As the sun prepares to light up a new day, nature’s alarm rings out to the tune of pelicans, cormorants and pied butcherbirds singing their songs.
Key points:
- The native bird population has risen in the Riverland after last year’s floods
- An ecologist says usually-dry sections of the swamp are supporting new life
- An Indigenous elder says seeing the flood plains thrives is a welcome sight
Walking through wetlands in South Australia’s Riverland, ravens and crows caw from above as black-tailed native hens and all sorts of wrens scurry below.
While the 2022-23 Murray River flood was devastating for some river communities, the native bird species went on a breeding frenzy and enjoyed increased flows from upstream which fed new bird life.
Twitchers on SA’s stretch of the river may notice an abundance of birds flying by the water in magnificent flocks.
Flood plain ecologist Grace Hodder, from the state’s Department for Environment and Water, said it was the perfect breeding ground, despite the region being renowned for its hot and dry climate.
“The fact that a place like this is [that is] usually dry; it got wet during the flood, water was pushed right out to these black box trees that really needed a drink,” she said.
“It’s just really heartwarming, it’s something that gives me a little bit of hope.”
Ms Hodder manages ecological monitoring on the Chowilla flood plain, north of Renmark, by tracking bird populations as well as fish, frogs, trees and plants to help make decisions about the environment.
She said she had seen water birds thriving in the Coombool Swamp, a 300 hectare wetland, still full from the flood.
“Larger waders like the spoonbills, egrets and herons, they need different depths of water to forage in, so this swamp provides all of those different habitats for them,” she said.
“It’s so special, I just pinch myself when I’m out here.”
Cacophony of bird calls
The Riverland’s flood plains are being treated to an additional drink during as extra flows arrive from New South Wales and Victoria.
It has promoted even more breeding, with purple swamphens, mallee ringnecks and whistling kites making themselves seen and heard across the river system.
Taking a deep breath during a moment of mindfulness, Uncle Barney Lindsay scans the wetlands at Martin Bend in Berri.
The Maraura and Ngarrindjeri man tunes into the sweet sound of river birds singing.
“It just feels amazing, the animals you get interaction with in the bush, your spirit comes alive and you feel like you’re communicating with them, well I do anyway,” he said.
Uncle Barney said he could identify the calls of countless feathered friends.
“There’s so many different birds with different whistling calls … I can hear butcherbirds, miners, and also reed warblers and a few crows in the distance,” he said.
“Sometimes I whistle out and mimic them.
“Being alone in the bush and being with nature and God’s creation and it’s just, it’s magic.”
Uncle Barney said seeing flood plains thrive had been a welcome sight.
It comes after the Bureau of Meteorology said an El Niño event was likely, which could spur a dry cycle.
Uncle Barney said it was important to keep Australia’s birds chirping as weather patterns changed.
“The cycle of life, every bird, animal, they got their part to play to keep the ecosystem and everything ticking over,” he said.
Loading