Reports - Annual General Meeting March 2008 |
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For more information on BASQ activities and projects, see elsewhere on this website.
Convenor Eric Anderson This was our fourth year as a Regional Group of Birds Australia. This year we have endeavoured to make the AGM more ‘attractive’ to members by preceding it by our inaugural Annual Bird Conference. I am honoured to welcome Alison Russell-French, President of Birds Australia and Graeme Hamilton, CEO, Birds Australia and thank them very much for supporting us with their attendance. The Committee met seven times during the year at a range of locations (Warwick, Chelmer, Lake Manchester, Flaxton, Karara, Bracken Ridge and Stafford Heights). Some of the highlights for me this year included:
Much more happened during the year and all the details of our projects and activities can be found in the published reports given out at this meeting. I do thank all of the Committee for their support during the year (see our website www.basq.org.au for members and their positions/roles). However I would like to give special thanks to Grahame Rogers (Secretary) and Gil Porter (Treasurer) who are the backbone of the Group. Conservation Dez Wells Loss and fragmentation of habitat. BASQ has surveyed selected stock routes, and conducted workshops in areas of high fragmentation to encourage land managers to preserve stock routes and remnant patches of vegetation as corridors. This issue has developed into a series of discussion workshops with local, state and federal government agencies and special interest groups in Queensland and New South Wales culminating in a policy document accepted by Birds Australia and letters to government calling for the protection of stock routes as Protected Corridors for Travelling Stock and Biodiversity. Indian Myna, Several versions of Myna traps have not shown promising results in southeast Queensland. Trapping of birds requires animal ethics approval regardless of whether the organism is native or exotic. Exotic animals trapped must be euthanised in a way approved by Animal ethics. BASQ has produced an article on Marine Pollution as a risk to species of marine birds to encourage the public to collect and bin their rubbish. We have also encouraged members to send an email in support of a ban on Helium balloons. BASQ has joined the Glossy Black Conservancy. Rosella Ramblings Ross Smith With the help of a number of contributors who have sent me some very interesting articles, along with some excellent photos, we have progressed from an initial four page black and white publication to eight page colour editions for the last three Ramblings. Our printers Energex do a high quality job at very competitive rates. They are very efficient and always have the newsletter printed within 2 or 3 days of my submitting it. The Brisbane City Council has sponsored the Rosella Ramblings for half of our printing, production and postage costs. This has allowed us to produce a better quality and more readable newsletter. I have now submitted a new funding application to the BCC for 2008. Permission was also granted by the BCC for BASQ to use any unspent funding from the 2007 application. We are now circulating the Ramblings to six of the larger BCC libraries as well as to the Boondall Wetlands and Osprey House in the Pine Rivers Shire.
BASQ Website Grahame Rogers When BigPond without notice stopped servicing the personal website used by BASQ, a new host was found and this new website created at our own address. The website is designed to provide information for members, and to attract people interested in birds. Sensitive information is now only available to members who have a user name and password. (available on request).
Development Eric Anderson 1. Business Development – The following projects contributed significantly to activities and finances. BCC Land for Wildlife surveys and CRC Cotton Catchment project continued from 2006. SEQ Water – Biodiversity Corridors (Bird surveys segment) started using the SEQ Bird Alliance with Birds Queensland and Brisbane BOCA organisations. The BCC and SEQ Water projects are expected to extend for some years. The CRC Cotton Catchment project will complete in June 2008. 2. Displays and Event Implementation – During 2007 we held the following displays - Warwick Peace Festival (March 24th) and Valleys Field Day (May 26th).. We accepted Birds Queensland’s invitation to display our poster, brochures and handout material at their RNA display (August 2007). 3. Membership Promotion. – This mainly occurs at the Displays, and by following up enquiries. Membership currently stands at 731. 4. Promotions and Publicity – This is under continuing development. An activity involving members was filmed at Bribie Island (June 25th) for Channel 7’s Great South East program.
Archives Cathy Smith Summary of activities in 2007 January February March April. May June July August September October November December
Regional Groups Grahame Rogers Regional group meeting were held in May and November for exchange of information and discussion of policy. The informal May meeting was attended by members who were in Mt Gambier for the BA AGM. Delegates from each group met in Melbourne on November 23 for a more formal day long meeting. The meeting was attended by the President, the CEO and staff members. The minutes are available for download from the BA website www.birdsaustralia.com.au/the-organisation/regional-groups.html
OHS Grahame Rogers The new sign-on form, risk assessment form and responsibilities of leaders and participants document have been used throughout 2007. See www.basq.org.au/policy/policy.htm From the experience, procedures have been revised several times. We believe that they have improved participants’ and leaders’ awareness of risks. The forms have been adopted by the Birds Australia OH&S Committee for use by all members of BA
Outings Dez Wells Outings
undertaken by BASQ in 2007:
Atlas B-M NRM Grahame Rogers Six members of BASQ spent five days carrying out bird surveys in the Monto area for the Bird Monitoring in Regions Project. This project aims to find out more about the birds in 10 regions around Australia - what habitats they use, where they breed, and how people and their activities affect them. In this region the project is being run by BASQ in partnership with the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management. The activity was undertaken after Birds Australia members had conducted Atlas workshops the previous week in Monto and several other North and South Burnett centres. Local landholders and members of the Monto Landcare group assisted in the surveying and although they were not serious birdwatchers before we arrived they were very keen to learn and will be much better equipped to carry out surveys in the future. We recorded 104 bird species in Monto Shire and a total of 112 for the Eidsvold, Gayndah and Monto areas. 33 Atlas reports have been submitted. All landholders involved have been sent a copy of the surveys done on their property, together with the overall Monto list, and a copy of Birds on Farms.
