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I'd like to endorse the comment made by Dimitris - Tuross
Lake produced some very satisfying sights and sounds for me during two
recent kayak outings there. In addition to the species he highlights
there were Greenshanks, Pied Oystercatchers, Little and Great Egrets, Eastern
Curlew, Whimbrels, probable Little Curlew, 300+ Black Swans, Bar-tailed Godwits,
100+ Ibis strung out in "V" formation, White-faced Herons, as well as a Sea
Eagle patrolling the sky lanes while 3 Emus patrolled the bank. Small
birds in the shoreside vegetation included Azure Kingfishers, Willie
Wagtails, Jacky Winters, Red-browed Finches, Rufous Whistler, Eastern Spinebill,
Yellow Thornbills, Fairy Wrens, many Silvereyes, and 100+ Swallows hawking over
the lake.
Other highlights were watching a Whistling Kite
unsuccessfully trying to catch a Silver Gull during a pursuit which lasted at
least half a minute - I was alerted to the pursuit by the screeches from a
couple of dozen other gulls as the pursued ultimately outmanoeuvred its attacker
in a close run contest.
Sound played a part in two other highlights - an Eastern
Curlew passing low overhead makes quite a noise and is an impressive sight - big
bill, BIG bird! But the thing that literally made me sit up and take
notice was the Whoosh! coming from the wings of a flock of Bar-tailed
Godwits. I was distracted and hadn't seen them approaching from
behind but when they were level with and only about 10 metres away from me
they made an abrupt almost right angled turn before speeding away to
land on a sandbank 100 metres distant. I was then able to count
25 of them.
Tuross Lake is closed to the sea at present (and maybe
that has something to do with the present abundance of bird life). I
am told there are 3 Dolphins trapped in there by the closure. After many
years of watching the tide surge in and out through a deep, wide channel (the
topographic map shows it open to the sea) who could have imagined about 100
metres of sand between the sea and the waters of the lake? I was
there when the previous big drought broke in 1983 and witnessed huge logs and
all manner of debris swept down from the headwaters in a brown flood to either
litter the beaches or be swept out to sea. Another deluge of similar
(or perhaps biblical) proportions is needed to restore the status
quo.
Cheers
Rod
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