Lake Borrie Webcam
Lake Borrie is a wetland area that provides a haven for thousands of birds. It is located at Melbourne Water's Western Treatment Plant at Werribee. A web camera has been set up overlooking Lake Borrie to provide constant images of this beautiful wetland.
Our web camera is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We are working to get it back on line and apologise for any inconvenience.
Background
In 1983, the western shores of Port Phillip Bay, including the Bellarine Peninsula, were designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. This classification included Lake Borrie and its surrounding lagoons and coastal mudflats. Lake Borrie was originally a small swamp with paper bark trees and a few red gums, but it is now a part of the Melbourne Water sewage treatment lagoon series.
Lake Borrie is the most significant wetland in Victoria for migratory shorebirds, and one of the most significant drought refuges for ducks. During the 1982/83 drought the site had almost a third of all of Victoria's ducks on it. Migratory birds travel to Lake Borrie from as far as Alaska, Siberia, China and Japan, doubling their body weight on the abundant food over summer before heading back overseas.
The Western Treatment Plant can house an estimated 65,000 birds at any one time.
The plant is considered to be one of the top 10 birdwatching areas in Australia, with over one third of the country's species being recorded there (about 270 species). This is second only to Kakadu National Park.
Lake Borrie is one of only two Pied Cormorant breeding colonies in Victoria. Cormorants breed at the Western Treatment Plant during autumn, and then travel to other areas of Australia during spring and summer to raise their young.
In the early 1980s the nesting sites of these birds were under threat due to the decline in the number of trees standing in Lake Borrie. Much of the timber had fallen or rotted away. In order to save this breeding colony of Pied Cormorants from extinction, Melbourne Water placed two artificial perching and nesting platforms in Lake Borrie.
The addition of these platforms resulted in a significant increase in the bird population and another five platforms were also built. There are now approximately 700 breeding pairs of Pied Cormorants at the Western Treatment Plant that use the platforms and flooded trees in Lake Borrie and other lagoons for nesting sites along with approximately 20 pairs of Darters.
Waterfowl using the large ponds include the Pink-Eared Duck, Chestnut Teal, Australian Shoveller, Australian Shelduck, Grebes and Blue-Billed and Black Ducks. Coots and Eastern Swamphens use pond fringes, while Swans and Pelicans tend to roost on the small muddy islands located amongst the dead trees. At early evening, returning from feeding sites on the plant and surrounding fields hundreds of Straw-Necked and White Ibis come to roost on the trees in the lake.
Birdwatching
Permits can be obtained for birdwatching at the Western Treatment Plant, and tours for birdwatchers can be arranged. For tour information, visit www.melbournewater.com.au/education or call 131 722. To book a tour, contact us on line or call 131 722.