Bundamba Lagoon Bird Monitoring |
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October 4 2008. Meg Gordon, Wendy Dunn, Peter Horler, Lynn McTaggart and I paid our monthly visit to Daly's Lagoon (Bundamba Wetlands). There were about 50 Black Ducks and 120 Grey Teal, and 16 Black-winged Stilts including one sitting on a nest. We flushed at least 4 Latham's Snipe - there's lots of suitable habitat so there could be more. Once again we saw only one Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, and we were excited to see 3 Red-kneed Dotterels, the first since 6 Jan 2007. Other waterbirds included 106 Straw-necked Ibis and two White-necked Herons. The little dam back from our usual second count point is still full; there was a Reed-warbler there and nearby a pair of very excited Tawny Grassbirds, presumably with a nest or young. Disappointingly the Eagles and the Stork were not there, and we did not find any crakes. We recorded a total of 48 species. There was just a little bit more water than in September. I had been afraid that its greenish appearance from a distance might be caused by blue-green algae but in fact it is a plant with tiny leaves, I think one of the Duck-weeds. Next time we are going to try doing our normal count from our usual two vantage points, but afterwards will walk down to the water to see what we have missed. This will be at 6am on Saturday 1 November. On Thursday 16 October we are doing our annual bushland survey. September 6, 2008 Today Meg Gordon, Peter Horler and I
went to Daly's Lagoon (Bundamba Wetland) to check out the birds - we cannot
do formal surveys while the water is so low (maybe 7%), but there is enough
water there to warrant a regular visit so we are back on the job on first
Saturdays of the month (at least until it all dries up again). August 1, 2008 Margaret Cameron and Meg Gordon visited.
Daly's Lagoon is still almost empty - we estimate less than 5% - but there
are waterbirds again! Birds seen included at least 55 Grey Teal, 17 Pacific
Black Ducks, 14 Black-winged Stilts, one of the White-bellied Sea-Eagles,
Black-shouldered Kites building a nest, and highlight of the morning a Black-necked
Stork. We can't do our formal surveys yet as the water is only just visible
from our survey points, but we will visit again on 6 September at 7am. February 11 2008 I went on Friday to look at our survey
site. We have had a fair bit of rain in Ipswich (but nothing remotely like
the Sunshine Coast or the catchments of Queensland's flooding rivers) and
I thought it might have been enough to make a difference. Ripley has obviously
had a bit of rain but not nearly as much as we have had and obviously not
enough to fill the lagoon. I met Steve there - it was really good as it
is a long time since there's been a chance to hear what's been going on.
He described the recent rainfall and it's made the country look green (and
the ground is muddy enough for his tractor to be bogged) but not remotely
enough to fill the lagoon. The floor of the lagoon is almost covered with
tall plants (I thought they were all weeds but Fiachra says most are good
plants), and the small visible areas of exposed ground appear damp and
there were a few tiny shallow puddles. Even from our first lookout point,
there is a deafening chorus of frogs which we think are in pools in the
deeper areas left when they scooped up the ground to make the new islands.
(You can barely see the islands as the plants are taller than they are.)
The small dams round the place are full. I did not go around to our second
lookout point as I did not want to get bogged (and it was too hot to
walk). Fiachra's plants are doing well and there are some good little
saplings coming along which i think have planted themselves (no tree
guards). Cheers and Happy New Year to all, Margaret March 21 2007 Sadly, the lagoon is now dry. Fiachra checked
it out and we will now stop counting until real rain falls and it fills
again. In the meantime it is planned that work will be done to the outlet
so that it will hold water longer next time. Final plans have been drawn
up and permit applications have been submitted. Achieving this is a tribute
to Fiachra's vs ion and determination. March 3 2007 Meg, Jim and I did our March survey on Saturday morning. The dry lagoon is a sad sight - the small pool I saw on Thursday was just a rather scummy damp patch. There is still water in the small dam round to the west and a bit of water in another depression you cannot see from our count locations, on the south side (downhill from the car park). Even sadder was the sight of the Sea-eagles in their tree looking out over a vast expanse of no tucker. There were a couple of Black Ducks in the first dam and 5 White-faced Herons, 4 White-necked herons (the most we've ever had I think) and an Intermediate Egret; off survey a Great Egret and a Yellow-billed Spoonbill. The only waders were a total of 21 Masked Lapwings. There's always something interesting - quite a lot of Pale-headed Rosellas, a Pheasant Coucal out in the open, and a Channel-billed Cuckoo flying past. Unless there is an extraordinary change in the weather, i doubt if we will be there in April. Thanks Meg, thanks Jim. Margaret Cameron Feb 3 2007 The water level was extremely low for our count
today. The first count area (western) was quite dry except for the small
dam on the left of our count point, where there were a few ducks. Most of
the lake bed here is covered with weeds - annoyingly they concealed a White-necked
Heron (unusual here) which emerged after we had finished counting - and
the only birds on the dried mud were Masked Lapwings. The eastern end
had a bit of water and was much more interesting with 50 Pied Stilts,
various ducks including Shovelers, a Latham's Snipe (and a second one
later) and 4 beautiful Glossy Ibis. The White-bellied Sea-eagles were
in their tree. Thanks to Diane, Lynne and Jim. Margaret Cameron Jan 6 2007 Despite the low water, we had a pleasant and
interesting count today. It was a beautiful morning, absolutely calm, so
we could enjoy the reflections of the egrets, spoonbills, stilts, avocets
and other waders, mirrored on the glassy surface. There is obviously plenty
of food for some birds, as the ducks, the 9 Royal and 1 Yellow-billed Spoonbills,
and the 2 Whiskered Terns were feeding actively. However those which eat
larger fish (for example Pelicans and Cormorants) are all absent. There were
73 Sharptailed Sandpipers, 64 Stilts including one immature, and 7 Avocets,
as well as Black-fronted Dotterels, Red-knees, Masked Lapwings and 1 Marsh
Sandpiper. Two White-necked Herons are unusual here. Margaret Cameron Dec 2 2006 A somewhat hazy morning for the count as Diane,
Lynne, Phil and I got started, and the water appears to have receded even
further since last month. Some birds are stayers nevertheless - lots of grey
teal, wood duck, a couple of shovellers, both royal and yellow-billed spoonbill,
6 avocets, plenty of black-winged stilts (incl. a few young ones), both kinds
of dotterel still there, and more sharpies than last month. For more information see the Annual Report and bird list for 2006 Contact
Margaret Cameron mcameron01@optusnet.com.au,
3282 9151 |