birding-aus
One can't completely run out the possibility that the goose at Braeside
Park, Melbourne isn't a bird that has wandered to Victoria from more
tropical areas. Why it would want to do this is another matter entirely.
The Shortland Wetlands Centre in Newcastle embarked on a re-introduction
program of Magpie Geese into the lower Hunter Valley in the early 1980's.
A handful of geese were present at the time of introduction at Seaham
(about 30 kilometres from Shortland) and had attempted to breed there.
After a slow start the Shortland population are now breeding and the
population is growing. The main problem early on was inexperience by young
birds. In the first couple of years few, if any, young survived but as
birds became more experienced a greater number of young birds joined the
population.
There is a regular movement of birds from Shortland to Seaham and the wild
birds are now probably integrated into the re-introduced flock and geese
are now being seen at an increasing number of location in the lower Hunter.
Although the original founder stock were banded the wild bred young are not
so there is no way of telling if the flock is being supplemented by infuxes
of wild birds that occasionally move into northern NSW. I suspect that, if
this has not been the case, it is only a matter of time. Either way, the
lower Hunter now has what would appear to be a self-sustaining population
of Magpie Geese.
David Geering
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