Wagin Lake is a usually dry

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

in the Wheatbelt region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

located on the southern edge of the town of Wagin and about south east of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. The lake is bordered on the western side by the Wagin Lake Nature Reserve, which occupies an area of . The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the area are the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

peoples in the Gnaala Karla Booja region (the

Pindjarup The Bindjareb, Binjareb, Pindjarup or Pinjareb are an Indigenous Noongar people that occupy part of the South West of Western Australia. Name It is not clear if ''Pindjarup'' is the historically correct ethnonym for the tribe. After their dis ...

Wiilman Wiilman are an indigenous Noongar people from the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, Wheatbelt, Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern and South West, Western Australia, South West regions of Western Australia. Variant spellings o ...

and Ganeang dialectical groups). There are a number of Aboriginal sites throughout the shire, including around the lake. The lake's name is of Noongar origin, and was first recorded by a surveyor in 1869-72. It means "place of emus", or "site of the foot tracks from when the emu sat down". The town takes its name from the lake. The lake is part of a chain of wetlands situated along major ancient drainage lines in the area that run from Dumbleyung in the north to south of Wagin. The

Shire of Wagin The Shire of Wagin is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about southeast of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of about , and its seat of government is the town of Wagin. History It was ...

contains many large lakes and wetlands, including western parts of Lake Dumbleyung, Parkeyerring Lake, Lake Little Parkeyerring, Lake Quarbing, Lake Norring, Lake Little Norring, Lake Gundaring and Lake Wagin. The lakes are part of the catchment system of the

Blackwood River The Blackwood River is a major river and catchment in the South West of Western Australia. Course The river begins at the junction of Arthur River and Balgarup River near Quelarup and travels in a south westerly direction through the tow ...

but as a result of the flat topography, low average rainfall and existence of an extensive network of salt lakes, the eastern creeks and rivers rarely contribute any flows to the river. The catchment area has an average rainfall of per annum and an evaporation rate of per annum. The landscape is a mixture of alluvial plains, dunes, small lunettes and swales found over alluvial and aeolian deposits. In February 2017 floods filled the lake to capacity; it remained filled through to the following year, attracting large flocks of

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

s, egrets and ducks. When the lake contains water it acts as habitat for many species, including

grey teal The grey teal (''Anas gracilis'') is a dabbling duck found in open wetlands in Australia and New Zealand. Description It can be identified due to the presence of a crimson coloured iris in its eyes.Winter, M. (2018). Grey Teal. Wilderness Mag ...

pacific black duck The Pacific black duck (''Anas superciliosa''), commonly known as the PBD, is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the no ...

eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

hoary-headed grebe The hoary-headed grebe (''Poliocephalus poliocephalus'') is a member of the grebe family. It breeds in southern parts of Australia; it winters throughout the island of Tasmania. The bird takes its name from the silvery-white streaking on its blac ...

pied stilt The pied stilt (''Himantopus leucocephalus''), also known as the white-headed stilt, is a shorebird in the family Recurvirostridae. It is widely distributed with a large total population size and apparently stable population trend, occurring in ...

white-faced heron The white-faced heron (''Egretta novaehollandiae'') also known as the white-fronted heron, and incorrectly as the grey heron, or blue crane, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Indo ...

great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...

and

yellow-billed spoonbill The yellow-billed spoonbill (''Platalea flavipes'') is a gregarious Wader, wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is native to Australia, and is a vagrant to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Taxonomy ...

References

{{reflist Wagin Saline lakes of Western Australia Noongar placenames

See also

References