{"id":116356,"date":"2023-09-08T13:19:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T03:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=116356"},"modified":"2023-09-08T13:19:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T03:19:12","slug":"the-committee-for-lorne-cape-otway-light-australias-favourite-birds-just-visit-lorne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/the-committee-for-lorne-cape-otway-light-australias-favourite-birds-just-visit-lorne\/","title":{"rendered":"The Committee for Lorne: Cape Otway Light \u2013 Australia\u2019s favourite birds? \u2014 Just visit Lorne"},"content":{"rendered":"

With John Agar \u2013 Committee for Lorne.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Great Ocean Road \u2014 and particularly Lorne \u2014 is blessed with an abundant, varied, and iconic array of Australian bird life.\u00a0 My personal favourites are the Superb Fairywrens that hop and forage around my back garden and flit and dart about along Camel\u2019s Walk in North Lorne.\u00a0 Close behind come the kookaburras that fly in each day looking for a worm from my worm farm, and the beautiful King parrots that stop by in the mornings for a walnut or almond are equally enjoyed.\u00a0 It is an equal joy to wake to the warbling choir of magpies \u2014 there are many collective nouns used for a group of magpies, most common being a mischief, a congregation, a charm, or a tribe \u2014 and the calls of the wattle birds as they peck for insects up the trunks of the gums in the front garden.<\/span><\/p>\n

Add to the list the gulls, terns and plovers on the rocks at Point Grey, the ubiquitous screech and clamour of vast flights of Sulphur-crested cockatoos \u2014 those beautiful birds so favoured by tourists but condemned by residents for their bin-raiding, deck-eating habits \u2014 and the solitary Mopoke [the Southern Boobook Owl] that hoots softly in the night.\u00a0 It has made me wonder which of these [or the many other local birds we all enjoy] would take out the prize for \u201cLorne\u2019s favourite bird\u201d if a survey was conducted.\u00a0 Among our permanent residents, my money is on the fairy wrens!<\/span><\/p>\n

For several years, The Guardian Australia has run a biennial poll that seeks to identify Australia\u2019s favourite bird.\u00a0 It invites the public to vote online, dubbing t<\/span>he bird receiving the most votes:<\/span> \u2018Australian Bird of the Year\u2019.\u00a0 But, as with all online polls, one must be a little cautious when interpreting the result in case there is \u2018branch stacking\u2019\u2014 using the original sense of the word \u2018branch\u2019\u2014 in favour of one species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Using a \u2018first past the post\u2019 voting system in its first year [2017], a total of 149,851 votes were cast, with voters electronically prevented from voting twice to attempt to ensure voting validity.\u00a0 The top two were the Australian Magpie [#1 with 19,926 votes] and the Australian White Ibis \u2014 aka the \u2018bin chicken\u2019 \u2014 [#2 with 19,083], which surprisingly defeated the Laughing Kookaburra [#3 with 10,953], the Tawny Frogmouth [#4 with 6,870], and the Superb Fairywren [#5 with 6,366].\u00a0 Among others well down the list were the Wedge-tailed eagle [#8], the Sulphur-crested cockatoo [#11], the King parrot [#12], and the Galah [#13].<\/span><\/p>\n

