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Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences Centre for Ecosystem Science

Day 16, Broken Hill to Griffith

After completing the last few counts on Menindee Lakes, we head south for the Anabranch Lakes.

Personalise
Aerial photograph shows a small single-engine airplane viewed from below while flying over a vast desert landscape. White fuselage with blue and red stripes, landing gear, wing structure, and expansive tan terrain beneath blue sky are visible.

Photo: Approaching the Anabranch Lakes
Lakebed cropping on Yelta Lake in the Darling Anabranch system

Survey details

  • Calendar plane icon
    Date

    Tuesday 20 October 2026

  • Paper write icon
    Author

    John Porter

  • Real estate dimensions map icon
    Project

    Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey

  • Style three pin binoculars icon
    Observers

    John Porter (NSW DCCEEW), Shelley Thompson (MDBA)

  • Aircraft military plane 2 icon
    Pilot

    Thomas Clark
Most are dry, but there is a small amount of water remaining in Nearie Lake Nature Reserve. In the shallow waters there are moderate numbers of waterbirds, mainly Wood Ducks, Grey Teals, White-headed Stilts, Whiskered Terns, Silver Gulls, Red-necked Avocets, Yellow-billed Spoonbills and Straw-necked Ibis.
Aerial photograph documents a shallow, pale saline lake amid arid scrubland and patterned desert terrain. Irregular white shoreline, exposed sediment, sparse vegetation, distant flat horizon, and aircraft wing frame emphasize severe dryness

Before heading into Mildura to refuel, we count a series of shallow saline wetlands near Murray Sunset National Park – these are almost all dry, and there are few waterbirds.
Next up is the Lowbidgee system – a large delta system of distributary channels, creeks, lakes and swamps - these have dried back noticeably compared to the previous year, but recent releases of environmental flows have supported vegetation and waterbirds as other habitats dry.
Aerial photograph viewed from an aircraft shows arid Australian landscape, documenting desert vegetation patterns. Irregular tan sand patches and green-gray vegetation form extensive curving bands across flat terrain, with aircraft engine visible upper right

Patterns of water flow and vegetation in the Lowbidgee wetlands

Aerial photograph documents dry shrubland and winding wetland channel during an environmental survey. Aircraft wing, propeller, shadow, sandy tracks, sparse vegetation, and blue sky

Gayini Wetlands

Aerial photograph shows aircraft wing flying over wetlands with branching dark-water channels, shallow pools, and patchy brown-green vegetation, while expansive flat terrain and partly cloudy blue sky

Gayini Wetlands

Aerial photograph documents a wetland landscape viewed from a small aircraft. Shallow pools, branching waterways, vegetation patches, muddy terrain, forest, and distant farmland surround aircraft wing and propeller

Gayini Wetlands

The shallow, lignum-filled watercourses, including Pollen Creek, are productive; however, we find moderate numbers of waterbirds, mostly Grey Teals, Black Ducks, egrets, Pacific and White-faced Herons, Yellow-billed Spoonbills, and Glossy, Straw-necked, and White Ibis. We finish the day with counts on a series of water storage dams (most with few waterbirds) before landing at Griffith for the evening.

Explore

View of front section of light plane over vast water body with land and sky in distance

Previous day: Day 15, Sydney to Broken Hill

Monday 19 October 2026
Light airplane in flight over water and rocks

2026 Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey Daily Blog

See all blogs from the 2026 survey.Â