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Broome’s Dampier Creek

It’s early morning in the mangroves lining Dampier Creek on the fringe of Broome’s Chinatown, and air is alive with birdsong.  A small female Broad-billed flycatcher alights briefly on mangrove pneumataphores, the spiky air-breathing roots that emerge from the mud at low tide, as a Bar-shouldered dove sings out above her.

There are around 6km² of mangroves surrounding Dampier Creek, one of the reasons that Roebuck Bay is listed as a RAMSAR wetland of international significance, and with eleven species listed in the Bay, Dampier Creek is important in that it has some of the highest species diversity and tallest trees.  There is a distinct zonation in the mangroves; typically Avicennia, Rhizophora and Ceriops in a landward direction.  Subject to Broome’s enormous tidal variations, the mangroves are covered by tides of up to 10m on a high spring tide.

A female Leader Flycatcher (Myiagra rubecula) in the mangroves near Streeters Jetty, Dampier Creek, Broome.

A female Broad-billed Flycatcher (Myiagra ruficollis) in the mangroves near Streeters Jetty, Dampier Creek, Broome.

Red buds on a Mangrove Mistletoe in Dampier Creek, Broome

Red buds on a Mangrove Mistletoe in Dampier Creek, Broome

 

Rhizophora Stylosa mangrove flower, Dampier Creek, Broome

Rhizophora Stylosa mangrove flower, Dampier Creek, Broome

Lenticels, or pores, are visible n the woody pneumataphores of the mangroves in Dampier Creek.

Lenticels, or pores, are visible on the woody pneumataphores of the mangroves in Dampier Creek.

Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis) resting in the mangroves in Dampier Creek, Broome.

Bar-shouldered dove (Geopelia humeralis) resting in the mangroves in Dampier Creek, Broome.

 

Tracks in the mangroves, early morning.

Tracks in the mangroves, early morning.

A Mud Whelk (Tenebralia palustris) in the mangroves in Dampier Creek, Broome.

A Mud Whelk (Tenebralia palustris) in the mangroves in Dampier Creek, Broome.

For more information on Roebuck Bay see the Roebuck Bay Working Group website.

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