Hatching Brolgas

Hatching Brolgas

Brolgas are one of my favourite birds and are also the official bird emblem for Queensland. These stately and gregarious birds are commonly found in Western Queensland, and even in flight they form a distinctive and elegant profile. Brolgas hatch once a year, commencing now and through the month of February, which coincides with the end of the wet rainy season. At the moment, their preferred food of grasshoppers is to be found in abundance in the rapidly growing grasses of Western Qld. Their nest is often a raised mound of sticks and grass located in shallow water or on the ground near water.

The Western Rivers Carer will be keeping her eye out for these birds in the coming months, as the young hatch and slowly grow into graceful birds.

Happy Australia Day 2010

Happy Australia Day 2010!

Here in Australian we all have a home amongst the Gum Trees (Eucalyptus), and the 26th of January is a great day on which to pause and reflect upon the diverse creatures - both animal and man that make their home amongst this iconic tree. The bark of this tree can be cream, grey, white, copper or a green colour - or a delightful shiny and mottled mix of all of these colours.

The shiny green leaves hang downwards towards the earth, and the flowers burst out of nuts, with the caps decorating the ground below. Many of our native animals depend on the Eucalyputus tree for food and protection.

Happy Australia Day!

Wonderful Barcoo Wetlands

Wonderful Barcoo Wetlands


Did you know that wetlands are often called the kidneys of freshwater river systems? This is because they filter and purify the dirt and toxins from the water ..........before the water reaches the main rivers and lakes. The wetland
areas also assist in reducing the impact of floods, and provide critical habitats
for our plant and animal species. This image depicts a wetland area between Jundah and Windorah, which forms part of the Lake Eyre Basin.

Exploring After The Rain

One of the Western Rivers Carers favourite things to do is to go exploring in the river bed once flood waters have receded. There are always the most fascinating things to observe - from the broken bottles, wire, metal and old tyres..............through to Mother Natures show-and-tell.

Look carefully and you will find animal footprints imprinted into the mud and sand; fascinating patterns that have swirled throught the gravel and sand; water still trickling over rocks and grass; dried mud curls; exposed tree roots, washouts and sand deposits.

Take a look at some of the Show-and-Tell magic which I found yesterday............and this is just the start.

What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Boom and Bust – Bird Stories for a Dry Country

Boom and Bust – Bird Stories for a Dry Country


Have you ever pondered how our birds have adapted to the ‘boom and bust’ flood/rain and drought/dry cycle of inland Australia? How excessive heat and an abundance of water that never occur at the same time might have influenced the habits and adaptations of our birds? All too often, we think of the traditional four seasons of the Northern Hemisphere, and recount the bird breeding, feeding, growing and migrating cycle of birds to fit that regular, cyclical and very predictable pattern.

I have just finished reading a book titled Count“Boom and Bust – Bird Stories for a Dry Country” written by Libby Robin, Robert Heinsohn and Leo Joseph (2009). This book contains a number of amusing case studies and stories written in a very readable manner that outlines a number of vastly different birds and how their behaviours have changed and developed to fit our unique inland ecosystems. Read about both unique and familiar birds like the Barcoo Bantam, the Pelican, the Emu and the Zebra Finch.

My favourite chapter is the one that outlines the recent search by mankind for the elusive Night Parrot. No-one truly knows if the Night Parrot exists in 2010. “The record shows that the night parrot has gone bust, but not yet turned to dust. A few fugitives remain, protected by the desert”. (page 142).

In 1990 and again 2006, the body of a dead night parrot has been found in remote desert plains. However, there have been no accurately confirmed live sightings of this bird since 1880. Has this bird disappeared from our landscape, or will a live specimen be flushed out in the future? Has the impact of recent settlement busted this bird into near extinction, or will it boom again in some remote location?

How can we carefully preserve our boom and bust cycle to ensure that further species do not simply vanish from our ecosystems?

Making overt efforts to preserve our inland waterways and their associated eco-systems is one way we can ensure birds will continue to flourish in our harsh and vast land. Will we get it right and see another live night parrot, or will other birds also simply vanish?

What was whistling in the trees?

WHAT WAS WHISTLING IN THE TREES?


Last night about 9.30 pm I was sitting outside and heard this most distinctive high pitched, almost shrill sound coming from the Eucalyptus trees.

After a brief discussion, we decided the sounds belonged to Whistling Ducks. These ducks prefer to feed by eating aquatic vegetation, grass and pasture seeds and other herbage, rather than diving for their food source in water bodies.

