At Goran Lake, an ephemeral lake about 30 km South of Gunnedah, NSW, the following bird species were spotted by us from April 2011 until now (Goran Lake filled up in the summer of 2011 and had water until spring 2013; next it filled in November/December 2021). Bird species are listed here in four categories, according to the timing of their sightings. In some cases the categorisation indicates a trend. We have visited only locations along the lake shore where there is open farmland, without other significant vegetation, beyond roadside weeds and low shrubs. Bird species that are listed as Vulnerable or Endangered, if any, are marked as such.

Goran Lake is listed as a "birding hotspot" on ebird.org .

Any time of year	Lake full	(Only when) lake dry	Irregular or infrequent
Brown Quail Black Kite Wedge-tailed Eagle Spotted Harrier Black-shouldered Kite Nankeen Kestrel Brown Falcon Galah Superb Fairy-wren Purple-backed Fairy-wren White-winged Fairy-wren Willie Wagtail Magpie-lark N Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Pied Butcherbird Australian Magpie N Australian Raven Australian Pipit Brown Songlark	Black Swan Australian Wood Duck Pink-eared Duck N Grey Teal N Chestnut Teal Pacific Black Duck N Hardhead Australasian Shoveler Plumed Whistling-Duck Australasian Grebe Hoary-headed Grebe N Great Crested Grebe Darter Great Cormorant Little Pied Cormorant Little Black Cormorant Pied Cormorant Australian Pelican Yellow-billed Spoonbill Great Egret Intermediate Egret White-faced Heron White-necked Heron Straw-necked Ibis Australian White Ibis White-bellied Sea-Eagle Swamp Harrier Purple Swamphen Eurasian Coot Latham's Snipe Red-necked Stint Bar-tailed Godwit Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper Little Curlew Black-winged Stilt Red-necked Avocet Red-capped Plover N Double-banded Plover Red-kneed Dotterel Black-fronted Dotterel Masked Lapwing Banded Lapwing Australian Pratincole Silver Gull Caspian Tern Gull-billed Tern Whiskered Tern N White-winged Black Tern Golden-headed Cisticola		Emu Whistling Kite Crested Pigeon Budgerigar White-fronted Chat Crimson Chat Singing Bushlark Tree Martin Welcome Swallow Australian Reed-Warbler
19	52	0	10
Any time of year	Lake full	(Only when) lake dry	Irregular or infrequent

Goran Lake is an ephemeral lake 30 km South of Gunnedah, NSW - when full, it has a maximum depth of about 2 m, while its surface area is many square kilometres; this view is towards the East from the road crossing

View of the western part of Goran Lake, from a shallow ridge near the road crossing (visible on the left); January 2022

Overview of the crossing of Goran Lake Road through the lake; this is where public access is easiest for viewing aquatic bird species

Whiskered Terns and a few others resting at the crossing of Goran Lake Road through the lake

Distant view of Coolah Tops NP from the North, across Goran Lake, in April 2011

Little Curlew in non-breeding plumage feeding on a mudflat on the edge of an ephemeral lake
[Goran Lake, near Gunnedah, NSW, October 2011]

Male Red-capped Plover sitting down to incubate its clutch of 2
[Goran Lake, NSW, February 2022]