Young Wood Duck trapped In nets at Holder Wetlands

[Marg Peachey <>]

ACT Wildlife has attended a number of wetlands with trapped birds.  Last weekend our rescuer went to both the Cotter Rod and the Mawson wetlands after reports of ducks being caught.  However there are great gaps everywhere and the birds are coming in and out.,  Several have died at the Isabella Plains wetland.

Last week I emailed the contractors and not had a reply.  Shall follow up on Monday.  It is not good enough,.

Sue, ACT Wildlife number is also advertised at the bottom of every page of Canberrabirds website too.

kind regards,

Marg

Marg Peachey
President, ACT Wildlife
p: 0450 961 530
e: m("actwildlife.net","president");" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">
w: www.actwildlife.net

On Sat, May 4, 2019 at 2:45 PM Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

Of course not Sue.  They’ve done their bit by giving you the phone number.   It’s the birds’ fault.  After all the netting is there ‘to protect young plants from birds who routinely (sic) eat and trample new plantings …..’  FURTHERMORE:  ‘there may be a few issues along the way including … birds and other animals getting stuck in plant netting’.    

 

From: Sue Beatty <>
Sent: Saturday, 4 May 2019 1:46 PM
To: 'Geoffrey Dabb' <>;
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Young Wood Duck trapped In nets at Holder Wetlands

 

Thanks Geoffrey,

Nobody answering the phone at Able Landscaping. Birds need to be careful not to get caught at weekends as well as not over deep water. I’ll let them know on Monday for the record.

Sue

 

From: Geoffrey Dabb <>
Sent: Saturday, 4 May 2019 1:20 PM
To:
Subject: FW: [canberrabirds] Young Wood Duck trapped In nets at Holder Wetlands

 

And perhaps Able Landscaping

 

 

From: Sue Beatty <>
Sent: Saturday, 4 May 2019 1:05 PM
To: 'Denise Kay' <>
Cc: 'Canberra Birds' <>
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Young Wood Duck trapped In nets at Holder Wetlands

 

Thanks Denise,

Of course I should have! Not that it would have helped the drowning Duck. I just phoned them anyway so they could log it.

Sue

 

From: Denise Kay <>
Sent: Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:51 PM
To: Sue Beatty <>
Cc: Canberra Birds <>
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Young Wood Duck trapped In nets at Holder Wetlands

 

You need to call ACT Wildlife Sue.

 

0432300033 

 

 

Denise Kay

Flying Fox Coordinator

ACT Wildlife

 

 

 

On 4 May 2019, at 12:34 pm, Sue Beatty <> wrote:

 

I’ve been keeping an eye on these new wetlands established by the ACT Government as part of “ACT Healthy Waterways”. Not so healthy for the young Wood Duck that I found struggling in the net, hopelessly tangled and trying to keep its head above water to avoid drowning. I wasted 10 precious minutes trying to phone WIRES but gave up trying to navigate the phone options and plunged in to the pond to see if I could save the Duck. I got soaked up to the knees, but the poor thing died just as I discovered that I’d have needed strong scissors or a pocket knife to free it. I wonder how much longer the ponds will be surrounded by these nets. The Wood Ducks had successfully raised their family there until now, but until the last couple of days I don’t think there was much water in the ponds. Now the nets are trailing in the water just where ducks dabble.

I left the corpse hanging in the nets. Might take scissors next time I visit!

Sue