The sound of the Whistling Ducks is not common to my area, so one surmises that they may be moving west to inland floodplains and waterholes following recent rains. These ducks breed from January to March. May these ducks successfully and safely lay and incubate their eggs, so yet another generation of Whistling Ducks can visit my garden. This image depicts Kyabra waterhole which feeds into Cooper's Creek. I wonder if my visitors might be headed to a waterhole like this?

My Prediction for 2010

Did you manage to catch the magnificent documentary on ABC 1 about the Lake Eyre Basin on Tuesday 5th January?

Guess what?

The Western Rivers Carer is going to predict that we shall have another boom year in the Lake Eyre Basin in 2010, so if you want to come out and see the wildlife and plant communities that spring up in our catchments, 2010 will be another great year.

Why do I predict this?

Whilst there is reasonable rain falling at the moment in the Queensland portion of Lake Eyre, it is not overwhelmingly abundant in all areas. However, there is something called a ‘flood memory’. This year’s water coming down the river systems will build upon the 2009 flow, which was the first in a number of years to head towards Lake Eyre. Whilst this flow volume will be smaller, it will flood disproportionately larger areas of the floodplain and downstream lakes as it traverses our great land, due to the remnant moisture and water from 2009. Also, many of the lakes will be more productive and the bird and fish species will reproduce rapidly as a result of this ‘flood memory’.

Another interesting thing to note is that large flood events in the basin are clustered so that usually one large flood is followed or preceded by another large event with 12 months. Dr Jim Puckridge (University of Adelaide) and colleagues examined the Southern Oscillation index, flow volumes of key rivers in the basin and rainfall data, and found that this occurs as a result of the cluster of La Nina high rainfall episodes. It looks like 2009 and 2010 will bear this theory out.

Why not plan a trip out to Western Queensland to check out this magnificent part of the world for yourself?

From Winter Wonderlands to Western Wonderlands

From Winter Wonderlands to Western Wonderlands

The Western Rivers Carer has returned from her annual leave, which was spent on the West Coast of North America, specifically British Columbia (Canada) and Washington / California (USA). A magical three weeks was spent exploring the natural world of the pine forests, national parks, ranches, Christmas tree farms, ice skating rinks, snowy mountains and bitterly cold weather (minus 21 degrees Celsius was the coldest day, however it did warm up to minus 18 degrees). The delights of historical sites, sleigh rides, ice skating, hot springs, Portland zoo, Disneyland, Vancouver Aquarium, food (loving the fresh salmon) and wine (Zinfandel) were also appreciated as old friends were visited and fine memories revisited.

In 2010, energies of the Western Rivers Carer will be focussed on continuing the community consultation work in the lead up to any Wild Rivers proposals /declarations over the Georgina and Diamantina Rivers and Cooper’s Creek in Western Queensland. I shall continue to promote the values of the Lake Eyre Basin and raise awareness of the importance of wise and sustainable water management in Western Queensland catchments in order to preserve and restore the ecological health and productivity of our rivers, creeks and floodplains. This work will be carried out in conjunction with the Australian Floodplain Association; the Cooper’s Creek Protection Group; The Wilderness Society and Pew Environment Group – Australia. For more information on this work, check out www.ausfloodplain.org.au.

Lake Eyre: Australia's Outback Wonder

Cumulus clouds over Western Queensland yesterday.

Welcome to 2010, and thanks for visiting the blog of the Western Rivers Carer. The Western Queensland skies have a very coastal look to them at the moment - lots of big, white, fluffy cumulus clouds are heaping up in great piles across the vast skies. There has been reasonable rain across parts of Western Queensland in the last 7 days, and there are flood warnings for the Barcoo, Thompson and Cooper. These waterways all form part of the Lake Eyre Basin.

The magic of the boom and bust cycle of this internally draining river system will be featured on ABC 1 TV tomorrow evening (Tuesday, 5th January) at 9.30 pm EST in a program called LAKE EYRE: AUSTRALIA'S OUTBACK WONDER. This program will feature local residents and noted environmental scientist Richard Kingsford who will describe the flooding of Lake Eyre and the transformation of our arid countryside, as it happened in 2009.

If you have not been able to explore this wonderful part of our country, I urge you to tune in. If you have had the privilege to have spent time in this area, I know you will be eagerly watching this amazing documentary.

Thanks for visiting the blog in 2010.