Some of the records that Martin notes between 1992 and 1996
are probably sightings that I made in the Port Fairy
district. At times there were a small number of birds at
Port Fairy itself (East Beach and Moyne River
mouth/Griffiths Island) when there were relatively few
Pacific Gulls about. When the largest numbers of Pacific
Gulls (including a high proportion of juvenile
and immatures) were present, I don't recall that any Kelp
Gulls were around. The latter species also occurred west of
Port Fairy and in the Killarney area- Mary Griffith, a
local birdwatcher, would have the best log of records for
all these areas.
One or twice, I saw a juvenile Kelp Gull
near Port Fairy which raised the question of where the
birds bred. If Kelp Gulls move as far as Pacific Gulls do
from breeding areas (in Victoria's case, around Wilson's
Promontory), then western Victorian Kelp Gulls could breed
at previously known sites such as Seal Rocks on Phillip
Island, or possibly locally such as on the largest
Killarney reef or on Lady Julia Percy Island. One day I'll
have a look at these places in the gulls' breeding season.
Cheers
George
On Thu, 1 Apr 1999 09:08:45 +1000 Martin O'Brien
<> wrote:
>
> Bett Mitchell asks about the occurrence of Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus in
> Victoria.
>
> The quick look at data from the Atlas of Victorian Wildlife shows the
> following for the species. Of about 150 records (some have no specific
> date or site) the breakdown is.
>
> Pre 1972 - 12 observations
> 1972 to '76 - 12
> 1977 to '81 - 56
> 1982 to '86 - 15
> 1987 to '91- 8
> 1992 to '96 - 10
> 1997 to present - 5
>
> These records are mostly from Port Phillip and Westernport Bays with a
> handful of records for Warrnambool, Wilson Promontory and the Gippsland
> Lakes. The Atlas of Australian Birds (version one) may be the reason for
> the high observation rate for the species for the years 1977-'81, however
> the data could still indicate a decline in the species for Victoria. The
> Atlas of Victorian Birds indicates that Kelp Gulls have colonised Australia
> since the 1940s and are scarce year round residents in certain parts of
> coastal Victoria.
>
> What do other observers think?
>
> I encourage birdos to forward all their Kelp Gull observations to me or the
> Atlas so a better understanding can be gained of the species distribution
> and occurrence in Victoria.
>
> Martin O'Brien
> Executive Scientific Officer
> Scientific Advisory Committee
> Threatened Species Program
> Department of Natural Resources and Environment
> 4/250 Victoria Pde.,
> East Melbourne, 3002
> Victoria, AUSTRALIA
>
> tel: +61 3 9412 4567
> fax: +61 3 9412 4586
> e-mail:
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
>
> Include ONLY "unsubscribe birding-aus" in the message body (without the
> quotes)
----------------------
George Appleby
Arthur Rylah Institute
123 Brown Street
(P.O. Box 137)
Heildelberg
Victoria 3084
telephone 03 9450 8656
fax 03 9450 8799
To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
Include ONLY "unsubscribe birding-aus" in the message body (without the
quotes)
|
