Lake Wyangan Wetlands
From where I live, I can see some of the best sunsets ever. I look out over paddocks to the west with a clear view for many kilometres.
A common sight many years ago was our farmer neighbour silhouetted against the sky with his shovel over his shoulder as he checked out how his watering was going. With his death went an era in water management. And with the change in water management went the almost permanent wetlands that are Nericon and Campbell’s Swamps.
In fact, the whole of the Lake Wyangan Wetlands System has changed in the last 10 - 15 years. Situated just north of Griffith NSW, the wetlands system has no other drainage. Each waterbody contains the run off - or irrigation overflow - from the immediate vicinity. With years of drought, with less water available and with change land use, the quantity of water available for wetlands has decreased dramatically. Areas that were once almost permanently wet and available as breeding areas are now dry and defunct.
But that does not mean that the area is not worth a visit. The birds have moved on from the swamps to the lake itself as the water level in the north basin fall to its lowest levels in living memory. As the water recedes, the mudflats are exposed and are a haven for freshwater waders and even a Common Sandpiper (which turns out to be not so common after all in this area).
So check out the Lake Wyangan Wetlands page on the Murrumbidgee Field Naturalists site.
Have you been to Griffith NSW? Or been to the wetlands? Why not tell us what you think about them.
May 15th, 2008 - Posted in Places to Visit | |
