Guest post by Carolyn Osterhaus.
Edited, updated, proofread – Admin.
Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.
Birdlife Townsville folks tipped me off about the Wongaloo wetlands. I learned, to my dismay, that tours offer the only access. Luckily, National Landcare Week in September featured a bus trip to this very spot.
The Wongaloo visit followed a walk through Mundingburra’s Bush Garden, where nursery manager Christine Dalliston dazzled us with her vast plant knowledge. Folks lingered, reluctant to board a bus that arrived late after a no-show scare. The day wrapped up at Morratt’s Pit, a site Lower Burdekin Landcare Association has revitalized.
Many locals, even those nearby, miss out on Wongaloo. The bus driver raved about his first visit, awed by thousands of birds thriving on water in a dry region. He claimed it outshone Town Common, calling that an “airport” by comparison.
Wongaloo Regional Park neighbors the Bowling Green Bay Ramsar site. The Wetlands and Grasslands Foundation—a nonprofit, public charity—teams up with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to manage it. A grant funds weed removal—lantana, pink bauhinia, candle bush—across the 50-hectare site. Fences stretch several kilometers to manage cattle and curb weeds.
Wongaloo hosts Australia’s largest recorded brolga gathering: around 12,000. Brolgas and magpie geese breed here, drawn by bulkurru (Eleocharis dulcis), or Chinese water chestnut. This plant forms thick beds in the wet season, then retreats to tubers as waters dry. Birds nest in the wet, then dig for tubers in the dry. Waterbirds and seasonal fish also rely on this habitat—freshwater fish spawn here during wet-season stream surges.
Three water sources feed the site. Runoff flows from the Mt Elliott Range. A massive sand ridge, built over millennia by the Burdekin River, traps rainwater and releases it slowly into the swamps. Occasional Haughton River floods add more.
Cattle graze to control weeds, monitored closely. Fences shield lakes, keeping cattle from damaging shorelines. Feral pigs pose a challenge. Conservation Volunteers tackled weeds in the past. Christine stressed, “Managing salt intrusions to restore the freshwater wetland matters most to me.”
At Morratt’s Pit in Ayr, green tree guards signal big restoration efforts. Lower Burdekin Landcare Association planted over 2,500 trees in the first half of 2017.
A sausage sizzle capped the day. Vegetarian sausages promised flavor but delivered dirt with a sage twist. Next time, I’ll join the birds and sample water chestnuts.