Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve
Moulting Lagoon Important Bird Area is a composite wetland site in eastern Tasmania, Australia. It comprises two adjacent and hydrologically continuous wetlands – Moulting Lagoon and the Apsley Marshes – at the head of Great Oyster Bay, near the base of the Freycinet Peninsula, between the towns of Swansea and Bicheno. Both components of the site are listed separately under the Ramsar Convention as wetlands of international significance. Moulting Lagoon is so named because it is a traditional moulting place for black swans. It is an important site for waterbirds.
Moulting Lagoon is a coastal lagoon, or largely enclosed estuary, formed at the mouths of the Swan and Apsley Rivers, which have a combined catchment area of 900 km2, and sheltered from the ocean by Nine Mile Spit. It is adjacent to the Apsley Marshes which store and filter floodwater from the Apsley River for gradual release into the lagoon. The geology of the site is dominated by Holocene alluvial gravels and sands with smaller areas of Jurassic dolerite and Triassic sandstone. Average annual rainfall (recorded at Swansea) is 611 mm; average maximum temperatures are 13 °C in winter and 22 °C in summer. The tidal range of the lagoon varies from 0.3 m in its upper reaches to 0.8 m at the mouth. Although the lagoon’s hydrology is usually dominated by its estuarine nature, during peak flows of the Swan River these are overridden by large quantities of fresh water. During hot, dry weather, salinity levels may reach twice that of seawater in some areas. The lagoon contains areas of both deep and shallow water and is surrounded by tidal mudflats and saltmarsh. The western shore has been cleared and is mainly used for agriculture and grazing; the eastern shore retains much of its native vegetation.
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