Nature Page

Great Crested Grebes are the largest of the three Grebe species found in Australia being 47-67 cm long and weighing .6kg - 1.2 kg. Their most noticeable features are the double, black crests on the tops of their heads and the facial ruffs of blackedged rufous feathers on their cheeks. Necks are long and their bills are pinkish, sharp and pointy. Feet are lobed with three wide paddle-shaped front toes. Legs are set well back on their bodies which helps with their excellent underwater swimming activities but makes walking on land quite awkward. They seldom venture onto terra firma. Faces are white and eyes are red. When they move to new locations they probably fly at night as they are rarely seen flying, except for short bursts across the surface of the water. Males and females are similar except that the female is smaller, and the males have larger bills and more prominent facial adornments. The life span is about 1015 years. There is not a lot of difference between their breeding and non-breeding plumage. Large lakes or reservoirs with fresh or brackish open waters and vegetation areas are their preferred habitat. They have been recorded in all states of Australia and are also found in Eurasia and parts of Africa. Fish are their main source of food which are mainly caught by diving underwater, but they also feed by submerging only their head while sitting on the surface. Other foods such as invertebrates and small water animals such as frogs are also eaten. The most common breeding months are between August and February, but they may breed at any time, as was the case at Lawnton Lakes, where breeding took place in the middle of winter. I saw two sets of parents with 4 babies each with the babies often riding on a parent’s back. Great Crested Grebes are renowned for their spectacular courting displays. The Weed Dance is where both birds gather aquatic vegetation from under the water, leap up facing each other and then place the plants into the nest. The Penguin Dance is where males and females rise out of the water with feet paddling, bellies touching and bills almost kissing. They are monogamous for the breeding season. Males strongly defend their territories pecking their rivals and often holding them underwater. Nests are large mounds built up from the bottom of shallow parts of the lake using local aquatic vegetation and mud. Both parents cooperate in the nest building. 3-7 white eggs are laid with 2 eggs laid at a time in many cases. Incubation is about 23-26 days. Both parents contribute to the incubation and caring for their young brood. Almost as soon as they hatch the young birds can swim but return to the nest each night to roost for about 2 weeks. Their heads are striped black and white with a pink patch which turns red when they are hungry or are in distress and in need of attention. Adult birds teach their offspring to dive by carrying them on their backs and diving deep leaving the chicks to find their own way to the surface. After about 2 years the young may begin to breed. Great crested Grebes were first described in Europe by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. In the UK they were hunted almost to extinction for their crest feathers which were used on ladies’ hats and clothing. When threatened they dive deep and travel underwater for quite some distance, often coming up behind a clump of reeds out of sight of the predator. Conservation in Australia is secure for the present.

By: Marj Webber

CURRENT STRATEGIES AND FUTURE CHALLENGES

The project to reduce the Kangaroo Road Kills on Bribie Island has waited patiently while the big wheels of MBRC have carried out Community Consultations, fact gathering, determined higher risk locations, proposed and costed possible responses before seeking budgetary approval. For the residents who signed the petition demanding action be taken to reduce kangaroo’s road kills on the island: it has been a long wait. For the carers, vets, accident respondents, Councillors, MBRC employees and residents who care, it has been heartbreaking. For the kangaroos who’ve been killed, it has been a fatal wait. The budget is now approved and finally MBRC is rolling out the funded priorities. This is a good outcome for the fauna and their human neighbours. You would have seen that there have been some “wildlife” stencils on the road in Banksia Beach and Red Beach and then the corflute cut outs of kangaroos all placed in high impact areas. These will be shifted from time to time because we all get so used to things around us that we stop seeing them. As accident data changes the signs will be moved too And don’t the kangaroo signs look good and very clearly alert drivers to the risk. It’s very innovative and hopefully an effective strategy Unexpectedly, the kangaroo cut outs have been so popular they seem to have become a collectors’ item. Thankfully, they each have an embedded GPS signal source. Yet some losses are to be expected and they are reasonably inexpensive. Council will install more of the motion activated kangaroo illuminated signs, but fewer than expected because of the way budgetary belt tightening was needed due to flood damage and so on. There are also back-order issues as the world continues to struggle with its disrupted supply chains. When they arrive The signs can be expected in Freshwater Drive (South and West), White Patch (South, West and East), Cotteril Ave (South and West), Goodwin Drive (West), Bongaree Ave (East), and Sunderland Drive, (North, South, East and West) and a few others. These responses reflect the increased understanding locals and The Council have about the interdependency between the liveability of The Island and the natural environment. Reducing the road kills is one step in the right direction, but while we waited for these strategies to finally roll out, something else has also been revealed. It has become obvious that the way we plan for the Island’s future seems wanting. It is reactive, not proactive. We are fed on myths, rumours and attitudes instead of facts. We experience changes in future policy direction or worse, we experience uncertain strategy. Sometimes it seems we serve the interests of a select few rather than the interests of the community. Helicopters over pelicans, increased development, beach driving over the lives of turtles and consequently fewer of the things we came here to enjoy. It’s time Bribie Island had its own unique and proactive strategic plan. Not just a tag line in a much larger MBRC regional development plan. The Island is too unique for that. It seems road kills and unique Island issues are a symptom of this centralised planning process. As the population increases and holiday and weekend traffic on the island increases, road kills also increase. Traffic jams become frequent, the natural environment suffers, liveability declines. Economic viability strategies seem non-existent and most employment is in the service sector. This is one of the lowest paid and most casualised sectors of the economy. If that’s the future you want, then just keep doing what we’re doing. If it’s not what you want, then the current trajectory needs to be changed. To change the trajectory, decision makers need to make choices that focus on outcomes to enhance Bribie Island’s liveability, social sustainability, natural environment, lifestyle and economic viability. While priorities change and political will wanes, these “Pillars” of concern should remain a constant. It would be terrible to look back at a disaster with the clarity of hindsight when strategic minds can act in the present to shape a desirable future for the island. Time will tell how wise we’ve been. It would be terrible for the locals and visitors to lose what they came here to enjoy. The Island needs its own Strategic Plan.