Queensland Alumina Gladstone
Interesting Sightings: Radjah Shelduck, Red-necked Avocet, Australian Painted Snipe, Pectoral Sandpiper, Black Bittern, Sanderling
Gladstone Shorebird Area:
Internationally significant: Far Eastern Curlew.
Nationally significant: Shorebird aggregation, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Whimbrel, Far-Eastern Curlew, Grey-tailed Tattler, Siberian Sand-Plover, Terek Sandpiper
A partnership between QAL and the Capricorn Wader Bird Survey Group has resulted in monthly surveys since 2012, kindly shared with QWSG. Settling ponds near the mouth of the Boyne River are part of the Gladstone Shorebird Area adjacent to the city of Gladstone. The area features shallow estuarine and marine waters influenced by freshwater inputs from the Calliope and Boyne rivers, with extensive mangrove forests, salt flats, shrublands, and coastal claypans. Vegetation ranges from halophytic shrublands to grasslands dominated by sand couch. Key roosting sites include Chinaman Island, Facing Island, and the Gladstone ash ponds, while the extensive intertidal flats of Targinie and Pelican Banks support large numbers of foraging migratory shorebirds.
References:
- 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.
- https://qal.au/our-approach/environmental-improvement/
- https://birdlife.org.au/groups/birdlife-capricornia/?srsltid=AfmBOorMhbbkKQmU0fMQw_w2WSTUH0DUjFFWE9JQq6-2v44300EvploK