GOING

W ITH

Boom and bust in the Channel Country

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AUSTRALIAN

birdlife

THE
By Barry Traill

FLOW

JUNE 2012

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GOING WITH THE FLOW

Our cars toiled over the umpteenth big red sand dune on the eastern flank of the Simpson Desert when suddenly, surprisingly, there was a long sheet of water, dotted with trees and bushes disappearing into the distance to the south and north of usEyre Creek, an extension of the Georgina River. The creek was still full and flowing slowly between the desert dunes, its water dotted with rafts of birds, the flats of the dune swale lush with growth. We turned right to follow the banks of the Eyre towards Annandale Station, skirting Coolabah trees and trying to avoid either the bogging mud on the edge of the water, or the bogging red sand on the dune side. Waterbirds continually moved in and out of viewWhite-necked and White-faced Herons, Great Egrets, Grey Teal and Pacific Black Ducks, Australasian Darters, Great, Little Black and Little Pied Cormorants, Australian Pelicans and Black-winged Stilts. Dozens of my favourite swamp bird, the Barcoo Bantam, a Queensland name for the Black-tailed Native-hens, bolted for cover, running like dark, stiff-tailed chooks when the vehicles careered into view. There was nothing particularly unusual in these species of waterbirds; they are all common enough in most parts of Australia. What was extraordinary was that in the heart of one of Australias driest deserts, they had come in such numbers to feed and breed. Just as impressive as the birds was the quantity of recent plant growth. On the creek floodplains, from where the floodwater peak had already receded, grew a waist-high green tangle of herbageGeorgina Lucerne,

and some smaller herbs. The native lucerne produces seeds that are a favourite of Flock Bronzewings, and the leaves and seeds of this mass of plants would fuel the building boom of insects, birds, mammals and reptiles in the year to come. I had come to Birdsville for a meeting of the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of the Lake Eyre Basin. My organisation, the Pew Environment Group, has been working with the Australian Floodplain Association, a group of floodplain graziers, and the Wilderness Society, to get long-term protection for the floodplains, wetlands, and the vital incoming water flows. With a spare half day, Angus Emmott, a Channel Country grazier and exceptional naturalist, had suggested a quick afternoon drive out to Annandale Station, an abandoned homestead on the banks of Eyre Creek amongst the dunes of the Simpson Desert. This was my first trip to the heart of the Channel Country in a flood year and it was exceeding all my expectations. Like many Australians, I had grown up reading some of the stories of the Channel Country: of the original Aboriginal peoples that lived on the country, of the deaths of Burke and Wills, of the settling of the country by squatters, and of the boom to bust ecology of the birds and other wildlife. But the book knowledge didnt provide anywhere near an adequate way to think about these lands. In getting to know the Channel Country in trips over the last few years Ive been continually surprised by how it works. There really is nothing like itnot only in the Australian Outback, but probably anywhere

Previous page: Living up to their name, large mobs of Flock Bronzewings are one of the Channel Countrys most spectacular sights. Photo by Angus Emmott Top left: Orange Chats delight in the herbage that grows in the aftermath of the floods. Photo by Chris Tzaros Top centre: The lime green herbs and vivid yellow flowers that bloom after the floods give lie to the notion of the Dead Heart. Photo by Angus Emmott Top right: Encompassing an enormous region of central Australia, the Channel Country takes in the floodplains of the Cooper Creek, Georgina and Diamantina Rivers down to Lake Eyre. Right: A pair of Budgies investigate a nesting hollow. Photo by Martin Willis
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SIMPSON DESERT

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on Earth. And my timing for this trip was good. Years of drought were broken by the 2009 floods (the first of three continual years of good flooding rains) that rose in northern and central Queensland and flowed inland down the huge river systems of the Georgina and Diamantina Rivers and Cooper Creek into the arid heart of Australia. When these big rivers flow they funnel extraordinary volumes of water from the wetter monsoonal north into Australias driest country. The wildlife, and especially the birds, were prolific. Annandale itself was a mournful place. Once a thriving cattle station, it had been abandoned during one of those long periods when the floods hadnt come. Near the

ruined stone homestead was a single grave, and a litter of rusted pioneer artefacts. A Pied Butcherbird whistled plaintively from the Coolabahs. A Willy Wagtail wiggled on the stone chimney. After the Queensland Department of Environment people travelling with us did some mapping for future heritage protection work, we headed back into Birdsville. The only other stop was for Angus, an enthusiastic herpetologist, who jumped out of the car to examine a large, and moderately grumpy Mulga Snake hed spied nestling under a shrub. The rest of the party encouraged him enthusiastically from several metres away. Most of my time for the rest of the three-day stay in Birdsville was taken up with meeting the Aboriginal landowners to discuss river protection. I thought the town deservedly famous, a lively and lovely outback village (and so practically laid out for visitors where else can you legally park your plane and walk 50 metres to the front bar of an iconic pub?). I took time early in the mornings for short jaunts out of town, keen to see some of the special local birds. Along the Diamantina, which flows past the town, there was abundant wildlife in the growth left from the receding flood-waters. Calling among the thicker grass and trees of the flats were Rufous Songlarks, Crimson Chats, White-plumed Honeyeaters, Zebra Finches and Red-capped Robins. Budgies, some looking in nesting hollows, were abundant along the river. On flats which had just received a short taste of the water were sheets of yellow-flowering herbs. Here male Orange Chats could be seen from afar, their iridescent orange colour like little amber

