Dear all, The hides may indeed be undergoing alterations to encourage
various categories of multiuse/multskilling..a concept beloved by bureaucrats,of
whom Canberra has more than its fair share, naturally. Bunks may even be
included, in order to facilitate the kind of activities I observed recently. The
story goes like this:- At about the time of the Little Bittern visit I drove to
the site at midday on one occasion. As soon as I parked, another car parked
along side me..out stepped a man who may have been mid 30’s and then another car
drew up and out stepped a woman who may have been early 20’s. They were both
dressed as though from an office environment and both appeared to have rings on
the fingers of respective left hands. They said hello, politely, to each other
and then walked through the gate, turned left and disappeared. The reason I
remembered these facts about appearances was my trained birdwatcher’s eye for
detail.
I then proceeded to go looking for the LB and about ten minutes later I
walked into the Bittern Hide When my eyes adjusted to the gloom I noticed the
said couple in the right hand corner. They were not birdwatching and appeared to
know each other very well..to my trained birdwatchers eye that is. I considered
that a LB had priority and so I said..”don’t worry about me, I’m only
birdwatching but they departed anyway and I never saw them again. I have a
suspicion that they were married but not to each other.
As I drove home (having dipped on the LB, by the way), I thought wouldn’t
it have been funny if after the lunchtime tryst, they had been unable to depart
due to the presence of a brown snake at the hide entrance, as happened to some
birdoes a few weeks ago. What excuse could you give to your boss when arriving
back late for work.
Perhaps TAMS could install red lights outside each hide to indicate if it
is being used for non ornithological purposes.
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 6:01 PM
Subject: [canberrabirds] re hide refurbishment at Jerrabomberra
Wetlands
So
many comments on this.
I
would wish to add that it is unreasonable for us bird interested people to
believe that these hides are there only for us. And to a small extent are they
there for the birds. As infrastructure provided by the ACT Government, it is
reasonable to think they are there for multiple users and uses. We can
reasonably feel entitled though as major users to be consulted. Beyond that, we
are hardly paying the piper.
Fortunately I don't think we have ever yet had an
incident of a these facilities having been used for any major crime. If that
happens, no doubt there will likely be calls for major changes. They have been
used as "cuddle spots", so far, luckily it seems, with consent. Maybe as I have
been told, because of proximity to the car park which is a good site from which
to watch the fireworks).
I
think the extra brushwood screening is an improvement but I don't think the
other changes have done much useful.
What
concerns me though is the expense involved in doing this for what are trivial
changes. I don't understand the priority given to this. Surely there are better
things to do with a limited budget, like cleaning out the vast amounts of
rubbish in the water channel that goes towards the railway
line.
I
agree with Geoff that there is little if any reason to suggest a connection
between the recent bird records and the hides changes.
Philip
