EstuaryWatch Data Portal

Pelicans and lots of ducks

Birds present at site

Black Swans

Pacific black ducks

Little grebes

Pies Comorants

Measurements underataken by J.Obst as volunteers busy with SW TAFE students on weekend monitoring.

Great work braving the weather everyone - looks pretty rough out there..!  Jarred.

Wow - massive berm at present!!! Jarred.O

Yellow faced cormorants, Crows, Silver gulls.

Hooded Plover, Red cap plover, Ruddy turnstones, Little egret, Double banded plover.

Eleanor Cowell and James Cowell samplers.

Thanks again.  Great photos - and yes a very big sandbar remains, with little chance of a natural estuary opening under current conditions... Thanks Jarred.

Egrets (4), Grebe (1)

High tide seeing sea overflow berm preventing measurements of berm. 

Other samplers Eleanor Cowell, James Cowell and Jarred Obst .

Ducks? Gulls, White faced heron, Pelican.

stilts,swans, hooded plovers(lots)

Ducks, White faced heron, Grebe, 6 Hoodies.

Hooded plovers ? 50, Red capped plovers, Silver gulls.

Jarred - that's some awesome Hoody numbers!!  Also a very large berm following the massive 8m swell at the start of the month.  Cheers.

Took out Sth African Beach Daisy

J.Obst - nice work on the weed removal; a lot of this around unfortunately.  Very interesting photos too which show the old flow channel vs the impact of weed invasion on the undisturbed or 'old' part of the sand bar.

Dead juvenile jellyfish? at waters edge, Masked Lapwings, Red Capped Plovers 2.

Jarred - cracking weather & great photos.  The jellyfish you've noted are commonly known as 'By the wind Sailors'.  We've seen huge numbers turned up as discussed at lunch afterwards.  Thanks! 

Beach berm measured by Jarred Obst using RTK GPS unit as part of ARMO consideration monitoring.

Great data everyone - very large berm!

Pacific black duck, Musk ducks, Egret, Grey heron, Silver gulls, Masked lapwings.

Estuary water level added by J.Obst; observation from 5/8/22.

Pied oyster catcher, Silver gulls, Pacific black ducks,.

Evidence of seawater inflows.

Silver gull, Swans, Australian grebes, Musk ducks.

Hi everyone.  Fantastic images of the storm front, and yes wow what a massive beach berm/sand bar at present; one of the largest & highest i've seen in some time I think.   The power of the souther ocean and onshore winds!  Thanks Jarred.

Brown falcon, Masked lapwing, Silver gulls, Pacific black duck.

Thanks guys, and yes what a massive berm present...  Very early days, but given this berm is already over 2m in height, I envisage that we'll need to open the system later in the season once rainfall hopefully arrives.  Thanks Jarred.

Silver gull, Hooded plovers(nesting?)

clear beach, 2 swans

Red capped plovers (many), 

2 Pacific gulls, Flock Ibis, Swallows

Little Pied Cormorant.

Red capped plovers, Swan, Double banded plovers, Pacific gull, Pied oyster catchers.

Silver gulls, Immature Pacific gull, Great Cormorant.

greater cormorant

Bird and other Observations: Hooded Plovers fenced off areas. 

3 Horse floats in car park.

Tom Sheehan called into site on way home after work on Friday the 9th October and took photos i will endeavour to load. No monitoring took place on Saturday. Photo point site unavailable.

Pelican (1)

Cormorants black and pied (several)

Hooded plovers (lots)

Swans

Tom Sheehan co-monitor.

Hooded Plovers, Swans.

Signs of sea inundation.

Estuary opened recently artificialy.

Beach closed for hooded plover protection, no berm measurements taken.

pacific gull (juv)

swans...many

Tom Sheahan part of monitoring group.

No Berm measurements due to nesting birds exclusion zone.

Birds observed: Hooded plovers

Swans-6

Unable to access area to measure berm due to extent of river and berm - area fenced off to protect bird nesting areas.

Tom Sheehan part of this monitoring session.

Note: AHD readings taken at breakwater.

Note 2: Photo of "notice of closure" of track to photo point.

Tom Sheehan part of monitoring group.

Birds observed:65 chestnut teal, swan, silver gulls and hooded plovers (10-15)

Tom Sheehan part of monitoring group.

Birds observed: Great Cormorant, silver gulls and pied oyster catcher.

Tom Sheehan part of monitoring group.

High tide sea water flows into river estuary.

Natural opening during August-bank erosion.

River level cut off from photo point.

Good swell.

Tom Sheehan, Eleanor Cowell and James Cowell part of monitoring team.

Birds observed. Hooded Plovers several, Pacific Gulls 2 adults 1 juvenile, Unidentified shorebirds in largish flock, Red Capped Plovers, Red Kneed Dotterels.

Tom Sheehan part of monitoring group.

Wind picked up during observation recording.

River way back behind dune like it is during summer.

Sea state slight to moderate

Accompanied by students from SWTAFE studying the Diploma of Conservation and Land Management.

At high tide sea water was entering estuary.

Sea coming in on high tides.

Hooded Plovers at river edge.

Evidence of sea inflow (water marks on sand and seaweed)

No discernible wind direction. Signs of seawater ingress (foam on river). See photo attached.

photography group walking the beach. 20 + swans

water level at Stanley Street bridge unreadable but higher at end of observations

8 hooded plovers

Extra Photo:- Juvenile Hoodies or Red kneed Dotterels???

Erica Smith joined monitoring session.

Motor vehicle wheel marks significate.

Ugly vegetation of past 12 months disappeared - cleared

Dotterels. Hooded Plovers.

Last month open, this month closed but only just. Looks like may open soon given river flows.

High waters prevented reading being done. The Merri River at Dennington Pontoon was flooded.

Addition new members Luke Albury and Mary-Jo Hanly
Evidence of sea inundation through berm
All photos ( _Orig) appear to have been taken at low resolution on camera then have been further reduced for upload

Water level height measurements estimates only - gaugeboard fouled.
Few Black Swans, Hooded Plover Nesting Program (fenced off sites)
Weedy, sandy hillocks still remain
Riverside of berm so low that doesn't allow accurate reading