lights against the background of yellow flowers and lime-green leaves of the herb field. And flicking swiftly past in little groups was that special Channel Country species, the Flock Bronzewing, a very distinctive bird in flight, dark chocolate in colour with a stocky silhouette. A mere foots distance from the edge of the high-water mark of the floods, the soil was dead dry. Birdsville itself had had little rain in the preceding year. The water that had filled the floodplains had come from far to the north. Away from the river stretched stony plains, much of it gibber desert; rolling low rises of millions of little red-black rocks. The contrast between the surrounding dry stony plains, and the lush river flats of Eyre Creek and the Diamantina drove home the nature of how this country really works. The floods that fill the floodplains around Birdsville, and then go on to fill Lake Eyre in South Australia, come mostly from the monsoons and cyclonic rains of summer in northern Australia. Usually the rains fall north of the Channel Country catchments, but occasionally, erratically, these rains flick further south and dump large volumes of water into the headwaters of the Channel Country rivers. This starts this splendid ecological cycle. The rain from a cyclonic dump in north-central Queensland will take weeks to reach Birdsville, the water inching along the flat country, spreading out and filling every little channel along the way. Millions of hectares get naturally irrigated. And once its got to Birdsville its only half way; if there is enough water to keep the flow up its another several hundred kilometres as the river flows to fill Lake Eyre.
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Join over 279 SPECIES OF BIRDS and ock to WAS OUTBACK

The bird world in the Gascoyne Murchison region of Western Australias mid west is impressive. With over 279 species youll be busy from dawn till dusk ticking your list. Just walk along a tree lined waterway and youll be enchanted by the symphony of sound. Weve got the Australian favourites: budgerigars, nches, native pigeons and galahs. But weve even got a few that you might be hard pressed to nd anywhere else, Western Bower Birds, Chiming Wedgebills, Major Mitchells, Thick-billed Grass Wrens, Mallee Fowl and so much more! Getting to the region couldnt be easier, go online to outbackpathways.com and obtain a copy of the Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathways self drive guide detailing three fantastic self drive routes you can undertake.

4 DAY SELF DRIVE MINERS PATHWAY

Capture the prospecting spirit with towns from the forefront of WAs gold boom in the 1800s! Day 1: Paynes Find - Meekatharra 340km, 4 hours Enjoy wildowers in season before driving to Mt Magnet. Gold mining history is evident in old mines, museum and heritage walks. See Cues stunning colonial architecture. Accom options: Motel, outback pub, B&Bs, station stays, cvan park, camping. Day 2: Meekatharra - Sandstone 191km, 2.5 hours Drive to Sandstone, watching for kangaroos and emus. Rock formations contrast with red sandstone. Stop at London Bridge rock formation. Accom options: Outback pub, B&B, c/park, camping.
MEEKATHARRA

3 DAY SELF DRIVE WOOL WAGON PATHWAY

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3 DAY SELF DRIVE KINGSFORD SMITH MAIL RUN

Take the 4WD and grab the camping gear to head north via the original Overland Mail Run to magnicent Mt Augustus. Day 1: Carnarvon - Mt Augustus 451km, 5.5 hours Head east to Gascoyne Junction and onto Mt Augustus, a massive monolith twice the size of Ayers Rock. Stop by original Kingsford Smith Mail Run stops of Cobra Homestead & Bangemall Inn. Arrive at Mt Augustus to watch the sun set over the 1,750 million year old rock. Accom options: Station stay, c/park, backpackers, camp Day 2: Mt Augustus - Mt Gould 227km, 2.5 hours Explore rock formations, caves and aboriginal art. Wildowers, wildlife, swimming, shing and picnic spots make this an outback adventure. Depart Mt Augustus, head for Gascoyne River at Landor. Follow the
COBRA BANGEMALL INN GASCOYNE JUNCTION BIDGEMIA STATION MOUNT AUGUSTUS NATIONAL PARK

