11-474: The Keep River Important Bird Area is a 983 square kilometres (380 sq mi) tract of land on the upper Keep River straddling the border between Western Australia and the Northern Territory . It lies at an altitude of 150 m (490 ft) to 210 m (690 ft) and is about 400 km (250 mi) south-west of Darwin and 40 km (25 mi) east of Kununurra . The site
22-426: A tide dominated delta having multiple channels and is surrounded by an area of 55.5 square kilometres (21 sq mi) covered with mangroves . Riparian vegetation found along the margins in the river include Melaleuca , Barringtonia acutangula , Nauclea orientalis , reeds and taro are common in the upper reaches. In pools along the river sponges such as Spongillidae can be found on rocks. Toward
33-734: Is a river located in the Victoria Bonaparte bioregion of Western Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia . The river rises just south of the Newry Station homestead then flows in a northerly direction crossing the Victoria Highway and then flowing through the Keep River National Park and veering westward across the border into Western Australia then veering east back into
44-553: Is defined by the presence of habitat known to support Gouldian finches . Most of it consists of land within the Keep River National Park and the Newry Station pastoral lease in the Northern Territory, but it also includes some pastoral land in Western Australia. The area is dominated by grassland and by open savanna woodland containing an understorey of native grasses on sandstone . The climate
55-507: Is highly monsoonal , with an average annual rainfall of 873 mm (recorded at Newry Station) falling mainly from December to March. The ranges are drained by a network of ephemeral creeks, with the larger watercourses retaining pools of water through the dry season . As well as the presence of persistent waterholes for drinking, key features of suitable Gouldian finch habitat result from the area's history of low grazing pressure and few widespread hot bushfires , so allowing grasses to seed for
66-528: The Miriwoong people to the south. The origin of the name is not known but it is thought to have been named for Henry Francis Keep who was a store keeper in Wyndham . The first written record of the name was in the diary of explorer and pastoralist, Michael Durack , who wrote about a "trip to Keep River" in 1894. Xerochloa Xerochloa is a genus of Australian and Southeast Asian plants in
77-689: The Northern Territory . It then continues north before discharging into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and the Timor Sea . The river catchment occupies an area of 6,003 square kilometres (2,318 sq mi) and is wedged between the Ord River catchment to the west and the Victoria River catchment to the east. The river has a mean annual outflow of 500 gigalitres (654,000,000 cu yd). Important wetlands are found in
88-556: The Northern Territory Land Corporation released 67,500 hectares for a planned conversion of the landscape towards the cultivation of rice, cotton and various fruits like mangoes and bananas. The effects of this major project on the natural ecology and Aboriginal sacred sites are not yet known. The traditional owners of the area are the Kadjerong and Duulngari peoples to the northern end and
99-731: The finches to feed on, and providing hollow -bearing trees for them to nest in. The site has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports a significant population of the endangered Gouldian finch as well as populations of bush stone-curlews , Australian bustards , white-quilled rock-pigeons , varied lorikeets , northern rosellas , white-gaped , yellow-tinted , bar-breasted and banded honeyeaters , silver-crowned friarbirds , sandstone shrike-thrushes , and star , masked and long-tailed finches . 15°58′18″S 129°04′55″E / 15.97167°S 129.08194°E / -15.97167; 129.08194 Keep River The Keep River
110-407: The lower reaches of the river, forming suitable habitat for waterfowl breeding colonies and roosting sites for migratory shorebirds. Large areas of rice-grass floodplain grasslands are also found along the river. The estuary formed at the river mouth is in near pristine condition. It occupies an area of 230 square kilometres (89 sq mi) of open water. It is tide dominated in nature with
121-779: The national park area aquatic vegetation such as species of Nymphea , Hydrilla verticillata and species of Chara become more frequent forming dense mats in some areas. Riparian vegetation includes Melaleuca , Barringtonia acutangula , Nauclea orientalis , Lysiphyllum cunninghamii and Pandanus spiralis . Marine fauna found along the river include fish including freshwater sawfish , dwarf wawfish , ox-eye herring , bony bream , short-tail thryssa , several species of catfish such as Arius and Anodontiglanis dahli , freshwater longtom , species of rainbowfish , hardeyheads , species of glassfish , species of grunter , species of mullet , spotted archerfish , species of gudgeon , species of goby and baramundi . In February 2022,
SECTION 10
#1732782673726#725274