Prof Mike Tarburton
Dean: School of Science and Technology
Pacific Adventist University
PMB, Boroko
Papua New Guinea
> ----------
> From: Ian May
> Sent: 29 March 2004 22:48
> To:
> Cc:
cnet.net.au
> Subject: Re: Grey Butch'birds around Melbourne.
>
Dear Melbourne wren-watchers
I have had to change the subject line slightly to try to beat some ISP's spam
filter!!!
I have good evidence (Will be published when I get time) that the blackberries
in Wurundjeri Walk (Blackburn South, in E. Melbourne) not only saved the
remnant population of White-browed Scrub-wrens but was frequently used by the
Superb Fairy-Wrens for nesting. The Fairy-Wrens were extinguished from this
reserve by the council spraying the blackberries while the Fairy-Wrens were
nesting in them.
This is all the more sad when you know that the council had been following my
suggestions up to that point about leaving the blackberries there until the
native replantings had grown sufficiently to replace the blackberries. They
had heeded my warning for four years but tried to speed the process up for the
last segment. This cost us that species, which has not recolonied yet in the
intervening five years.
There are plenty of Grey-butcherbirds around this area, but they appear to
spend more time taking insects from the Tawny Frogmouths as twilight envelops
the patch of bush. I saw the Scrub-wrens escape the White-plumed Honeyeaters
and the Fairy-wrens often escape other potential predators by fleeing into the
blackberries or into the Goodenia thickets.
We all need to be patient sometimes
Cheers
Mike
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