On October 11,
John Harris posted a message relating to works being conducted at the high tide
wader roost at Manly Boat Harbour, Queensland.
Jill Dening, Qld
Wader Study Group committee member, replied to the query. I have replied
separately to John, but for the benefit of subscribers, I advise that the Manly
Boat Harbour User's Group was required, as a condition of an environmental
authority issued by Qld’s Environmental Protection Agency to dredge the harbour,
to recontour the northern section of the reclamation area as a high tide wader
roost site.
QWSG has
worked closely with MBHUG and (over quite a long period) the Port of Brisbane
Corporation to achieve what is hoped will be a permanent and viable high tide
wader roost site. I have to acknowledge the cooperation of MBHUG and PBC in what
has been a particularly difficult exercise, one which is not yet
finished.
Early indications are promising that the birds will use the
recontoured part of the site. Last Saturday’s count of the site was just over
1000 birds, 948 of them waders of 13 species. QWSG members have accessed the
site for monthly counts and monitoring of construction works only with
permission and, in most cases, accompanied by a PBC
officer.
On the weekend
of November 3-4, the Birds Qld Twitchathon is to be held in SE Qld. In
recent years, many teams have accessed the reclamation area because it has been
a reliable site to record wader species.
However, I remind birders
who are going to take part in the Twitchathon that the whole of the reclamation
area is a construction site. It is not public land. In this regard, of relevance
is the first paragraph of the code of conduct (Respecting the law and rights of
others) relating to entry to private land in the Birds Queensland
directory.
Also, in the
near future, when dredging has started and spoil is being pumped/dumped on the
southern part of the area, entry will not be without its danger.
With a little
more effort on the part of teams in the Twitchathon, the species recorded at
Manly can be found at other publicly accessible sites around Moreton
Bay.
