g’Day all
In the past months there has been a gradual build up of waterbirds in the St Helens area. However in the past fortnight, numbers appear to have increased rapidly probably as a result of mainland bird breeding events earlier this year and probably indicating also that inland conditions for them are on the decline..
The St Helens area sojourners include
White-eyed Duck (Hardhead) Several hundred birds in the area. At one local farm dam there were more than 100 and the farmer tells me they have been there for about two weeks, some feeding in grazing paddocks. Most years we see up to 20 in the area.
Grey Teal About 30 birds at the Stieglitz sewer ponds. About two years ago there were three at the same location.
White-faced Heron About a hundred birds can be found feeding around the estuary margins of George Bay
Australian Pelican The local resident population of about 20 to 30 birds has swelled to about 200 and increasing by the day
Little Black Cormorant. 600+ presently in George Bay, usually 200+.
Chris Baxter wrote about the recent influx of waterbirds at Kangaroo Island SA see http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/birding-aus/2011-10/msg00421.html .
<>After the 1974 floods, as water receded from inland Australia, by 1977 large numbers of waterbirds were reported in many areas around Australia. Pelicans were reported from New Guinea and New Zealand as well as backyard swimming pools in many suburban areas. At about that time we also experienced a coastal irruption of Letter-winged Kites and other inland species near Southend SA.
Natural habitats in the St Helens area are currently in post flood, prime condition with full swamps, lakes and dams teeming with life and the forests breaking into spectacular bloom..
I would be interested to hear when others observe local bird population changes. Are these observations indicating the beginning of another stage in the Australian boom bust cycle or are we just observing a local natural phenomenon.
Regards
Ian May St Helens, Tasmania
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Hi Ian, I guess you missed it but on 25 October I made a posting with a similar tenor regarding bird numbers at the Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) SE of Melbourne. That posting was headed ‘WATERBIRD BONANZA reaches southern Victoria’. However, your posting allows me to correct some numbers I gave. The total species seen that day was 82 not 77 as and 51 not 46 wetland dependant species were recorded. At the ETP, waterfowl numbers, mainly Hardhead and Grey Teal, peaked in June, when there were >10,000 present. Numbers of those species have declined but Coots have increased steadily and diversity has escalated.
Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136