Fascinating stuff
Steve. I grew up in Forbes, but only took to binoculars in about 2005, so
couldn’t comment on what was at Lake Urine (as the locals call it) before
that. Note that Gum Swamp was just a wooded depression prior to being used
as part of the sewage works, when it became flooded permanently and killed the
trees within. When the sewage works were upgraded a few years back there
was no longer enough water coming from the works to keep it flooded and it now
needs to be topped up (from the river?) to maintain water level. A bit of
foresight shown by Forbes Shire Council. As far as I can tell, though, the
back swamp/pond (to the north of the one visible from the bird hide, accessible
by driving around a couple of lanes or by walking around from the hide) now
rarely sees water, whereas it was regularly wet with the former sewage
works.
Certainly the WBSE have been
there between 2005 and 2010 when I left town, and it appeared they had been
there for some time then. There were two WBSE nests evident at the time,
only one in use, in the NW corner of the swamp.
Neville Schrader is from
Parkes and would definitely know the history of any WBSE at Gum Swamp.
Great that the archives allow us to pin this arrival date down so well. I
wonder if they have ever fledged any young – not that I know of, but my records
would be far from definitive.
Interesting that Neville
says they evicted the Whistling Kites. In my time the kites were there
with the WBSE, although with nests at opposite ends of the ponds, with the
peregrines occupying hollows in the middle ground.
As
to ducks there, blue billed and freckled ducks were there most of the time
between 2005-2010, in low numbers. I only recall seeing musk ducks a
couple of times, whereas in earlier years there seems to have been a larger
established population. Pink ears and grey teal were there most of the
time but in hugely variable numbers, Aust shovelers were there maybe half the
time.
John
Rawsthorne
From: Steve
Read [
Sent: Wednesday, 10 September
2014 5:27 PM
To: 'Philip Veerman'
Cc: 'COG
List'
Subject: [canberrabirds] RE: A few hours to the
west
Hi Philip
A post at http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/birding-aus/1997-08/msg00048.html
gives 1997 as the date of arrival of a pair of white-bellied sea-eagles at Gum
Swamp, and describes the impact on other bird species (as deduced by the
poster). Depending on the age of the swamp, of course, and whether it was
enlarged or had its hydrology changed by human intervention, sea-eagles may have
been present many times in past millennia.
Steve
From: Philip
Veerman
Sent: Wednesday, 10 September 2014 3:32 PM
To: 'Steve
Read'
Cc:
Subject:
A few hours to the west
Yes that
has been a regular spot to stop. I stop there on most of my drives from or to
Brisbane from Canberra or Melbourne, over the last 40 years. In particular the
white-bellied
sea-eagle on nest has
likely been there for most of that time or maybe longer, I have certainly seen
this nest and the owners over at least the last 20 years, although it may
have been more than one nest. The
local peregrine and all
the pigeons- surely a connection there, are also regulars, as are the
ducks..........
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Read
Sent: Wednesday, 10 September 2014 6:49 AM
To: 'COG
List'
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] A few hours to the west
And if you’re out west, it’s
worth stopping at Gum Swamp, a couple of km SW of Forbes:
http://www.forbes.nsw.gov.au/f.ashx/docs/Gum_Swamp_RENEWED_2013.pdf
I was there only for an hour or
so at dusk at the weekend, but there were birds in abundance and variety,
including numbers of pink-eared ducks, hardhead and shovelers, and a couple of
freckled duck. Highlight was a white-belied sea-eagle on (on, better, in)
an enormous nest. Interestingly, large numbers of feral pigeons were
roosting on dead redgums and flying around, unperturbed by the local
peregrine. Several fantailed cuckoos were moving quietly through the bush
around the swamp.
Steve
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