Cooloola
An intertidal mudflat bordered by eucalypt forest to the south and west and mangrove forest and sandbar to the east. An small estuary feeds from the north east. Access is via the beach north of Mullens Creek Park at the end of Bayside Road. This area is closed to the public from 1 March to 30 April, and from 1 September to 31 October. Permission is required from QPWS to enter the site during this period. See link below.
Interesting Sightings: Asian Dowitcher (2021), Grey Plover (2021), Broad-billed Sandpiper (2020)
Cooloola Cove is part of the Great Sandy Strait, a Ramsar site.
A good place to see: Far Eastern Curlew, Red-capped Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Pied Oystercatcher, Siberian Sand-Plover, Asian Dowitcher, Terek Sandpiper
Conservation
The Great Sandy Strait Shorebird Area lies east of Maryborough in south-eastern Queensland, stretching from Hervey Bay to Tin Can Bay. This expansive and complex wetland system includes intertidal sand and mudflats, extensive seagrass beds, mangrove forests, saltmarshes, and saline estuarine waters with some freshwater inflows. Habitats range from shallow estuarine channels and subtidal seagrass meadows to mud and sand flats, salt flats, and vegetated swamp margins behind mangroves. The region supports high biodiversity, including 10 species of mangrove and rich communities of invertebrates and fish. It is one of three major feeding and roosting sites for migratory shorebirds in eastern Australia.
It is internationally significant for Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey-tailed Tattler, Siberian Sand-Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel and Far Eastern Curlew.
Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.