Lake Hawdon System Important Bird Area

Last updated July 08, 2019

Lake Hawdon System IBA

Location in South Australia

The Lake Hawdon System Important Bird Area comprises an area of 374 square kilometres (144 square miles) covering a series of five coastal lakes in the Limestone Coast of South Australia. They are the most important of a string of regional lakes occupying swale corridors between modern and historical sand dunes.^[1]

The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The name is also used for a tourist region and a wine zone both located in the same part of South Australia.

South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and fifth largest by population. It has a total of 1.7 million people, and its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital, Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second largest centre, has a population of 28,684.

In physical geography, a dune is a hill of loose sand built by aeolian processes (wind) or the flow of water. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, formed by interaction with the flow of air or water. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the stoss (upflow) side, where the sand is pushed up the dune, and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee side. The valley or trough between dunes is called a slack. A "dune field" or erg is an area covered by extensive dunes.

Description

The Important Bird Area (IBA) lies between the towns of Robe and Beachport. It includes the following lakes listed in order from north to south - Hawdon, Robe, Eliza, St Clair and George, and the area extending for a distance of one kilometre (0.62 mi) inland from each in order to include habitat used by critically endangered orange-bellied parrots. Characteristics of the lakes are:^[1]

Important Bird Area area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of birds populations

An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.

Robe, South Australia Town in South Australia

Robe is a town and fishing port located in the Limestone Coast of South Australia. The town's distinctive combination of historical buildings, ocean, fishing fleets, lakes and dense bush is widely appreciated. Robe lies on the southern shore of Guichen Bay, just off the Princes Highway. At the 2006 census, Robe had a population of 1,246. Robe is the main town in the District Council of Robe local government area. It is in the state electorate of MacKillop and the federal Division of Barker.

A critically endangered (CR) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Lake Hawdon – shallow, semi-permanent, brackish lake which is divided into a northern basin measuring six by six kilometres (3.7 by 3.7 mi) and a southern basin measuring nine by four point five kilometres (5.6 by 2.8 mi) with a maximum water depth of about one metre (3.3 ft);
Lake Robe – 406 hectares (1,000 acres) much smaller than Lake Hawdon
Lake Eliza – hypersaline coastal lake with maximum depth of 1.4 metres (4 feet 7 inches);
Lake St Clair – 189 hectares (470 acres) similar to Lake Eliza but more saline
Lake George – about thirteen by eight kilometres (8.1 by 5.0 mi) with maximum depth of 3.5 metres (11 feet); naturally hypersaline but functions as an estuary with an outlet to the sea.

Criteria for nomination as an IBA

The wetland system was identified by BirdLife International as an IBA because it regularly supports over 1% of the world populations of red-necked stint, and often of sharp-tailed sandpipers, double-banded plovers and banded stilts. It also provides habitat for orange-bellied parrots, Australasian bitterns, rufous bristlebirds and striated fieldwrens.^[1] The adjacent beaches and offshore islets, from Cowrtie Island^{[ clarification needed ]} to Baudin Rocks, sometimes support breeding fairy terns.^[1]

BirdLife International is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats, and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. It is the world's largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.

The red-necked stint is a small migratory wader. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ruficollis is from Latin rufus, "red" and collum, "neck".

The sharp-tailed sandpiper is a small wader.

Associated protected areas

While the IBA has no statutory status, it does overlap the following protected areas declared by the South Australian government: Beachport Conservation Park, Lake Robe Game Reserve, Lake St Clair Conservation Park and Little Dip Conservation Park.^[1]

The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. The Government of South Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1856 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended from time to time. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, South Australia has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, South Australia ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth.

Beachport Conservation Park, formerly the Beachport National Park, is a protected area located in the Limestone Coast of South Australia about 80 kilometres north-west of Mount Gambier and immediately north of the township of Beachport.

Lake Robe Game Reserve is a protected area located about 6 kilometres south of the town of Robe in South Australia. It covers the saline lake, Lake Robe, and some surrounding land and also immediately adjoins the northern boundary of the Little Dip Conservation Park. It was proclaimed on 4 November 1993 to protect "valuable habitats for a variety of waterbirds, and terrestrial mammals notably the hooded plover, sharp-tailed sandpiper, and the swamp rat " and to manage recreational duck hunting activity. The area is classified as an IUCN Category VI protected area.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake Hawdon System". BirdLife International. 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.

Coordinates: 37°16′34″S139°55′35″E / 37.27611°S 139.92639°E / -37.27611; 139.92639

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[bli-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake Hawdon System". BirdLife International. 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.