HI Mick and birders
Fantastic images of the masked owls Mick.
I only wish I could have got you out to the Buttaba area - to the east
of where you have been working on the masked owls - before clearing
commenced on a 90 block development which removed a huge number of trees
with hollows supporting a lively fauna community and a resident pair of
masked owls that I had observed on a number of occasions as they roosted
in a huge scribbly gum hollow. This tree, even before development
consent was given, mysteriously was blown to smithereens by unknown
parties. I would love to get hold of these unknown parties for a brief
chat before taking them to the cops.
The local council joyfully approved development consent in spite of all
the indicators that this particular area is of great importance to
nocturnal birds, AND COMPLETELY IGNORED/LIMITED/PREVENTED ALL OPPOSITION
TO THE DEVELOPMENT.
ANd when I tried to challenge the development on the grounds that
insufficient attention had been paid to, among other things, nocturnal
birds, the local council denied me the right to copy the flora and fauna
assessment on the grounds of "copyright". Absolutely laughable if it
wasn't so serious. On the file for the development there was supposedly
a "specialist" report on owls: I never saw it, I asked where it was and
why development had been approved when such a potentially important file
was missing from the bundle. I was told in an off the cuff, entirely
unprofessional manner that there wasn't any evidence that such birds
were present in the area. I tried to raise the point about my hearing
powerful owls in the area in 2002, but to no avail.
But now, thanks to the Masked Owls and Mick's photography, WE ALL KNOW
THEY ARE PRESENT IN THE AREA.
No more Mr nice guy for me when it comes to dealings with developers,
their hack consultants, and government. Something urgently needs to be
done to clean out the scum from the environmental consultancy industry
before they've had the chance to destroy remaining habitat for these
beautiful birds in the Lake Macquarie region.
Any tourists who want to go looking for such owls, I would suggest you
contact the local council: they should be able to point you in the right
direction for a small fee.
craig williams
>>> 07/29/05 8:54 PM >>>
Hello all,
Over the last couple of months I've spent many a cold night watching a
family of Masked Owls in the Awaba Forest west of Lake Macquarie
(central coast, NSW).
I've put the first part of what will probably be a three part series of
photographs and recordings of the owls up on my website
(www.wildlifing.com).
They were fascinating to watch. The nest was in a large Angophora
costata. Both parents were pale phase birds but the offspring were
something else! Both the male and female would give little calls that
indicated to the owlets that they should start screeching as their
parents were coming in with food. The female usually brought in Bush
Rats, the male either House Mouse or Brown Antechinus.
Cheers
Mick
--
Michael Todd
Wildlifing
Images & Sounds of Nature
Latest Additions: Awaba's Masked Owls
www.wildlifing.com
Toronto, NSW, Australia
04101 23715
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