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Wednesday 10 March 2021
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BirdLife bird bander Kasun Ekanayake and Parks Victoria ranger Jack Dewhurst releasing a hooded plover at Rye. Pictures: Holly Barker
Plovers set new breeding records
DEDICATED followers of the hooded plover are rejoicing with the news that two pairs of the locally endangered birds have each hatched and fledged three chicks. It is only the third time in 15 years that hooded plovers on Mornington Peninsula beaches have succeeded in raising three chicks from one nest “and now it’s happened twice this season”, Mark Lethlean, president of Friends of Hooded Plover (Mornington Peninsula), said. Last week Kasun Ekanayake and Renee Mead from Birdlife Australia’s beach-nesting bird project, joined the peninsula group in a bird banding day. “We had already flagged five fledglings in December 2020, and this was the second round,” Mr Lethlean said. “With now 18 fledglings and still four maturing chicks on the ground, we are hoping for a further round of banding in a few weeks’ time.a” He said that this year was only the third time in 15 years that the number of fledged hooded plover chicks had reached double figures, with the previous numbers being 13 in 2016/17 and 12 in 2017/18). “Our most dismal year was 2013/14 when we managed only a single fledgling, while the past two years have each only produced six fledglings.” Mr Lethlean said three fledglings banded at Balnarring came from two hooded plovers originally banded on Phillip Island. “They set up a new nesting territory at Balnarring for the first time in December, which was amazing but, on their third attempt, managed to hatch and fledge three chicks,” Mr Lethlean said. Keith Platt
Rage ramps up over ‘neglect’ Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au THE state government is being urged to hurry up its takeover of managing Mornington Peninsula’s boat launching ramps. It is believed the state of the boat ramps was high on the agenda during a recent meeting between Fishing and Boating Minister Melissa Horne and shire CEO John Baker. In the lead-up to the 2018 election the state government promised to “embark on the biggest reforms to the way that boating infrastructure is managed that Victoria has ever seen [by] fixing boat ramps, abolishing boat ramp park-
ing and launching fees, and reforming boat ramp management in Port Phillip and Western Port”. The plan was outlined in the preelection handbook: Labor’s plan for fishing and boating 2018. The handbook says $27 million would be spent on fishing, with money collected from boat licence and registration fees to be spent on improving facilities and safety for boaters and abolish boat ramp parking and launching fees. (“Spring takeover for boat ramps” The News 3/6/19). But the high-profile Futurefish Foundation has accused the shire and management committees of neglecting the ramps in both bays. Director David Kramer describes
SPARE - Kibu
the situation as “disrespectful to the thousands of boat owners crying out for improved facilities after decades of neglect”. “Boaters and fishers visiting the Mornington Peninsula contribute significant tourism dollars to the local economy, and yet the assets that attract their visits are neglected to such a level that people are not going boating on busy days now,” Mr Kramer said. He said there were “problems with every boat ramp” from Dromana to Sorrento. Mr Kramer said the channel at Tootgarook was only dredged once a year “leaving the boat ramp unusable during the prime winter and spring calamari season”.
“The channel needs to be dredged twice a year and become an all-yearround-usable ramp,” he said. Tootgarook also needed a car park along the foreshore to “get the cars and trailers off the side of Point Nepean road”. Anecdotal evidence supports Mr Kramer’s claim that a lack of boat and trailer parking at the Tootgarook – as well as the congestion on the ramp – is causing problems. “Up to six boats and trailers are parking up Burdett Street near the state school,” a boater told The News. A lack of enforcement meant that single cars were parking in boat trailer bays at Rye. “On a busy day, launching of boats
exceeds the number of car and trailer car parks, resulting in cars and trailers parking on grassed areas,” Mr Kramer said. “Yet, on a busy day, often more than 50 car parks are taken up by single cars.” The Rye channel also needed monitoring and dredging, Mr Kramer said. “On very low tides, larger boats are unable to use the channel.” He said the Tyrone boat ramp, channel and launch area needed dredging. “Several years ago, the committee of management thought it was a good idea to run the bay walking trail right through the car park on the south side of Point Nepean road,” he said. Continued Page 10
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