Wendy
I used to walk past Coburg Lake on my way to and from school and I spent countless hours playing and exploring around the lake and Merri Creek in the 1950s and 60s, then walking my dog there in the 70s. I don’t remember seeing Black Swans or Hardhead; just Mallards, Muscovy ducks and Pacific Black Ducks (often upstream from the lake). White-faced Herons and cormorants were there fairly regularly.
Still, it’s fantastic that the Council has taken action to remove the geese and domestic ducks – 147 geese is a huge number for a relatively small area of water!
Let’s hope it becomes a more suitable habitat for native species.
David
Please consider the environment before printing this email
From: “Wendy”
I thought I would share some good new….
Recently Moreland Council (inner Melbourne, Vic) arranged the removal of a large number of domestic geese and ducks from Coburg Lake, on Merri Ck. The lake had been home for quite a number of native birds. One of my fond memories was watching a family of 4 Night Herons 2 adults and 2 young, fishing the rapids below the lake wall. Black swans also regularly bred there and there was a good population of Hardhead. In recent years the ferals had taken over the site causing significant damage to vegetation, water pollution and displacing native birds. Sadly many well meaning locals would ‘feed’ these birds. I have watched people arrive and dump car boot fulls of bread. A total of 147 geese and 10 domestic ducks were captured and relocated to farms. A small number (4G, 7D) evaded capture. Further attempts may be made to capture them or their numbers managed. Staff had been trying for many years to find a generally acceptable solution to this growing problem. While the council had received some adverse reaction, when the environmental reasons etc were explained it was understood.
I wish to heartily thank the Open Space Staff for sorting this problem out.
Wendy Moore
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