David
There are people in the Newcastle area that can respond better than I,
however, my understanding is that the Magpie Geese were found in the early
days, pre European, around the Newcastle Lower Hunter Region but they were
mostly eradicated by hunting and wetland loss etc. I can remember occasional
small numbers of MG causing excitement with local birders when suddenly
appearing at a small wetland near Morpeth in the 70's. In the early 90's
about 100 birds were reared in cages at the new Shortland Wetlands Centre
(don't know where the MG eggs/chicks came from) and simply let out of the
cages when able to "look after themselves". They have since spread to and
bred in other wetlands in the region. I can remember my father telling me
that fellow golfers at his club thought the release of MG was stupid and
irresponsible because they will rapidly multiply and "don't we know the
damage those birds cause to crops in the north of Australia".
Greg Little
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of David James
Sent: Thursday, 24 February 2011 9:15 AM
To: Tom and Mandy Wilson; birding-aus; Nathan
Subject: An afternoon in Maitland & Newcastle 22 Feb 2011
Tom indicated or questioned whether the Magpie Geese at Shortland wetlands
are feral. I would be surprised if they were. Presumably wild birds arrived
at Seaham Swamp in 1984, after reclaiming the Clarence a couple of years
earlier. Nevertheless, around that time when Shortland Wetlands Centre was
establishing, there may have been talk of releasing some, I vaguely recall.
However, I have assumed that they recolonised in the mid 80s of their own
accord after reclaiming the Clarence in the early 80s. Feral within the
natural range is perhaps a moot point anyway, in the context of modern
habitat changes and species trends, both up and down.
--- On Wed, 23/2/11, Nathan <> wrote:
From: Nathan <>
Subject: An afternoon in Maitland & Newcastle 22 Feb 2011
To: "Tom and Mandy Wilson" <>, "birding-aus"
<>
Received: Wednesday, 23 February, 2011, 6:25 PM
Late last year, when I went there, there were no Magpie Geese, does anyone
know when they came back?
-Nathan
On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 11:38 AM, Tom and Mandy Wilson <
> wrote:
> Hi all
> I had some work to do in Maitland yesterday morning, and rather than spend
> my afternoon on the F3, I decided to take a bit of time out to visit a few
> sites in Newcastle. I did not include Ash Island on my plan, as I think
> that it is still closed to the general public?
>
> First stop, as I was in Maitland, was Walka Water Works, which I'd never
> visited before. Fairly quiet there - a big flock of Yellow Rumped
> Thornbills greeted me at the entrance and there were many Red Rumped
Parrots
> and Eastern Rosellas about. On the water, the Great Crested Grebes had
had
> a reasonable breeding season, as many of the birds on the water (about 20
> all up) still bore remains of the stripy heads of their juvenile plumage,
> notably about the head. There was a single Hardhead on the water too -
the
> first one I have seen in eastern NSW this year.
>
> Next stop, as it was high tide, was Stockton Sandspit. The spit area
> itself held lots of Eastern Curlew and Bar Tailed Godwits - several
> colouring up. There were 12 Caspian terns there too, 2 Pied Oystercatchers
> and several Red Capped Plovers in the samphire. There were also some Red
> Necked Stints on the water line, which periodically flew up, circled round
> and came back to the sand. I could see big mobs of birds over on the
dykes
> on the far side of the river, and fortuitously a Sea Eagle came along a
> flushed a load off, many of which came streaming across to the sandspit.
> Included in this movement were 2 Black Tailed Godwits and a Whimbrel.
> There were still plenty of birds on the far side - would love to know if
> anybody has used a boat to check them out recently. Certainly looked like
> there were Greenshanks (very white and slender when the flew post-eagle)
and
> some shorter looking brown birds next to the Curlews and Godwits - Knot?
> Anything smaller than that was not distinguishable at that distance.
>
> Finally, I called in at the Shortlands Wetland Centre in Sandgate and
> wandered around. The egret rookery is in full swing and off limits, but
> there were plenty of all 4 egrets to be seen around the place, as well as
> lots of Royal Spoonbills and a single Yellow Billed Spoonbill. The
> Moorhens, Coots and Swamphens have also had a good season, with many
chicks
> in varying stages of growth and plumage - often causing temporary burst of
> excitement as small grey birds emerged from reed beds, only to be
identified
> as baby gallinules, not crakes! I did see a single Buff banded Rail in
the
> muddy pond next to the Ribbon Pond. Near the egret tower there was a
single
> Striped Honeyeater and a single Spangled Drongo between the Brambles Pond
> and the canoe trail.There were also 6 White Breasted Woodswallow flying
over
> the area and a family(?) of 6 Whistling Kites too. I encountered a female
> Sparrowhawk at the kill (looked like an Indian Myna - good girl), a Tawny
> Grassbird in one of the reed beds and several families of Olive-backed
> Orioles and Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrikes feeding big youngsters. The
feral(?)
> Magpie Geese here seem to have multiplied since my last visit in 2009 and
> had several brown coloured youngsters with them. There was a Swamp
Harrier
> and a couple of Sea-Eagles seen over head and as I left a Peregrine put in
> an appearance.
>
> The big excitement here was nearly getting locked in - after timing my
> return for just after 4:30, I was told "you're lucky - we close at 4" - I
> pointed out that the sign just by the entrance door to the visitor centre
> reads "Weekdays 10am-5pm" so I would not have been impressed if I had been
> forced to scale the gates. After that near incarceration, it was off home
> to Sydney
> Cheers
> Tom Wilson
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