Hi Tom,
There's been a fair bit of residential subdivision and apartment building in
the Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai Shires, over the last few years. While significant
tracts of bushland still remain, human dwellings (houses and large apartment
blocks) are built right up against them. It's usually existing residential lots
being carved up into smaller allotments or transformed into large apartment
blocks, which has resulted in the narrowing of the interface between the
bushland and urban development. When this happens, more of the bushland areas
are managed for bushfire threats. I suspect that light pollution from these
buildings at night would disturb roosting Gang-gangs, noise pollution during
the day during building construction may be enough to displace foraging
Gang-gangs, and perhaps the removal of some of the bushland understorey for
bushfire management has also impacted on the Gang-gangs. Although the
Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai population of Gang-gangs is listed as an endangered
population under the NSW Threatened Species Act 1995, it's likely that
individuals moved in and out of that population, given that they can fly large
distances. If that is the case, it's not hard to imagine individuals moving
elsewhere to avoid urban disturbances.
There's quite a strong community resistance to further residential subdivision
and apartment building in the Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai Shires. Reasons often
given for that opposition are the need to retain the bushland in parts of these
shires, and protection of habitat for the Powerful Owl and Gang-gang Cockatoo.
For the record, I last saw a Gang-gang Cockatoo in the area in Pennant Hills in
November 2014, but I don't go looking for them on a regular basis.
Kind regards,
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde, NSW
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Jenny Stiles
Sent: Sunday, August 6, 2017 9:46 PM
To: Tom Wilson; Martin Butterfield; birding aus
Subject: LOOKING FOR GANG-GANG COCKATOOS IN LANE COVE VALLEY, SYDNEY - SINCE
DECEMBER 2016
Hi Tom,
I live in Epping & I walk in the Lane Cove Valley often. I last saw a Gang-Gang
Cockatoo [in fact a pair] near Day Rd in Cheltenham on the 14th March 2014. It
was my first sighting for years & I did report it. At the time I was told that
there had been a dramatic reduction in sightings over the past few years. I
spoke to a lady who lived at Byles Creek in Beecroft about the same time who
said she occasionally saw a lone male. There had been some reported from near
the native plant nursery in Pennant Hills, but again when I checked I was told
they only infrequently saw 1 or 2.
Unfortunately it did seem as if they had all but disappeared by mid 2014.
>From Jenny Stiles
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Wilson
Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2017 8:38 PM
To: Martin Butterfield ; birding aus
Subject: LOOKING FOR GANG-GANG COCKATOOS IN LANE COVE VALLEY, SYDNEY - SINCE
DECEMBER 2016
Hi Martin (& others who have responded)
it’s not my local patch so although I visit, I am not a daily observer.
However, my understanding is that the population in Lane Cove Valley was only
ever small (Alan Morris – if you read this you might know more?).
I agree that no reports in 8 months might be a bit early to make the call, but
it also seems sensible to put out a request to see if they have been around.
The records for the last 4 years or so that the council bloke referred to
seemed pretty sparse – of course that that might be a function of not many
birders and not many observations. To counter that, I suggested to the council
bloke that he put an advert in the local free newspapers for the areas around
the valley (with a picture) asking “has anybody has seen this parrot?”
If it is a small population, one belt of something nasty could be the cause –
certainly the last bird I saw (as opposed to heard) looked in extremely poor
condition – a male with about 1/3 of his head plumage missing.
So I hope you are right that 8 months is a bit soon – but then that is why I
put the request out in the first place.
Cheers
Tom
From: Martin Butterfield
Sent: Sunday, August 6, 2017 4:34 PM
To: Tom Wilson
Cc: birding aus
Subject: LOOKING FOR GANG-GANG COCKATOOS IN LANE COVE VALLEY, SYDNEY - SINCE
DECEMBER 2016
Tom
Surely an 8 month period is far too short to start thinking about "extinction"
? That isn't even a breeding season.
Perhaps they've found better feed somewhere else and will be back in a little
while?
Martin
Martin Butterfield
http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/
On 6 August 2017 at 15:24, Tom Wilson <> wrote:
Hi All
Through a referral from Kurtis Lindsay as an eBird and Birdline moderator, I
was recently approached by a conservation officer from Ku-Ring-Gai Council with
disturbing news that the last reported sighting of a Gang-gang Cockatoo in the
Lane Cove Valley (northern Sydney) was in December 2016. It has been surmised
that they are (sadly) locally extinct in the valley.
Unfortunately, I had no more recent records that would prove this to be
incorrect (my last record was mid-2016 near Blackbutt Avenue in Pennant Hills).
If you have more recent evidence (ie after December 2016) that would help
show that this is not the case, please can you forward as much detail as
possible to me. I will collate and forward all information to the council
officer. Ideally, please can you provide as much of the following information
as you can:
- Date and Time;
- Exact location in the Lane Cove Valley;
- Number and Mix of Birds (ie Male/Female/Young);
- Sighted or Heard Only;
- Activity Observed (including species of tree being used if feeding); and
- Any Other Relevant Comments.
You can forward your information to me at the above email. Let’s hope we can
prove that they are still about.
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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