A suggestion in reply to Martin's question - many years ago, from memory the late 1960's, early 1970's and possibly later, when I spent a lot of time in the area, it was not all that well fenced and cattle were regularly present in the area. Whether they
ate the tender young growth of the Typha (is there is any Phragmites in Kelly's Swamp proper, perhaps at the southern end?) I don't know, and the cattle also spent a lot of time trampling much of the area leaving large areas of exposed, ploughed-up mud and
this probably also helped keep the reeds down. This in turn kept the waters edge reasonably clear of all vegetation allowing quite a few species of waders to visit, including Australian Painted Snipe. Like a lot of plants, if there is nothing to control them
they are likely to take over.
I would be interested to hear any other comments.
Mark
On 1/10/2021 6:55 am, Martin Butterfield via Canberrabirds wrote:
One of the main changes I have noted in recent years is the way the reeds are gradually taking over Kelly's Swamp. From past conversations with Rangers I understand that it is very difficult to control them. A similar situation appeared to exist at McLeods
Morass at Bairnsdale when we visited a couple of months ago. However from photographs posted by Birdlife East Gippsland the reeds there have completely collapsed giving a clear view of the water (and the thousands of Ibis walking around on the reeds).
The question that arises for me is what don't the reeds at Keelys collapse like this (or do I just not visit at the right time of year)?
