Hi Folks,

Do you remember my writing in the last update that the inaugural working bee for the new Friends of Bridport Group could be on the 13th June?  I got to thinking it might not have been very pleasant sitting on the beach pulling weeds in June and then along comes Mike Douglas with a better offer. What a life saver!! He has offered to lead an outing at Waterhouse, so here are the details.

WATERHOUSE CONSERVATION AREA – JUNE 13TH – LEADER MIKE DOUGLAS.

It will be a 5km circuit walk starting at Blizzards Landing and incorporating the “Pleistocene dune”. Looking at sheoak regeneration and regrowth of the coastal heath on the old dune. Possibly a final leg on coastal rock shelves. Moderate grade walking; rocky and uneven ground in places.
Meet 10 am at the junction of Waterhouse and Homestead Roads.
Please ensure your boots are clean – we are conscious of not spreading the root rot fungus Phytophthora.

 

REPORT OF RALPH FALLS OUTING

A very keen 24 people turned up for the Ralph Falls outing last month. Included in that number were two new Bridport residents. We welcomed Daphne and Gem and hope they’ll come again.

To read the report, click here

 

GOLDEN PLOVER AT LADES BEACH.

You’ll hear birders talking about all sorts of plovers, most of them shore birds. There’s a golden plover, a grey plover, a hooded plover, a red capped plover and a double banded plover.

Strangely though, the bird every Tasmanian knows as a plover, a bird we see just about everywhere, is actually NOT A PLOVER !!   Its official name is Masked lapwing.

An interesting sighting recently led me to write about this one – the Pacific Golden Plover. I was motivated by John Davey’s sharing of two photos he’d taken on Lades Beach. Now, just behind the spit at Lades Beach, there is a significant bird ‘hotspot’ where birders from Birds Tasmania come to do bird counts. The last count record in my posession noted 30 bird species and among them were 45 Pacific Golden Plovers. So you might not think it unusual to see one, but on a previous bird count there, I only saw one.

This bird was seen in its breeding plumage only a couple of weeks ago. It usually flies to Alaska or the Tundra in Siberia to breed, leaving here in March.

Thanks for sharing, John

 

AND IF YOU’VE GOT A HEAD FOR FIGURES………….

The results of the Great Aussie BirdCount have just been published. I’ve rounded these figures down but they’re still pretty impressive.

Number of birds counted in a week : 5,100,000
Number of people counting: 63,000
Surveys submitted : 153,000
Number of bird species observed: 621
Most common bird:Australian Magpie.
People taking part in Tasmania : 2,305
Next Aussie Bird Count 19th – 25th October- get onto the mailing list so you don’t miss it.

CULVERTS FOR GIANTS.

NRM  North has many projects aimed at protecting wildlife on farms. They engage landowners in stream protection and habitat restoration. This may mean excluding livestock from streams, providing alternative water sources for them, controlling riverbank weeds and revegetating streamsides.
As part of this broad project, the NRM North team is experimenting with ways to lessen the occurence of the death of Giant Freshwater Crayfish as they move to different locations to evade predators, access cooler water or search for food or shelter. To enable safer upstream travelling, various aids are being installed in culverts to make them less slippery and more traversable.
One culvert which has been chosen to be part of local research is Surveyors Creek, North Scottsdale. Another is at Lonestar Creek near Golconda. The NRM North fact sheet here gives more detailed information
Leading the way in the research is the Mt Roland Landcare Group. Have a look at their website to see more fascinating photos of who is using their culverts. This is one of them below. If you enlarge the photo, you might just be able to see bits of the rubber matting on the floor of the culvert.

 

FILM DAY IN JULY
In July we have the usual film day at the library in Scottsdale with a special feature film called ‘Love Letter to the Unseen”.There will be a special email with details soon.

See you soon,

Louise Brooker.