Lake Barlee

Lake Barlee
Satellite image
Location	Youanmi, Western Australia
Coordinates	29°9′20″S 119°30′50″E / 29.15556°S 119.51389°E / -29.15556; 119.51389Coordinates: 29°9′20″S 119°30′50″E / 29.15556°S 119.51389°E / -29.15556; 119.51389
Lake type	intermittent salt lake
Primary outflows	internal drainage
Basin countries	Australia
Max. length	approximately 80 km (50 mi)
Max. width	approximately 100 km (62 mi)
Surface area	1,980 km2 (760 sq mi)

Lake Barlee is an intermittent salt lake, at 1,980 square kilometres (764 sq mi) the second largest lake in Western Australia.^[1]

It is 65 kilometres (40 mi) southeast of Youanmi and 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Bullfinch, on the border between the shires of Sandstone and Menzies. Lake Barlee is more than 100 km from west to east, and about 80 km from north to south.

The lake is usually dry. It fills about once every ten years on average, after which the water persists for a little less than a year. When it is inundated it becomes an important breeding site for waterbirds.

History

Prospectors crossing Lake Barlee, circa 1923

Lake Barlee was first encountered by John Forrest on 18 May 1869. Forrest's party, which was searching for the lost explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, became bogged while trying to cross the salt lake. After extracting their horses, they skirted the lake for nearly a week. On 25 May, Forrest climbed Yeedie Hill and saw the great extent of the lake.

Forrest named the lake after Frederick Barlee, the Colonial Secretary of Western Australia.^[2]

Birds

Banded stilts

Lake Barlee, along with some small satellite lakes, was identified by BirdLife International as a 1937 km² Important Bird Area (IBA). It supported one of the largest recorded breeding events of the Banded Stilt, with 179,000 nests counted.^[3] Other waterbirds known to breed at the lake include the Black Swan, Australian Shelduck, Pink-eared Duck, White-headed Stilt and Red-capped Plover.^[4]

References