A Brown Falcon (one of a pair) in an obvious exotic, its leaves aglow with the gold of this brilliant Canberra Autumn, which reminds me that perching raptors around our wetlands, including the occasional Grey Goshawk and other transient stuff, rely entirely on such trees. The Little Eagle and Whistling Kite have nested in those exotics recently. Hence, no exotics, no raptors.
From: Geoffrey Dabb [
Sent: Friday, 6 May 2011 8:29 AM
To:
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Jerrabomberra Wetland concerns
Thanks Chris. Has the letter gone? If so, it would be a ‘raising of some immediate concerns’ thing, which would be appropriate.
For myself, the immediate points are:
- Rampant growth of the cumbungi
- Need for installation/replacement of some large (preferably varied) perching logs.
- Removal of fence while not needed for cattle, and reconsidering its siting.
On the willow removal, I suppose the answer will be: “This is to be replaced by carefully chosen native species”. Difficult to argue with that . However there is a question of transition, given that trees do take some time to grow. Wholesale removal of exotics would see the loss of some much-used trees at Kelly Swamp, including the spoonbill tree.
Longer term, another point is management of the Silt Trap Pond. For a large and quite deep body of water this is, surprisingly to me, generally avoided by bird life eg ducks, suggesting an absence of fish, arthropods etc. Is there a contamination issue?
Yours in haste (off to the swamp)
Geoffrey
