Cover Letter, DA Form 1, Plans, Owners Consent, Coastal Environment Assessment · OPW21/0049

                        Diagram 6: Gull (day) count time series – 2005 to present
 300



 250



 200



 150



 100



   50



    0
    Oct-05 Oct-06 Oct-07 Oct-08 Oct-09 Oct-10 Oct-11 Oct-12 Oct-13 Oct-14 Oct-15 Oct-16 Oct-17 Oct-18



Diagram 7 illustrates the relative resilience in number of wading birds including several species of Egret
and Heron, though the modest overall population (on average around 10 individuals sighted per survey)
prevents genuine analysis. Moreover, the location of the survey sites in the Noosa River estuary adjacent
to the river mouth may not adequately capture those wading species which might be expected to be more
widely distributed amongst the inter-tidal mud flats of the lakes and creeks of the Noosa River system.


                  Diagram 7: Wading birds (day) count time series – 2005 to present

    30



    25



    20



    15



    10



     5



     0
     Oct-05 Oct-06 Oct-07 Oct-08 Oct-09 Oct-10 Oct-11 Oct-12 Oct-13 Oct-14 Oct-15 Oct-16 Oct-17 Oct-18



Declines of around 20% in the total numbers of water birds per Diagram 8 is largely attributed to declines
witnessed amongst the more abundant Little Black Cormorant and Pied Cormorant species, though
numbers of all other species of water bird remained generally stable over the period. It is possible the
prolonged drought in parts of inland Australia could be contributing to this decline.




Noosa River – Shorebird Survey Report 2019                                                         Page 25