Hello birdos,
I spent this morning searching for hylacolas (heathwrens) at Store Creek in
Cocoparra NP which is approx. 30 km NE of Griffith in the northern Riverina
of NSW. I eventually found a pair of Shy at one spot and then two pair of
Shy at another spot 400m distant. However, I'm not certain that two of this
second group weren't the original pair as they came from that direction.
The four birds chased each other for a while through the undergrowth giving
me great views of all concerned. The females were noticeably duller than
the males- certainly a greater difference than with the duller
Chestnut-rumped Hylacola. They seemed to be largely confined to dense Hill
Tea Tree understorey with a sparse Mallee eucalypt overstorey.
While I recorded other birds I didn't have a very long list by when I left
but I still enjoy seeing Mulga Parrots and Speckled Warblers.
I'm still chasing any Pulletop NR records or bird lists that people may
have. Dave Stewart sent me an interesting email re Pulletop sightings.
According to his observations all the mallee birds were present during the
1970's but had mostly disappeared during the 1980's. Dave mentioned he and
John McKean observing malleefowl and an active mound in 1983.
For those who don't know Pulletop it is a small reserve, of approximately 1
km by 2 km, but was formerly part of a larger stretch of mallee that was on
private property and has been cleared. Presumably isolation brought with it
inbreeding depression, increased predation and subsequent local
extinctions. This sad fate has affected many small mallee reserves in NSW.
The malleefowl being the most obvious decliner as they can hang on in
reserves as a couple of pairs for years and years with seemingly no hope of
recovery. Probably most of the chicks that they produce are grabbed by
foxes, although even if the fixes weren't there they wouldn't have any
habitat to disperse to. This is one situation where not even 1080 can do
the trick!
About the only positive things you can say about these small reserves is
that they are good examples of the effect of habitat isolation and maybe,
just maybe, they could be used as core areas for future regeneration and
re-introduction projects. I would get a buzz out of seeing Pulletop as Dave
Stewart must have seen it in the 1970's knowing how empty it seems now.
Cheers,
Mick Todd
Griffith, NSW
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
