Tuggeranong's "South Quay" Fowl enclosure

[Denis Wilson <>]

Hi Ross

Here is the link to the new COG Photo Gallery for Rails, Crakes and Moorhens/Coots.
http://canberrabirds.org.au/gallery-information/?gal_id=15
The photos are excellent quality, generally and if you click on the thumbnails you can soon sort out the species of bird you are looking at.

All these birds are able to fly, though often it seems with real effort and poor result. But they do manage it. They excell at walking in reeds and mud, in compensation for their apparent clumsyness in hte air. Also, in many cases their real talent is in invisibility (especially the Crakes).

Denis Wilson

Denis Wilson

Are you amongst Greg Hunt's "increasingly hysterical environmental activists"?
If not, why not?
The Great Barrier Reef decision of 31 January 2014 is a travesty.

"The Nature of Robertson"
www.peonyden.blogspot.com.au

On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 3:29 PM, Philip Veerman <> wrote:

Ross,

 

My guess is it is a Purple Swamphen (or a Dusky Moorhen) and yes they can fly. Not especially skilled flyers, but given the size of the area it should easily be able to get enough horizontal space to get over a 2 metres high fence at any time it wishes. My guess is it would have gone in there, rather than being fenced in. I expect likely with the construction activity it would have retreated to the lake. Other than that, it could likely get under a several cm gap to the ground.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ross Kelly [
Sent: Thursday, 13 March 2014 7:43 AM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Tuggeranong's "South Quay" Fowl enclosure

Hi

 

I subscribe, although I am essentially unschooled about bird varieties.

 

I have a concern at the moment about the enormous fenced and gouged-to-bare-earth enclosure (it must be a dozen acres) at the south end of Lake Tuggeranong. This is the building site for the huge "South Quay" development that is in its early stages.

 

This fence goes right to the water's edge. It is over 2m high, has perhaps only several cm gap to the ground, and is essentially unbroken over its circumference of around 3km!

 

Walking alongside the site yesterday I saw a fowl of some kind in this building site. OK, it looked like a slightly smaller version of a chook, with much longer legs. It was black and brown, seemed to have a very tiny head and maybe a small red wattle (spelling?) under its beak.

 

You may already have guessed my concern ... can they fly? If not, it is in a predicament. The fence would have sprung up, and enlarged, around this formerly grassy, lakeside acreage with little regard for what may have been on the wrong side of the pre-fab fence panels.

 

So, perhaps someone can tell me if such a creature could fly out. There may be others, and different species.

 

Ross Kelly

Monash