Yesterday, My wife and I went to Melbourne Water, filled in the paperwork, paid our money and got our key. We were also given a basic map of the WTP, dated Sept 2010. Off we went for our first birding experience out there, hoping to also find the reported Long-toed Stint (we had attended the Open Day tour in early Oct. last year, so we’d seen the basic plan and the various roads, etc.) Our map showed us the various numbered gates so we headed for Gate 2 which is towards the end of Pt Wilson Rd. The map showed ‘Western Lagoon’ and we thought finding No. 9 (for the Stint) would be easy. Well, we found 2, 3, 4, 5, but no No. 9. The map showed Pond 9 up near Lake Borrie so we headed up there thinking that this would be the right place. Obviously, the water there was too deep for small waders so we knew that this wasn’t it either. So we left via Paradise Rd at Gate 5. There, our luck changed when we met a lovely birding couple who were often out here. They didn’t know where western lagoon 9 was either but they suggested going into the T-Section Lagoon – in fact, they lead us back to Gate 1 and into that area where they directed us to a well known spot for Crake and Rail (which was just brilliant – great views). Here we also saw numbered Lagoons but did not find No 9. My point is that regulars to the WTP obviously know the various lagoons but for first-timers like ourselves, it can be difficult. Nevertheless, we had a great day seeing so many of the waders and ducks and we left feeling contented and looking forward to another day out there in the weeks ahead. Has anyone produced a more detailed map, either on paper or as an app for the phone? Can someone please explain exactly where Western Lagoon pond 9 is? Surely we are not the only ones who have experienced similar frustration. Cheers Brian _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Peter, I’m certainly in favour of not reinventing the wheel – so I could add annotations to the old map, and also add some secondary maps at higher resolution as you suggest. I also like the idea of seeing if WTP are interested in the improved version once it’s complete. But the google-map version might also be nice as you can see the terrain clearly which I find helpful (I’ll email you a first rough version so you can see what this might be like). No reason I couldn’t do both I suppose. I.e. same annotations with a different backdrop. Best wishes, Mike On 8/01/14 1:42 PM, “Peter Shute” < pshute@nuw.org.au> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Yes, unless someone knows of a more suitable map that already exists, it would be good to have something more complete than the Melbourne Water Birdwatching Access Map. Incidentally, this is available online at: http://www.melbournewater.com.au/getinvolved/activities/Documents/Western_Treatment_Plant_Bird_Watching_Map.pdf and is dated September 2012. Not sure why Brian and Meg were given one dated September 2010. But do we need to start from scratch? Do we need anything more than the above map with some added annotations, and perhaps some enlargements? Perhaps we could then persuade Melbourne Water to then incorporate our additions, and then future permit holders wouldn’t have to track down our map on the web. Kirk Point is marked on the Melways. It’s the point about a km south of the Beach Rd boat ramp. I’ve always been confused about what some people call “The Summer Ponds”, which I think are the ponds either side of Austin Rd, or possibly only on the north side. These alternative names should be shown on the map. Peter Shute ________________________________________ Sent: Wednesday, 8 January 2014 10:19 AM Hi, I had similar issues when I started going to WTP about a year ago. I know my way around now but still see place names on Birdline that I can’t locate (e.g. Where is Kirk’s Pt?). If there isn’t a more detailed map available I suggest that I coordinate the production of an improved map using contributed knowledge from more experienced WTP-goers. I am open to suggestions about how this might be achieved but a simple way would be for individuals who would like to be involved, contacting me by email – I would send them a PDF file that I have already put together based on a composite of Google Maps images. They could then add placenames to this using whatever program they like (e.g. Preview on a Mac is good), and email them back to me. I¹ll compile everything into a new PDF map and make it available. The GoogleMap image background would probably need to be replaced with a schematic further down the track – though we could check with Google. What do people think of this idea? Best wishes, Mike Murray On 8/01/14 4:00 AM, “birding-aus-request@birding-aus.org” < birding-aus-request@birding-aus.org> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hi, I had similar issues when I started going to WTP about a year ago. I know my way around now but still see place names on Birdline that I can’t locate (e.g. Where is Kirk’s Pt?). If there isn’t a more detailed map available I suggest that I coordinate the production of an improved map using contributed knowledge from more experienced WTP-goers. I am open to suggestions about how this might be achieved but a simple way would be for individuals who would like to be involved, contacting me by email – I would send them a PDF file that I have already put together based on a composite of Google Maps images. They could then add placenames to this using whatever program they like (e.g. Preview on a Mac is good), and email them back to me. I¹ll compile everything into a new PDF map and make it available. The GoogleMap image background would probably need to be replaced with a schematic further down the track – though we could check with Google. What do people think of this idea? Best wishes, Mike Murray On 8/01/14 4:00 AM, “birding-aus-request@birding-aus.org” < birding-aus-request@birding-aus.org> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
I assume the pond numbering starts from 1 in every section, so there’ll be several pond 9s. According to the map on page 8 of this document, pond 9 Western Lagoons is the pond furthest east after you go through gate 2: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/epbc/epbc_ap.pl?name=show_document;document_id=33560;proposal_id=4831 Last time I was there, you had to open another gate (clipped, not padlocked) to get to that area. It would be directly under the words “Western Lagoon” on the map they gave you, if it’s the same as the one they gave me. I think ponds 4 and 5 shown on that map are now one pond, not sure what else has changed. I vaguely recall someone posting the location of a very detailed map here a few years ago. Dave Torr? Peter Shute Sent from my iPad _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Nothing beats a guided tour by a WTP veteran Brian. I was escorted around the area after about 5 or 6 solo visits and it really helped me to understand how everything is laid out as well as good places to see particular species. What I should have done is annotate the map as we travelled around but I wasn’t that organised. Cheers David On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 5:30 PM, Brian & Meg < brianandmeg@bigpond.com> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org