Careel Bay (formerly 'Evening Bay') [1] is a bay and adjacent locality in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The locality is within the suburb of Avalon Beach. The bay lies adjacent to the suburbs of Avalon Beach and Palm Beach in the north east of Pittwater.
The bay has the largest stand of mangroves and sea grass beds in Pittwater. The Bay is also a fish nursery important to Pittwater and nearby coastal waters.
A total of 116 bird species have been recorded at Careel Bay and its immediate catchment. The endangered Bush Stone-Curlew is a resident of Careel Bay, along with the regionally significant Mangrove Gerygone and international
migratory species such as the Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit. Some of these birds, from East-Asia, use Careel Bay as a stop off area. The Federal Government and Australian people are committed to a number of agreements to protect these birds and their habitat, including the China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement and the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement agreements. [2]
Careel Bay is the most significant area of estuarine wetlands in the Northern Beaches. It contains a combination of natural features, rare in the Sydney region, that provide habitat for a variety of marine life and bird species
Nature sign provided by Pittwater Council located in Currawong Avenue Reserve: [3]
Migratory shorebirds of Careel Bay
For thousands of years migratory shorebirds have been global wanderers. They make an annual journey of over 24,000 kilometres from Australia to the top of Siberia or western Alaska and back.
In Australia, with its abundant shorelines and estuaries, they find a warm haven from the northern winter. During our winter, they travel north to breed. They live their lives in an endless summer. Each year around September/October, the shorebirds arrive in Australia. Some visit Careel Bay, its wide mudflats and rich marine life making an excellent habitat for them.
Species which visit Careel Bay include:
The shorebirds return to their breeding grounds in Siberia and Alaska in April and May. During March and April, they fatten up for their long journey. The fat will provide them with the fuel they need. Travelling north, most make their first stop in the Yellow Sea, a non-stop flight of four days. There, they fatten up again before heading north to their breeding grounds – another four day flight. Many visit the Yellow Sea when returning to Australia but some fly non-stop from Asia and Alaska – a journey of over 11,000 kilometres.
Which bird is which?
The best way to identify shorebirds is by their bills. Size can help but perspective can be a problem on a mudflat. Common birds here are:
a. Eastern Curlew
b. Whimbrel
Help keep Careel Bay a secure home for these birds
Your care will help to ensure that this wonderful story continues and that future generations can marvel at these amazing birds too.
Some non-migratory birds make Careel Bay their home
These include:
A common heron around Sydney, this bird is regularly spotted feeding among the shorelines.
A stealthy and well camouflaged bird. The Mangrove, or Striated Heron, skulks up to its prey with great care before using its long neck to lunge.
A large white wading bird with a bill that lives up to its name. Spoonbills feed by swinging their bill from side to side as they sift through the shallows in a movement known as "mowing".
Careel Bay is the most southerly home of the Mangrove Gerygone (pronounced jer-igun-ee). If you’re fortunate, you may hear this tiny bird warbling from the nearby mangroves
Barrenjoey Road provides access by bus or car. Bus route 199 operated by Keolis Downer Northern Beaches operates to Manly wharf.
Palm Beach is a suburb in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Palm Beach is located 41 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Palm Beach sits on a peninsula at the end of Barrenjoey Road, between Pittwater and Broken Bay. The population of Palm Beach was 1,593 as at the 2016 census.
Pittwater Council was a local government area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It covered a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of the Sydney central business district. The area is named after Pittwater, the body of water adjacent to much of the area governed. First proclaimed in 1906 as the A Riding of Warringah Shire, the area was proclaimed as the Municipality of Pittwater on 1 May 1992. On 12 May 2016, the Minister for Local Government announced that Pittwater Council would be subsumed into the newly formed Northern Beaches Council. The last Mayor of Pittwater Council was Councillor Jacqui Townsend, an independent politician.
Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after HMS Roebuck, the ship captained by William Dampier when he explored the coast of north-western Australia in 1699. The Broome Bird Observatory lies on the northern coast of the bay.
The Towra Point Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in Sutherland Shire, southern Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 603-hectare (1,490-acre) reserve is situated on the southern shores of Botany Bay at Kurnell, within the Sutherland Shire. The reserve is protected under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance as an important breeding ground for many vulnerable, protected, or endangered species. The Towra Point Aquatic Nature Reserve is located in the surrounding waterways.
Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the Central Coast.
Eighty Mile Beach, also spelled Eighty-mile Beach or 80-mile Beach, lies along the north-west coast of Western Australia about half-way between the towns of Broome and Port Hedland. It is a beach some 220 kilometres (140 mi) in length, forming the coastline where the Great Sandy Desert approaches the Indian Ocean. It is one of the most important sites for migratory shorebirds, or waders, in Australia, and is recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
Jaffna Lagoon is a large lagoon off Jaffna District and Kilinochchi District, northern Sri Lanka. The lagoon is surrounded by the densely populated Jaffna Peninsula containing palmyra palms, coconut plantations, and rice paddies. There are numerous fishing villages and some salt pans. The lagoon has extensive mudflats, seagrass beds and some mangroves. The lagoon attracts a wide variety of water birds including American flamingoes, ducks, gulls, terns and other shorebirds.
The Boondall Wetlands lie on the edge of Moreton Bay in the Brisbane suburb of Boondall between Nudgee Beach and Shorncliffe, in south-east Queensland, Australia. The wetlands are preserved within the Boondall Wetlands Reserve which was preserved in 1990 and covers more than 1100 hectares of internationally significant wetlands.
Bahia Lomas is a bay in the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan in Southern Chile, on the north coast of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. The area is a large tidal plain, with a tidal variation up to 7 km. The wetlands of the bay are important sites for the red knot, the Hudsonian godwit and other shorebirds. The wetlands are a Ramsar site of international importance and an Important Bird Area.
Buckingham Bay is a large, rectangular bay on the northern coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It lies 520 km east of Darwin and 120 km west of Nhulunbuy.
The Hunter Estuary Wetlands comprise a group of associated wetlands at and near the mouth of the Hunter River in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Some 30 km2 of the wetlands has been recognised as being of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention. It was listed on 21 February 1984 as Ramsar site 287. A larger area of the wetlands has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The wetlands are recognised as the most important area in New South Wales for waders, or shorebirds.
The Milingimbi Islands Important Bird Area comprises 94 km2 of land in the Milingimbi, or Crocodile Islands group, of the Northern Territory of Australia. The area is traditionally owned Aboriginal land. The mudflats are an important staging site for migratory waders, or shorebirds.
Housing more than 200 resident and wintering bird species, Chennai has long been a haven for bird watchers. It is the one of the few urban areas in India with diverse range of birds including greater flamingo, black baza, osprey, Indian eagle-owl, Coppersmith barbet, Spot billed pelican and pied avocet can be seen. The following are some known birding hotspots in and around Chennai.
The Port McArthur Tidal Wetlands System comprises a 994 km2 tract of tidal wetlands on the south-west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. The land extends along the coast opposite the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands, incorporating the estuaries of the McArthur and Wearyan Rivers. It is an important site for waders, or shorebirds.
The Repulse Bay to Ince Bay Important Bird Area is a disjunct stretch of coastline comprising a series of relatively sheltered beaches in the Mackay-Whitsunday region of Central Queensland, north-eastern Australia. With an area of 134 km2, it extends for about 180 km from Repulse Bay in the north through the city of Mackay to Ince Bay and Cape Palmerston in the south. It is an important site for waders, or shorebirds.
Shoal Bay is a shallow bay lying adjacent to, and north of, the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. Encompassing Hope Inlet at its eastern end, it is characterised by extensive areas of intertidal mudflats and mangroves and is an important site for waders, or shorebirds. The bay is situated within the Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve, a protected area that was established in 2000.
The Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area comprises some 37 km2 of coastal land along the northwestern shore of Port Phillip in the state of Victoria, in southeastern Australia. It is important for a wide variety of waterbirds.
The Fog Bay and Finniss River Floodplains comprise the floodplain of the lower reaches of the Finniss River with the adjoining intertidal mudflats of Fog Bay in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is an important site for waterbirds.
The Federation Walk Coastal Reserve is a reserve comprising the eastern part of The Spit on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The reserve was opened on 22 June 2003, and is approximately 93 hectares in size. The area supports a subtle mix of habitats including littoral rainforest, native grasslands, and pockets of wetlands. The Federation Walk track goes throughout the reserve.
The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringah Councils.
Coordinates: 33°37′24″S151°19′38″E / 33.62320°S 151.32734°E