Call to Cull Corellas
South Australia’s longest serving member of parliament, Graham Gunn, has called for a cull of corellas in the mid-north of the state. He is advocating the use of strychnine. I heard him being interviewed on the radio this morning and he admitted that the use of strychnine was illegal in our state, but thought that National Parks Rangers could be employed to deal with the problem.
In parliament yesterday he even gave a suitable recipe using strychnine which would have them “falling out of the sky like Spitfires.” He went on to outline the great damage the species is doing in his electorate. He claimed that they were in plague proportions.
During his interview on the radio this morning, a very distraught caller rang in to remind listeners of the story of America’s Passenger Pigeons. Once seen in flocks of millions not a single bird remains.
Some might suggest he is focusing on the wrong “pest” species that needs culling.
To read the article in The Advertiser click here. (Sorry – this link no longer works)
Updated: May 30th, 2017.
Pleasantly alarming
I was awoken this morning in a very pleasant manner.
A Grey Currawong was calling in our garden.
Currawongs are widespread in our district without being common anywhere. Over the 20+ years we have lived here we would occasionally hear one calling in the distance, but they never visited our home garden.
This has changed dramatically in the last three to five years. Their visits have become quite frequent, usually once or twice a week, sometimes daily. A family of five, including three young, passed through the garden on several occasions last year.
As I said, a lovely way to be woken up. Could think of much more alarming methods.
Birder creates a stink
What is it with birders (bird watchers)???
Sean Dooley, that amazing Australian birder who recently published his book The Big Twitch has done it again. This time he has birders all over Australia in a tizz.
He has asked via Birding-Aus (a mailing list) to list their favourite Sewage Treatment Plant! Apparently he is writing an article on the topic. As you do.
Actually, many birders are attracted to Sewage Farms. That statement needs some explanation. You see, birds are VERY attracted to these places. Highly desirable addresses – for birds that is. Birders naturally follow good birding sites, hence the connection. To the dedicated birder, sewage plants are heaven scent. (I wonder how many marriage or relationships have been destroyed in this pursuit???)
Personally, I can only recall ever visiting one such place, in the Clare Valley in the mid-north of South Australia. Haven’t been there for at least 25 years. Must check it out when we go to visit our daughter in a few weeks because it’s only several hundred metres from her place.
Golden moment
We were working in the nursery this morning. We had to unload the plants we didn’t sell over the weekend (see yesterday’s post). I was suddenly aware of a bird calling nearby. Actually – there were a lot of birds calling, but this was different. It wasn’t our normal chorus of birds. I stopped what I was doing and followed the sound, an ascending “seeeep, seeeep”. It turned out to be a male Golden Whistler. Obligingly, he sat briefly on an exposed part of a branch with the morning sun lighting up his beautiful golden colour.
Photos
I raced inside for the camera. He was still there when I returned and I managed to take about 20 shots before he flew off. Because of the angle of the sun and the thick foliage I wasn’t able to get any really good shots. I did manage to get quite a good photo of the plain brown female. He was constantly chasing this female who largely ignored him, ‘seeep, seeeping’ as he pursued her. Was this courting activity? I’m not sure. If it is, he obviously hasn’t read the field guides; Golden Whistlers usually don’t breed until August-September.