Earthcare News

March 2005

Geoff Carr, from the invasive species council

will be our guest speaker
earthcare agm
Thursday 28th april 2005
7.30pm ecocentre
Corner Blessington / Herbert St, St Kilda
Please send nominations for the Committee to PO Box 287 Elwood 3184
All positions will open for nomination
We would love to see some new faces on the Earthcare committee, don't be shy, there will always be people there to help you if you have never been on a committee before.
Talk to us and discuss how you would like to be involved

Rakali Watch News

Since the first big storm we had last year,2004, we have seen little Rakali activity in the Elwood Canal. In several visits we observed only two at the top of the canal bordering onto the golf course. We have been told by various locals that they were just beginning to be seen again and then the storm of a few weeks ago appears to have impacted on them yet again.
Numbers around the St Kilda breakwater seem to be healthy and we have had some fantastic sightings - mostly on Penguin Research nights!

Last week we took ourselves off to the Kerferd Road Pier after being told Rakali had been seen around the pier and the Anglers club rooms. One man who appeared really interested in our nocturnal activities told us that "yes" they are around but he hadn't seen any since, you've guessed it, the storm!
Albert Park Lake - again the same story as above. Very few sightings in recent months.

Join the rakali watchers 9531 5001

Rakali Symposium October 2005
We are planning a Rakali Symposium at the end of the October and will invite several guests along to share their work and research with us - so, if you are interested in attending please email me at bob_alyson@aapt.net.au as soon as possible. We have few details to share at this stage but please watch this space for more as it unfolds. Bob and Alyson

Update on the campaign to stop channel deepening in Port Phillip Bay

As readers would be aware, Earthcare members have been actively participating in the state-wide campaign to stop channel deepening, coordinated by the Blue Wedges coalition, which is made up of individuals, community, and commercial groups from around the Bay.

Earthcare submitted a response to the Environmental Effects Statement (EES) that was released on 5 July, in which we raised concerns about the EES process in general, aspects of threats to the general health of Port Phillip Bay and impacts on the Little Penguins. We also appeared at the Panel Hearing in November.

We believe that the EES process has also been compromised because no real alternatives to deepening the channels have been examined in any detail. A slower, staged approach to the project has also been
dismissed.
No effort has been made to prepare an estimate of potential economic losses, which could potentially be very high and directly affect communities living beside the Bay, as a direct result of channel deepening.

The Victorian community is therefore unable to judge between possible alternatives as to the best solution from the social, economic and environmental points of view.
It appears to us that instead of approaching this issue by putting the health of the Bay and community concerns first, it seems to be predetermined that channel deepening will go ahead.

It is our very strong preference that the state government explore alternatives in a thorough and transparent way before making any decisions about the proposal in its present form. However, the state government appears determined to push ahead despite the concerns raised not only by individuals and groups in the community, but also by scientists who were not involved in the current EES process, but have questioned many of the assumptions and assertions made in the specialist reports.

Earthcare has been talking to politicians and participating in the public meetings and rallies, because the threats are so serious that if we don't act now to stop or significantly alter the channel deepening proposal that is before us now, it may be too late.

The Earthcare submission to the EES and the Panel Hearing are available on the website.

If you would like more information and / or to get involved in the campaign, please check out the blue wedges website at www.bluewedges.org
or contact Earthcare committee members
Sue Pennicuik 0407 000 270,
Jo Samuel-King 9534 5751,
Andrew McCutcheon 95312270
Zoe Hogg 0402 164 482.

PENGUIN REPORT 2004

There are a number of factors that will compound and could lead to the death of penguins.

The dredge plume from Channel Deepening will affect at least 50% of the penguin's foraging range of 15 kilometres.

In the breeding season the colony will be severely affected by the combination of dredge plumes and heavy rainfall events.

The turbidity will reduce the breeding success of the colony's primary food source (Anchovy).

Anchovy require less saline water to spawn. Hobsons Bay is ideal, they spawn right at the Yarra mouth.

Penguins follow the shoals of anchovy as they move around the Northern end of the Bay. Radio tracking has shown that St Kilda penguins feed mainly in Hobsons Bay.

The following is data collected February 20-24, 2005 relating to the feeding pattern and life cycle of St Kilda Penguins

The Bait Fishermen report that penguins were currently feeding from shoals of anchovies off Williamstown
foreshore and have been there for a couple of weeks.
The penguin research team, caught and identified, 125 penguins on 20th February. Of these 9 were premoult, 24 were moulting, 6 were post moult, and 13 were chicks.The average weight of the other birds was 1150grams.
Premoult birds were up to 1850 grams,Post moult were down to 800grams.

