|
Steve and Prue and Martin,
Steve's and Prue's and my counts would
indicate at least for the Aust. Grebe stable numbers over that April period,
very good.
Regarding Martin's question whether time of day may
have an impact. Well, it may, but what I found was that if I approach the ponds
very cautiously and count from a distance, I always get a lower number. Some
birds dive, others keep to the edges etc. But if I get close
enough that the birds are just "alarmed", they all stay on the water and come
out and keep a watching eye on me. And this scenario gives me as a rule a
higher count.
The story is a bit different for the Blue-billed
Ducks, but it takes some time and counting repeatedly before I think I have the
full number of birds present. First count is usually well below the final total,
especially for females.
The other thing of note at FSP at the moment is the
steep decline in numbers of Hardheads, very much the same at the Bungendore S.P.
, although I don't have actual counts from there.
The other message from these changes in recent
times is really, that regular counts/monitoring at the FSP would be valuable (as
suggested some time ago), this may prove to be our best "wetland" for some
time to come.
Michael Lenz
| 