Hi Goglisters
There is a birding point to this bit of far-away local history that
bears directly on the string topics of White Ibis and the tip but it
needs an introduction.
The string reminds me of the Bayles tip in the late 1950's. Bayles was
set in about the middle of what used to be the Kooweerup Swamp, about
50km South-east of Melbourne and once one of Australia's (if not the
world's) great wetlands. It was drained in the 1890's. The Bayles tip
consisted of a wetland into which all the local rubbish was thrown,
creating an oleaginous, stinking mess. Part of the wetland was a whey
pool (whey then being a liquid throw-away from the Bayles butter
factory) and 'Strider'. Strider was one of the locals who had cobbled
together a home out of empty kero tins. No glass in the 'windows', a
dirt floor, or a mud floor, depending on the height of the 'wetland'
and, in terms of scent and visual amenity, virtually indistinguishable
from the tip proper. In fact, it was smack bang in the middle of the
tip. He eked out his pension by retrieving the long necks from the tip
and selling them. Sixty years on and Strider would have come close to
being a recycling hero. Then, he was recluse, feared especially by the
mothersfor being well outside normal society but, to the children, a
fascinating and knowledgeable wonder.
For those of the chatline interested in frogs, the Growling Grass frogs
were then, despite the appalling environment, very common in and about
the tip.
And now to the point: I can clearly remember Strider telling me how nice
the 'squabs' were. These were the nestlings of the White Ibis colony
that somehow overcame the poisons, the stench and Strider to survive and
thrive. Now, though, most of the wetland, the tip, the butter factory,
Strider, the Growling Grass Frogs, the whey pool and the children are
long gone. And so is the breeding colony of White Ibis.
Con
Denis Wilson wrote:
Thanks to Marnix and Martin for following up, with more information
about White Ibis near Mack's Reef Road/Yass River.
It gets more and more intriguing.
Cheers
Denis
www.peonyden.blogspot.com <http://www.peonyden.blogspot.com>
Love to Grow: Grow to Love
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