Offering the best of the Aussie Outback, star lled night skies, sunsets and country characters. CUE WONDINONG W Day 1: Geraldton - Murchison SANDSTONE STATION MOUNT MAGNET Settlement WOGARNO STATION 292km, 4 hours KIRKALOCKA STATION LGOO Head east to Pindar and onto Murchison Settlement. This is real PAYNES FIND Australian landscape - open space, historic homesteads & wildlife. Day 3: Sandstone - Yalgoo Get a taste for life on the land by 280km, 3 hours See vast open landscapes, crossing back bunking down at a sheep or cattle station. Accom options: Station stays, through Mt Magnet to Yalgoo. Emus, wedge-tailed eagles and kangaroos are Settlement Roadhouse, c/park, camp. plentiful. Visit Jokers Tunnel carved Day 2: Murchison - Gascoyne through rock by early prospectors. Junction Accom options: Station stays, outback 282km, 3.5 hours pub, c/park, camp. Stop at natural spring of Bilung Pool. Day 4: Yalgoo - Paynes Find Seashell fossils south of Gascoyne 155km, 2 hours Junction point to geological history. Head SE to Paynes Find. Visit the Gold Visit the museum and picnic spots. Battery and Museum, showcasing Accom options: C/park, camping, the regions mining, pastoral and station stays. sandalwood industries.
For more information or purchasing the guidebook and CD, visit www.outbackpathways.com or contact the outlets opposite. For road condition information contact local Shires, Visitor Centres or Main Roads WA on 1800 013 314.

CARNARVON

MT GOULD

CARNARVON

GASCOYNE JUNCTION BIDGEMIA STATION

MEEKATHARRA

MURCHISON SETTLEMENT WOOLEEN STATION

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Day 3: Gascoyne Junction Exmouth 611km, 7 hours Take in the beauty of the Kennedy Ranges, boasting springs, cliffs, canyons and wildlife. Travel NW towards Exmouth and see Ningaloo Reef and seasonal whale sharks.

current mail route via Mt Gould to the Mt Gould Lock Up. Accom options: Camping under the night sky. Day 3: Mt Gould - Meekatharra 156km, 2 hours Journey south to the gold mining town of Meekatharra and take the Meeka Rangelands Discovery Walk Trail. Rocky outcrops, wildlife and wildowers bring the town to life.

$29.95

Western Australian Visitor Centre 1300 361 351 Geraldton Visitor Centre 1800 818 881 Carnarvon Visitor Centre (08) 9941 1146 Exmouth Visitor Centre (08) 9949 1176 Tom Price Visitor Centre (08) 9188 1112 Become a fan on Facebook Mid West Dev Commis. (08) 9921 0702 Gascoyne Murchison Tourism Inc.

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GOING WITH THE FLOW

Unsurprisingly, one of the mechanisms that many bird species use in this boom-and-bust world is fly-in, fly-out. They fly in when times are wet, and out to more temperate climes when the floods dry up. The mystery is how a pelican or a cormorant, sitting on a pier in Port Philip Bay, knows when to fly 1,500 kilometres to a wetland that has just been filled by rain that landed weeks previously a further 600 kilometres away to the north? Flying into the inland on spec in a normal dry year would be fatal. But come they do when it floods, in huge numbers. With the general decline of waterbird breeding in the wetlands of the MurrayDarling Basin, stripped of water by overallocation for irrigation, the desert wetlands of the Channel Country are now vital breeding grounds. The exciting thing is that the work of this trip and others paid off. Supported by conservation groups, driven by Angus Emmott, and other western Queensland residentsgraziers and Aboriginal leaders the Queensland Government declared the Channel Country rivers as Wild Rivers in December 2011. The waters and floodplains of this extraordinary country are now protected permanently. The scale of what has now been protected really became apparent on a scenic flight out of Birdsville. After a quick flick over the pub and town we headed out over the eastern Simpson Desert until Eyre Creek appeared, running between the bright red dunes. From the air the division between naturally irrigated floodplain and rainless desert was even more striking than on the ground. Ribbons of

green swirled where the floodwaters had risen and eddied, following the micro-relief of the terrain. Where the water had lain for some time grew dense stands of herbs, on the sandy flats that had received just a touch were lime-green fields, and in the deeper parts, still under water, were clumps of lignum, the wiry shrub of the inland that loves floods. Most stunning was the view further to the south, where Eyre Creek left the dune desert. Angus had told me that Goyders Lagoon was big, and Id seen it marked on the map, but on the ground it isnt possible to grasp the huge expanse of the wetlands. Here at the confluence of the Diamantina and Eyre Creek the floodplains swelled out to form the lagoon, a vast bright-green plain 120 kilometres long and 50 kilometres wide. Here was one of Australias grand natural sightsa huge wetland of the inland in its prime, full of life. There were thousands of birds. Most numerous seemed to be the bantams, the Black-tailed Native-hens, little black dots running wildly by the hundred between the lignum. In a world where nature, and especially rivers, are increasingly managed and controlled, the Channel Country stands alone; a vast system of rivers and wetlands where water flows as it always has, and nature remains in wild abundance. To see this land and its wildlife in its boom time is an experience truly full of wonder. Dr Barry Traill is Director of the Outback Australia Program for the Pew Environment Group.

Wild about the rivers

In response to increasing threats to the Channel Country rivers, from new coal seam gas and other mining projects, the previous Queensland Labor Government protected the oodplains and river ows of the Channel Country rivers late last year, declaring them as Wild Rivers under Queensland protective legislation. It is hoped that the recently elected Liberal-National Party Government in Queensland will maintain protection of these wetlands in this great sweep of country owing down to Lake Eyre.

Above: Dwarfed by the mass of water, the photographers two children survey the everadvancing flow. Photo by Angus Emmott

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