Musk Duck feeding dependent young at Yerrabi

[Martin Butterfield <>]

Many thanks for that Peter.  I had heard that it was something to do with the "aging" of the water body, but not the mechanism.  This would fit well with MDs appearing in Foxlow Lagoon when it refilled in about 2010 after it went dry and got covered in vegetation in 2009.

Martin

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/

On 11 March 2014 10:43, Peter Ormay <> wrote:

I think it’s related to the yabby population which are MDs preferred food. New water bodies have lots of yabbies’ because they feed on the newly submerged/dead vegetation.  As the water body ages the amount of dead vegetation in it reduces as do the yabbies and consequently the MDs  LBGriffin used to have MDs years ago but I haven’t seen any there for years

Peter

 

From: Martin Butterfield [
Sent: Tuesday, 11 March 2014 5:21 AM
To: Duncan McCaskill
Cc: Julie Clark; COG Chatline
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Musk Duck feeding dependent young at Yerrabi

 

It is all a matter of timing.  When I first arrived in Canberra - 1983 - Musk Duck were very easy to spot in Lake Ginninderra.   They stopped being seen there late in the decade and have never come back.

 

Martin

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/

 

On 10 March 2014 20:38, Duncan McCaskill <> wrote:

As far as I can recall, Yerrabi Pond has had Musk Ducks ever since it has had any water. There must be something about that pond that is particularly attractive to Musk Ducks - maybe a shallow depth? I have never seen them downstream in Lake Ginninderra.

 

Duncan.