Birds Australia has recently commenced a study of the birds of
the Liverpool Plains. The Liverpool Plains are located in north-west NSW and
comprise approximately 1.2 million hectares of some of Australia’s most
productive land. The main towns in the area are Gunnedah and Quirindi, with
villages such as Mullaley, Tambar Springs, Breeza, Carroll and Curlewis. The
major landuses of the Liverpool Plains catchment are cropping and grazing. The
study will determine the bird species found in the area. It will then develop
recommendations for landholders on how they can manage their land to increase
biodiversity and, therefore, farm sustainability.
To determine this, Birds Australia has proposed to conduct some
on-ground surveys of the Liverpool Plains Catchment and invites interested
people to get involved. The surveys will identify areas that are important for
woodland birds. They will also be instrumental in developing specific guidelines
on how landholders can manage their land sustainably. By participating in the
surveys, you will not only be aiding the research, you’ll also get to learn
about the birds of the Liverpool Plains and the factors that affect them.
The surveys will comprise two types.
1. Ongoing Birds Australia Atlas surveys
on public lands across the Liverpool Plains region. We encourage any individual
birdwatchers/birdwatching clubs and groups intending to travel through and/or
visiting the Liverpool Plains region, to conduct Atlas surveys across areas
of public land (i.e. State Forests, Stock Routes, public reserves etc) in the
Liverpool Plains region. We also encourage those surveyors to complete Atlas
Habitat sheets, and/or unusual sightings. There are a number of public
accessible sites within the region that have currently not been surveyed and it
would be fantastic if we could obtain some data for these areas.
The following sites require Atlas surveys (and
habitat surveys):
Leard State Forest (n/e
Boggabri)
Vickery SF (e Boggabri)
Lake Keepit
Somerton SF (e Gunnedah)
Melville Ranges (1/2 way between
Gunnedah/Tamworth)
Black Jack SF (s
Gunnedah)
Wondora SF
Goran SF
Breeza SF
Trinkey SF
Doona SF
Pine Ridge SF
Kerringle SF (e Pilliga)
Tinkrameanah (w Tambar
Springs)
There are also a number of Stock Routes within
the Liv Plains region that require surveys.
2. The second type of surveys will be
targeted surveys on landholders private land. These surveys will involve small
groups of birdwatchers conducting Atlas surveys on private land with the Birds
Australia Project Co-ordinator during the months of October 2001-January 2002.
At this point we have a number of landholders who have given us permission to
conduct surveys on their land and we hope that many more will come onboard over
the following weeks. During these surveys, at some survey locations, permission
may be given to us to bush camp on the landholders private property. This will
depend on the discretion of the landholder, and all volunteers will be notified
prior to the surveys of the whether bush camping is allowed on the particular
owner’s land. If not, there are many options for accommodation within the
region. Surveys will occur on weekends.
The dates for these surveys are as follows
(exact locations are to be finalised)
Survey 1 13-14th
October 2001
Survey 2 27-28th
October 2001
Survey 3 10-11 November
2001
Survey 4 17-18th
November 2001
Survey 5 1st-2nd
December 2001
Survey 6 8-9th December
2001
Survey 7 15-16th
December 2001
Survey 8 5-6th January
2002
Survey 9 12-13 January
2002
For any further information on these surveys
please contact:
Peter Ekert
Birds Australia Project
Co-ordinator
(Liverpool Plains Woodland Bird Project (North
NSW))
(Monitoring Rufous Scrub-birds in North-east
NSW)
www.birdsaustralia.com.au
Project Officer - The Wetlands Centre
The
Wetlands Centre
PO Box 292
WALLSEND NSW 2287