IBA Dez Wells IBAs completed and submitted (now undergoing final checks): Mt French: Black-breasted Button-quail, Regent Bowerbird. Mt Tamborine: Albert’s Lyrebird, Pale-yellow Robin, Paradise Riflebird, Green Catbird, Regent Bowerbird. Bunya Mountains: as above Scenic Rim: as above + Eastern Bristlebird, Rufous Scrub-bird. Lake Bindegolly: Inland Dotterel, Bourke’s Parrot, Slaty-backed Thornbill, Black Honeyeater, and others. Lake Nuga Nuga: large numbers of Australian Pelican and Pacific Black Duck Great Sandy Strait: Beach Stone Curlew, Bush Stone Curlew, Mangrove Honeyeater, waders Moreton Bay: as above Simpson Desert NP/Channel Country Bioregion : Plains Wanderer, Eyrean Grasswren, Grey Falcon, and others Bulloo: Blue-billed Duck, Pink-eared Duck, Grey Teal, Australasian Shoveler, and others Paroo: Blue-billed Duck, Pink-eared Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Black-winged Stilt, and others Lake Yamma Yamma: Sharp-tailed sandpiper, Australian Pratincole Not yet completed: Black-breasted Button-quail will be covered under four small IBA areas Currawinya, Lockyer Valley, Nandewar and Coolamunda Dam yet to be submitted.
BCC Partnerships Dez Wells A joint 10 year agreement between Brisbane City Council and Birds Australia Southern Queensland to allow members of BASQ access onto the properties of selected members of Council’s Conservation Partnerships program, for the purposes of recording and monitoring the bird species present on the sites. The first of these surveys occurred in late 2006 and four more surveys continued throughout 2007 on a seasonal basis. Participation over the year varied from one to twenty-three individuals to survey six properties in Moggill and three properties in Brookfield. For each property a 2ha 20min search was conducted recording the species and numbers of each species seen. A larger area search of the property was then conducted for one to two hours, recording all species sighted. One VCA property in Moggill and one VCA property in Brookfield will be surveyed over ten years. Five more properties in Moggill and two in Brookfield were surveyed four times during the year.
Cravens Peak Dez Wells The 2007 Cravens Peak Scientific Study investigated the natural resources of the Bush Heritage Cravens Peak Reserve south west of Boulia. The Study was organised by the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (Inc) to increase and share knowledge of the property’s flora, fauna and ecology and to contribute to the conservation and management of the property. The survey occurred on the 19th – 28th April 2007 after the area had experienced a large rain event. Bird species were compared in the two subregions considering species groups according to the vegetation systems they were surveyed in. Species richness and species relative abundance were compared using Simpson’s Index of Diversity and the data revealed that species are distributed largely on the basis of habitat. Overall, the Tall Open Acacia georginae Shrubland on the alluvial floodplains has a higher diversity of birds in a 2-ha area (0.87, Simpson’s Index of Diversity, 1-D). A total of one hundred and nineteen species of birds distributed among 37 families and 15 orders were encountered in the Cravens Peak Bush Heritage Reserve over the study period. Of the 119 species, 110 were found in the Toko Plain subregion and 69 species in the Simpson-Strzelecki Dunefields.
Namoi Cotton Evan Cleland Biodiversity values assessment and regular bird surveys were carried out on 17 cotton farms in the Namoi cotton growing region. This is a joint project between Birds Australia Southern Queensland, Australian Cotton Growers Research Association and the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC. Several workshops and field-based practical sessions with sub-catchment area wide management groups have assisted land managers to better understand the ecological functions of remnant vegetation and habitat requirements of declining fauna species such as woodland birds, and given them practical skills in the implementation of biodiversity monitoring at the farm and sub-catchment scales to improve remnant vegetation management. This is useful for a component of their Best Management Practices. The workshops were based on Birds on Cotton Farms by Greg Ford and Nicci Thompson.
