Lake Gregory (Western Australia)

Lake Gregory

Lake Gregory from space, September 1993. The main body of the lake appears bluish-turquoise in the center of the picture. The multi-braided channels (upper right) that feed water into Lake Gregory from the northeast are part of the Sturt Creek drainage system. There appears to be an excess of standing water in the channels (muddy-looking, yellowish) north and west of the main part of the lake. The surrounding landscape consists of grasslands with numerous sand ridges (thin, dark, parallel lines on the lower left side of the image).
Location Western Australia
Coordinates 20°12′S 127°27′E / 20.200°S 127.450°ECoordinates: 20°12′S 127°27′E / 20.200°S 127.450°E[1]
Basin countries Australia
References [1]

Lake Gregory (aka Paraku) is an inland drainage lake situated in north-eastern Western Australia between the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. It is usually fresh water, but can become saline after a number of dry years. It has a fairly regular inflow of water and is considered to be a permanent lake.

Lake Gregory is situated on the edge of Mulan Aboriginal Community, home to the Walmajarri people. It is a traditional site to the people, containing several culturally significant sites. The Paraku Indigenous Protected Area works with traditional owners and rangers to monitor and maintain the lake and its surroundings.

Birds

The lake serves as a major migratory stop-over area for a variety of shorebirds. It also provides a major breeding habitat of several species of water birds, including cormorants and terns. It has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports over 1% of the world populations of hardheads, grey teals, pink-eared ducks, little black cormorants, brolgas, sharp-tailed sandpipers. It sometimes supports similarly important numbers of magpie geese, Pacific black ducks, freckled ducks and Oriental plovers, as well as providing habitat for Australian bustards.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lake Gregory". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  2. ↑ "IBA: Lake Gregory/Paraku". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 2011-07-26.