Hi all thanks for your comments. To give some more info as requested.Bushells is situated in on the Hawkesbury floodplain and straddles the suburbs of Wilberforce at the eastern end and Freemans Reach western end.It is affected by irrigation as a number of landowners have access to it for agriculture pursuits.I have recorded 132 species over the past 40years. When conditions are suitable 100’s of migratory shorebirds use it. There are three records of the Australian Painted Snipe since 1984. Autralasian Bittern and Lathams Snipe have also been recorded. Again when conditions are suitable Great Crested Grebe, Black Swan and Australasian Grebe breed there.Currently it is badly affected with European Carp but what waterway is free of this pest.The course as been used for a number of weeks but Hawkesbury Council have asked the skiers not to use it until we get it sorted so it as not been used for the past 3 weeks. According to the local paper the President of Western Sydney Waterskiers Club said that they would use the lagoon only for a limited time as they go to the USA to train in winter. He also said that the skiing would not affect nesting birds as the course was down the middle of the lagoon and birds only nest around the edges. He’s a long way of the mark on that score as we all know. I am confident the course will be removed once the true facts are presented to the appropriate people. the beautiful Hawkesbury 60km N/W of Sydney ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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2 responses to “water ski /Bushells”
Hi Keith, It could be worth trying to get some media exposure as well. At present The Sydney Morning Herald seems happy to stick it up those who masquerade as Government in NSW when it comes to environmental matters. Talk-back might be another option.
Regards Roger.
Keith,
I don’t know if you have seen the Biodiversity Case Study carried out by the NSW NPWS as part of the National Biodiversity Audit see http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/vegetation/pubs/case_studies/sb8_casestudy.pdf The study lists Bushells Lagoon as a “Wetland of Sub-Regional Importance” Has the NPWS been made aware of this use of a Wildlife Refuge, as I am pretty sure that this use of Bushells might very well be illegal under NPWS Acts. It would not be the first time one government agency has given approval for some type of activity, which is deemed illegal by another agency which also has an interest.
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
Hi all thanks for your comments. To give some more info as requested.Bushells is situated in on the Hawkesbury floodplain and straddles the suburbs of Wilberforce at the eastern end and Freemans Reach western end.It is affected by irrigation as a number of landowners have access to it for agriculture pursuits.I have recorded 132 species over the past 40years. When conditions are suitable 100’s of migratory shorebirds use it. There are three records of the Australian Painted Snipe since 1984. Autralasian Bittern and Lathams Snipe have also been recorded. Again when conditions are suitable Great Crested Grebe, Black Swan and Australasian Grebe breed there.Currently it is badly affected with European Carp but what waterway is free of this pest.The course as been used for a number of weeks but Hawkesbury Council have asked the skiers not to use it until we get it sorted so it as not been used for the past 3 weeks. According to the local paper the President of Western Sydney Waterskiers Club said that they would use the lagoon only for a limited time as they go to the USA to train in winter. He also said that the skiing would not affect nesting birds as the course was down the middle of the lagoon and birds only nest around the edges. He’s a long way of the mark on that score as we all know. I am confident the course will be removed once the true facts are presented to the appropriate people. the beautiful Hawkesbury 60km N/W of Sydney ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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