Moult usually takes about two to three weeks, therefore the penguins in premoult will not be able to go to sea until early March
Some of the chicks were only four weeks old so they will not fledge until mid March.
Parents of these chicks will not start moult until the chicks are fledged consequently they will be moulting as late as April.
Chicks fledging and adults recovering from moult are at a very vulnerable time and rely on ready access to good food stocks to survive.
Adults feeding chicks are likely to starve due to limited foraging success.
This is followed by the moult period which involves severe weight loss.
Ordinarily adults need to be in good condition to survive moult.

If dredging had been carried out during this time penguins would have had to cross the shipping channel to get to their feeding ground.

Zoe M Hogg Penguin Research

it's the planting season again

Get your gardening gloves on and
help weed and plant our precious heritage areas.
Earthcare St Kilda

West Beach salt marsh was planted by Earthcare in 1993 it is a delightful place
full of surprises, join us on the beach
corner of Pier and Beaconsfield Pde
7th April 11.00am-2.00pm
Grosvenor St Balaclava 5th June11am-1.00pm
H.R Johnson Reserve 11th July 1.00-3.00pm
Elwood Foreshore 31st July 10am-12 noon
Zoe Hogg:04012 164 482
email:earthcare@wecare.au.com

WestGate Park
Every Third Sunday 10am to 4pm
17th April, 15th May,19th June
Naomie
0415 941 629
gnomie@labyrinth.net.au

Friends of Port Melbourne
Perce White Reserve Sandridge
First Sunday of the month 9.30 to noon
3rdApril,1st May, 5th June, 3rd July
Anne Callaghan: 96461736
email:acallagh@portphillip.vic.gov.au

Port Phillip Nature Watch

I am very pleased to report that once again the Tawny Frogmouths have raised two broods of chicks in the dead pine tree in the St Kilda Botanical Gardens over a period commencing from late July 04 to early February 05. The first brood produced two chicks raised in spring on the same poorly constructed nest used in the previous season (and the one before that). This nest sits precariously over the fork of a small branch in a very exposed location and can still be seen if one knows where to look. In the next brood only a single chick was raised in a new but more substantial and secure nest on a large branch higher up in the tree. The picture below taken on 31 January shows one parent (below right) and the second brood chick above on the new nest about a week before fledging. The old pine is about to be removed as City of Port Phillip consider the tree to be a risk to gardens visitors from falling limbs if it were to be retained. Hopefully when the birds commence breeding this year they will find another suitable tree elsewhere in the gardens.

Over the spring/summer period there have not been many reports coming in. The most interesting is from Karen at SKINC who told me about seeing a pair of Gang Gang Cockatoos in the St Kilda Botanical Gardens last year. She produced the evidence by showing me photos she took of the birds in the natural heritage area in the southwest corner of the gardens.

Other sightings include:
Alison Strachan noticed a gecko living in her backyard in East St Kilda. I suggested that it was a Marbled Gecko, which is now well established as common species in Melbourne. She also saw a Common Seastar at West beach, which had eight arms and was purple. It is good to know that these native seastars are surviving the onslaught of the Northern Pacific Seastars.
Some recent St Kilda BG observations by Neil Blake.
A young Little Falcon atop the bunya pine near the chess board (early Jan).
Pied Currawongs heard (mid Jan)
White-faced Heron perched in an elm near the pond (late Jan)
Two Pied Currawongs moving among canopies in the South west corner (early Feb)
Mob of Little Lorikeets feeding on sugar gum blossoms (early Feb)
Collared Sparrowhawk chasing lorikeets (early Feb).
Jill Sokol expressing some concern, heard and observed Pied Currawongs a number of times in the plane trees in Clarke Reserve & Mitford Street, Elwood.
Observations of the Pied Currawongs are well noted. I have a strong feeling that this is one Australian bird species we will not appreciate establishing itself here in the future. They are well known predators of a range of bird species, both native and exotic in gardens all over Eastern Australia, especially Sydney. They have been known to kill birds as large as wattlebirds and turtledoves (Low 2002).
If you see any wildlife no matter how insignificant they may appear to you, please send in or email a report. Please note that my email address has now been changed to amccutcheon@aapt.net.au, I can be contacted on 9531 2270.

Reference - Low,T. (2002) the new nature, Viking, Australia

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Old newsletters are on the web, so too are details of Penguin research, Rakali watch, and Channel Deepening updates
www.earthcarestkilda.org.au

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