake Warden and Mullet Lake Nature Reserves in Feb 2003 with highest numbers recorded in 1981-85.............................27 7b. Comparison of numbers of waterbirds recorded on Gore and Shark Lakes in Feb 2003 with highest numbers recorded in 1981-85.....................................................................................29 Waterbird Census of Wetlands in the Esperance District, Feb-Mar 2003 i 8. Comparison of numbers of waterbirds recorded on Lake Warden Nature Reserve and Mullet Lake Nature Reserve in Feb 2003 with highest numbers recorded in 1981-85...................30 9. Comparison of highest numbers of waterbirds recorded on Esperance coast wetlands in Feb-Mar 2003 with highest numbers recorded on South West wetlands during 1981-92. .............31 10. Comparison of numbers of waterbirds recorded on selected Esperance coast wetlands in Feb 2003 with highest numbers recorded during 1981-92. ............................................................32 11. Waterbird species and numbers on wetlands other than Nature Reserves and National Parks in Feb-Mar 2003. ..................................................................................................................33 12. Waterbird numbers in Feb-Mar 2003, with wetlands listed alphabetically. ...................................34 13. Waterbird numbers in Feb-Mar 2003, with wetlands listed chronologically (date of survey)........36 14. Depth, conductivity, salinity and pH measurements of wetlands. ..................................................38 ii SUMMARY Waterbird surveys were conducted in the period January – March 2003 at 23 wetlands in the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) District of Esperance. The sites were restricted to estuaries and other coastal wetlands containing water to determine waterbird usage as drought refuges. A punt and 6 wheel amphibious vehicle were used to access areas that could not be efficiently traversed by foot. A telescope and binoculars were used to identify species and count their numbers. Evidence of past breeding efforts was recorded along with water levels, conductivities and pH. Forty-seven species were recorded from the 23 wetlands with a total of 34,548 birds present. All species of ducks that have occurred along the south coast in previous surveys were recorded in this survey. Musk Duck was the most abundant species, with 4,049 recorded. Black Swan, Australian Shelduck, Eurasian Coot and Grey Teal all had totals over 3,000. Musk Duck and Great Crested Grebe were in greater abundance than in any survey of the same lakes in the 1980s and early 1990s. Counts of these and another seven species, most notably Freckled Duck and Hardhead, were very high compared with earlier counts across the entire south-west of the State. There can be no doubt that Esperance coast lakes were functioning as important drought refuges during summer-autumn 2003. Mortijinup lakes supported the highest numbers of species with 29 recorded. Lakes with 20 or more species were Stokes Inlet, Windabout Lake and Ewens Lake. The Pacific Black Duck was the most widespread species, occurring at 16 of the 23 sites. Australian Shelduck, Common Greenshank and Grey Teal each occurred at 15 sites. Round Lake and Windabout Lake contained 70 and 164 Freckled Duck respectively.
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