Dear Con
About 10 years ago a pair of PCs nested in the 3re floor slatted metal
sunvisors fitted around the entire perimeter of three floors of Manning
Clark Offices on the shores of Lake Tuggeranong. They persisted well
throughout the breeding season.
A decision was taken by the building owners to clean and refurbish windows
and shades, and they were all removed, except for the panel which housed the
PC nest, so as not to endanger a protected species.
At the end of the breeding cycle it appeared the currawongs had successfully
raised one chick to fledgling stage. People in the building were very
interested in developments, and I was lucky enough to witness its early
preparation, and on the great day, its inaugural flight.
At an appointed time in the early afternoon, much to the delight of the
tender-minded public servants diverting government salary dollars in gawping
at this wonder of nature (myself included), the young Currawong launched
itself from the sunvisor platform.
Joy turned instanteously to horror when the young Currawong was cruelly
snatched from its path by a Brown Goshawk (a bird which I had never spotted
in my five years occupation of the site), which, like the rest of us, was
apparently waiting for the great day. We all returned sadly to our
respective desks and spent the rest of the day in pensive overproduction.
The unhappy parents of the digested chick hung about in a desultory fashion
for a little while, then rather callously I thought, flapped off in a
southerly direction towards the lake.
The refurbishing contracter made a miraculous appearance, and the last panel
of the slatted sunvisor was removed before the sun was down.
It is not only nature and Pied Currawongs that see things in black and
white.
Cheers
Paul
Paul Fennell
COG Database Manager
02 6254 1804
0407 195 460
-----Original Message-----
From: Con Boekel
Sent: Wednesday, 12 December 2007 5:04 PM
To: COG list
Subject: Pied Currawong - unusual nesting location
Hi Coglisters
If you visit the National Gallery and look up from the ramp at the
entrance you may see a Pied Currawong sitting on its nest. There is a
messy clue on the ground as to the location. This is the first PC nest
that I have seen located on an artificial structure.
Con
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