geoffcook

Swan Bay is on the Bellarine Peninsula and a rare treasure that we can enjoy from our home. There is always something going on that attracts our attention. The breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, is just another attraction that we take for granted!
Swan Bay contains a variety of ecosystems that make it environmentally important for water birds and migratory waders. These include salt marsh, intertidal mudflats and vast seagrass beds on which, almost everything living in the bay relies on for food. The bay has been recognised as having international importance and the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park almost entirely occupies the bay.
Nearly 200 species of birds have been recorded in Swan bay. Birds of conservation significance for which the bay and its shore are internationally important include the Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrot as well as Little Tern, Fairy Tern, Eastern Curlew, Lewin's Rail and White-bellied Sea-eagle. It also supports over 1% of the Australian population of four wader species: Grey Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Double-banded Plover and Eastern Curlew. Other birds found in the region include the Australian Pelican, Silver Gull, Royal Spoonbill, Caspian and Crested Terns, White-fronted Chat, Sacred Ibis, Red-necked Stint, Little Pied Cormorant and Pied Oystercatcher. Some of these birds travel from as far away as arctic Siberia and Alaska where they breed, to feed on the intertidal mudflats of Swan Bay