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Over
the history of the GBS (although I don't know the last 10 years), sites with
habitats for breeding of water birds have been few and far between. I would not
think there is enough old data on water bird breeding to make a comparison.
Such as I did in The GBS Report for the low level of breeding in year 2 (a
drought year). Indeed Appendix 2 shows the only water bird
breeding records were Aust Wood Duck (24 records) & White-faced Heron
(2 records) in the whole 21 years.
Philip
Reviewing my Garden Bird Survey
numbers recently, it occurred to me that this season gone was a particularly
poor breeding one for Jerrabomberra. Our resident pair of Swans had a
failed attempt in Spring and so far have not attempted an Autumn nesting.
We usually see around 20 young Swamp Hens per season, this year we had only 5
from two nests. Moorhens produced only 2 young – usually at least
12-15. No Coots produced at all. Even our resident pair of Magpies
produced only 1 young for the year and I did not see a Magpie Larks nest.
There were no Grebes nesting and only one family of Black Ducks. The exception
has been Crimson Rosellas with significant numbers of green birds around.
I wonder if this poor season is reflected elsewhere? A possible
reason for the poor return on water birds may be the decline in typhus reeds
around the local lake for which most birds rely on for nest
sites.
Regards
Lindsay Hansch
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