In The Water

Long Neck Turtles

These little fellas can often be seen making the journey to and from the lake across paths, roads and parks and into people’s yards where they try to lay their eggs in the gardens.   Watch out for them and their babies while you are driving around. You may accidentally run one over.  For some reason the Willie Wagtails seem to dislike them and take to swooping and attacking them as they travel on the land. One  aboriginal theory I heard is that the Willy’s are rushing the turtles back into the water as the turtles may attract other predators that will in turn attack the nests of the Willie Wagtail, ie eagles and crows. More Information.

Fish

There are fish in the lake. We are not sure how many species though.

The carp is often seen leaping at the surface in the evening and being captured and eaten by Shags or Pelicans.

Dead Carp can also seen from time to time on the shore. There are many speculations as to the cause of death. Algae starving out the oxygen or lazy fishermen or birds?

The Carp is officially an “Introduced Pest”  Introduced-pests-guide-freshwater

See also Introduction of Carp

The EPA & DEC also strongly discourage anyone introducing their aquarium fish like Goldfish to our lakes. They become pests and put the ecosystem of the lakes out of balance. Another website that list all invasive freshwater species in WA