SEQWater Eric Anderson The first bird surveys were done at fourteen 80 ha and twenty 2 ha areas adjacent to Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine Dams between the 1st and 17th November 2007 by members of Birds Australia Southern Queensland, Birds Queensland and BrisBOCA. Each of the bird groups was responsible for surveying a third of the sites. Overall 118 bird species were recorded. Considering the survey area size differences, 80 ha versus 2 ha, it is not surprising that there were on average three times as many birds found in the larger sites. Most bird species were found in habitats around North Pine Dam and least birds in habitats around Wivenhoe Dam. On average well vegetated (remnant) habitats had at least twice as many bird species as disturbed (vegetation cleared) habitats. Evidence of breeding was found for the following seven bird species – Whistling Kite, Laughing Kookaburra, Striped Honeyeater, Leaden Flycatcher, Grey Fantail, Grey Butcherbird and Tree Martin.
Grain & Graze Nicci Thompson Spring Surveys have been completed of the Balonne/Maranoa for Natural Resources and Water, and of the Border Rivers for Queensland Murray-Darling Committee. Doing so, in both catchments, was difficult and time-consuming, because of unpredictable storm activity which made access to sites impossible for several days, and in some cases, long returns trips. In the Balonne/Maranoa Catchment there were 50 surveys, and 66 surveys in the Border Rivers Catchment.
Activities Armchair Twitch Lesley Beaton Teams There were18 teams with 107 participants (10 teams with 40 members last year). There was a much wider range of sites with teams coming from NSW, QLD, WA & VIC. Promotion Initially 156 fliers went out in February to sister organizations, followed by a reminder in August. A number of groups promoted the Twitch in their newsletter or on their website. As well, Grahame & Ross organized the Channel 7 promotion at Buckley’s Hole. Lastly I sent out a media release & photo about the Twitch™ to 62 media outlets, resulting in 42 expressions of interest. Sponsorship Many thanks for sponsorship received from Kingfisher Bay Resort, Sean Dooley and Wayne Ellis. I don’t believe that teams really do it for the prizes and suggest some changes for next year. Donations increased from last year. See the financial report.
Birds, Backyards & Binoculars Nicci Thompson This is a joint initiative of Toowoomba City Council, Birds Australia Southern Queensland and the Toowoomba Bird Observers. Residents of all ages record details of birds on their property each month. The results are processed annually for the Council by BASQ members. A workshop was held on 4 November for Toowoomba City Council. Twenty-five people attended. This was followed by a field outing on 11 November either to a park in the western or eastern sector of Toowoomba. The workshop was lead by Nicci Thompson with Lesley Beaton as a co-presenter.
Albert’s Lyrebird Ray Licence Location of calling birds was carried out during the breeding season, using the Albert's Lyrebird survey kit. Various sites along the Main Range were visited from June to September. The Albert's Lyrebird Project aims to enhance the data that is currently available by encouraging members of the community to submit sightings for entry into the Environmental Protection Agency's WildNet database..
Mulligan River Nature Refuge Eric Anderson This reserve was declared on 1 February 2005. It has an area of 215,454 ha and incorporates Carlo Paddock on Glenormiston Station and McGuire’s Paddock on Marion Downs Station. These adjacent properties are both owned by the North Australian Pastoral Company. There were 68 sites to be surveyed at the Nature Refuge, and in spite of hot weather (up to 42 degrees) and the need to shift camp from Bore 41 to Kidman Bore because of deteriorating road conditions into the campsite, the group managed to do all but 4 sites from 21 September to 29 September. This trip we found 123 species compared with 90 species found during the 2006 survey. A bonus was the finding of two ephemeral wetlands (still with water) – Lakes Amaroo and Namabooka. The presence of the wetlands helped contribute significantly to the increase in bird species found. The species total for the Reserve now stands at 136. Of the 46 new species found about 30 were associated with the wetlands and of these 11 were waders.
Stock Route Coalition Evan Cleland The BASQ policy of conserving the stock routes was adopted by Birds Australia. on the recommendation of the Research and Conservation Committee. Bob Sutherst and Judit Szabo working on climate change realised the stock route networks provided the sort of corridors required to link habitat reserves of eastern Australia west of the Great Dividing Range. The climate change viewpoint is incorporated in the BA policy. Discussions have been held with Queensland Government officials and agencies responsible for stock routes, and Local Government and conservation groups. The core BA stock routes policy has been well received by all parties. The key to resolving most stock route issues will be the provision of sufficient government finance to bridge the gap between SR income from travelling stock and their cost of operation and maintenance. BASQ has linked with National Parks Association of New South Wales (NPA) who is leading NSW efforts. NPA is organising a stock routes National Conference for 9-10 April 2008. Birds Australia President has written to Government Ministers of Australian, NSW and Qld Governments. Presently, we are building an informal Stock Routes Coalition. This is a coalition of equals who will work together to achieve the objectives. Affirmed members are BASQ, Birds Queensland, Wildlife Preservation Association of Queensland and, following discussion, formal invitations have been delivered to The Wilderness Society and Drovers and Stock Routes Association. Queensland was advanced in a stock routes review process when we commenced our activity. Fortunately our intervention has been in time to influence the review outcome but there is much still to be done.
Bundamba Wetlands Margaret Cameron Surveys were deferred – the wetlands remained dry all year.
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