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Hi Birders,
I was interested to read about the
Bush Stone-curlews at Collie and please to know that they are still there. When
I was the NPWS District Manager at Coonabarabran 1975-1982 I was very friendly
with Bob McCulloch, of the property Berida Station, located midday between
Gilgandra and Collie on Marthaguy Creek. Bob was a well known birdwatcher and in
1948 the NSW Gould League Camp was held on Berida, and he was a friend &
contemporary of the noted ornithologist Arnold McGill. Not far from the
homestead there was an undergrazed paddock that held two pairs of Bush
Stone-curlews, and I saw them on a number of occasions. Bush Stone-curlews also
were located by David Johnson on the TSR between Gilgandra and Coonamble mainly
in the vicinity north of Gulargumbone during the same period. Bob died in the
1980's but his son (Peter?), is also interested in wildlife and may well
also still have Bush Stone-curlews on his property.
For eight years there has been a single lonely Bush
Stone-curlew living in the grounds of the State Forests Deport at Narooma.
However it was mentioned in a recent issue of the Eurobodalla National History
Society newsletter that after all this time the Narooma bird has finally found a
mate and hopefully the birds may nest later this year. All the locals really
wish this to be so. Hopefully some fox baiting there has already
commenced!
In the meantime, the Brisbane Water Bush
Stone-curlews continue to breed successfully at St Huberts Island, Saratoga and
Davistown in their saltmarsh & mangrove mudflats.
Alan Morris
Central Coast FOC
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