When it was pointed out <\/span>by Ben Rau [Guardian: 28\/11\/19] <\/span>that the single run-off voting system used in 2017 might <\/span>\u2018favour divisive winners … those disliked by many but passionately liked by a few\u2019, 2019 saw the introduction of a two-round system [\u00e0 la the design of the French Presidential ballot].\u00a0 An entirely<\/span> different set of results found a highly endangered bird \u2014 the black-throated finch \u2014 take out #1 on debut.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this suggested a \u2018highly organised campaign\u2019 may have been behind its win over the Tawny Frogmouth, which came in at #2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Naaman Zhou [Guardian, 15\/11\/19] noted that there was: \u201c<\/span>a crash in the ibis vote, that the magpie was licking its wounds, the wedge-tailed eagle only just scraped into the top 10, and \u2018it wasn\u2019t to be\u2019 for the superb fairywren, the sulphur-crested cockatoo, the willie wagtail and others\u201d.\u00a0 At the time, BirdLife Australia\u2019s Sean Dooley commented on \u201cthe sad reality that many of our birds are becoming iconic for all the wrong reasons, with many being \u2018used\u2019 as emblems of the extinction crisis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My preference for the Superb Fairywren \u2014 despite its apparent faithlessness \u2014 was vindicated in 2021 when it took out first prize in the Guardian\u2019s Bird of the Year award.\u00a0 It beat the Tawny Frogmouth in a \u2018nail-biting finish\u2019 with 13,990 votes compared with the Frogmouth\u2019s 13,332 [total votes cast >400,000].\u00a0 The gang-gang cockatoo, with solid support from Canberra, came a creditable third with 12,836 votes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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There are strongly held views about certain birds that may bias towards \u2014 or away from\u2014 a fair and balanced vote.\u00a0 For instance, the magpie, emblematic of a particular football team that is loved or hated with equal fervour, may receive or be denied votes for non-avian reasons.\u00a0 Moreover, a magpie would hardly garner favour with any who had been swooped in nesting season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lorne \u2018cockie\u2019 may provide a wonderful photo-op joy for our visitors but try living with them!\u00a0 They are the bane of a local resident\u2019s existence as they raid our bins, spread rubbish across our streets, and eat our balcony furniture!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other side of the coin, it is rare to hear a bad word said about fairy wrens or parrots \u2014 despite that the male fairywren… the iridescent blue ones [the females are all brown] … is regarded as one of the most promiscuous birds in the avian kingdom!\u00a0 On the other hand, as monogamous paragons, cockatoos and the King parrots commonly mate for life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two birds have acquired special significance along our coastal strip: the hooded plover and the Rufus Whistler bird.\u00a0 The hooded plover \u2014 also known as the <\/span>Hooded Dotterel or the \u2018Hoody\u2019 \u2014 is regarded as endangered, though unless I am mistaken, I have often encountered \u2018fleets\u2019 of them on the rocky point at Vera Lynn.\u00a0 Nevertheless, beaches all along Victoria\u2019s southern coast now commonly display warning signs to keep pets away from nesting sites.\u00a0 While this is sensible conservation, the legion of signs from Inverloch to Portland that claim \u2018only 75 breeding pairs left\u2019 does begin to stretch belief.\u00a0 That said, as their nests are vulnerable and their eggs few, the signs are a welcome warning of the fragility of our coast, its dunes, and the wildlife that lives in their shelter.<\/span><\/p>\n

BirdLife Australia notes that \u201cthe Rufus Whistler bird <\/span>is one of Australia\u2019s finest songsters with a far-carrying, rich, and musical song constructed around repeated whip-cracks interspersed with a variety of whistles and trills of various volumes, rhythms and tempos.\u201d\u00a0 It is another monogamous bird often heard in the Lorne area and is especially beloved by some local residents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On a recent trip to Scotland, I was astounded by the lack of birdlife, particularly when compared with our abundance here in the Otways and more broadly across Australia.\u00a0 Josh Davies [Natural History Museum Newsletter: 12\/05\/23] reports that \u201c… <\/span>the number of wild birds in Britain has fallen by 73 million since 1970 … the dawn chorus is a lot quieter nowadays … and the rhythmic call of a cuckoo, or the gentle trill of a turtle dove, are becoming ever rarer\u201d.\u00a0 He reports that the British Trust for Ornithology has looked back to data from the 1970s and paints a grim picture: \u201c… that over the past five decades, Britain has lost close to 30 million house sparrows, 20 million starlings, four million skylarks, two million blackbirds, and one million chaffinches\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With this grim UK report in mind, we should cherish our abundance of feathered friends and take great care that \u2014 in 50 years \u2014 no similar piece will be being written here.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Agar<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A word from the Chairman \u2013 John Higgins.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Spring has sprung and what a cracker of a weekend we got for the change of season and Father\u2019s Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Already there is a buzz in the Lorne air as the day-trippers visit in numbers and our returning locals are reminded how lucky we are to call Lorne our home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Locals were out in numbers (about 100) at the community dinner at the Stribling Reserve Community Pavilion last week to enjoy good food, good company and cheer on our football and netball teams as they contest the finals.\u00a0 Our Senior football team and Under 13 netballers were eliminated after gallant efforts, but our Reserves have made it through to the third week of finals and our Under 18 footballers have earned their spot in the grand final in two weeks time.\u00a0 Go Dolphins!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our main street is seeing some changes with renovations and repainting for some of our shops and restaurants, and new plantings on the median strip and roadside.\u00a0 Our town also got a very good airing on radio 3AW recently, with a number of our traders, residents and visitors telling the world what a wonderful place we live in.<\/span><\/p>\n

We say farewell and thank you to Grant and Di from the Lorne Surf Shop which has been an icon of our town for more than 21 years.\u00a0 We welcome Rip Curl to town and look forward to their participation in our community.\u00a0 We are also excited about some other new arrivals, yet to be confirmed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Lorne P-12 College music students demonstrated their talents recently with a live music event at Stribling Reserve to raise funds to refurbish the Doll\u2019s House as a music and wellbeing space.\u00a0 I hear it was a great and successful night, initiated and run by the students.\u00a0 Well done!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Committee for Lorne met last week to discuss a range of issues including:<\/span><\/p>\n