Strathfieldsaye Estate Monitoring. Report by Chris Healey
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STRATHFIELDSAYE ESTATE BIRD MONITORING PROJECT: INTERIM REPORT FOR 2018 Chris Healey and Brian Martin INTRODUCTION: This is a preliminary report on the first twelve months of a project to monitor the diversity and abundance of birds of the Strathfieldsaye Estate grazing property on the shore of Lake Wellington at Perry Bridge, East Gippsland. We anticipate being able to release a more detailed report early in 2019. In late 2017 BirdLife East Gippsland (BLEG) was invited by the Australian Landscape Trust (ALT) to undertake regular bird monitoring surveys of their Strathfieldsaye Estate property at Perry River. The estate is a historic property established in the late 19th century,and bequeathed by the late Dr Clive Disher to the University of Melbourne. Ownership was transferred subsequently to the ALT, which manages the property as an ecologically sustainable organic grazing property. The bird surveys form a part of a larger fauna survey initiative of the ALT with Victorian government funding under the 'Bio-diversity On-ground Action – Community and Volunteer Action’ program. The bird survey program was established in consultation with Ms Madeline Watts, Ecologist with ALT, and overall project manager. The estate covers approximately 2000 hectares, and includes a heritage listed homestead and farm outbuildings. It also includes a ‘bombing range’ used as a training facility by the RAAF during World War Two (the ‘bombs’ consisted of flour bags!) While most of the property has been cleared of the original Red Gum grassy plains vegetation, significant remnants remain, along with several other threatened vegetation communities. The ALT has sought to protect and restore native vegetation through stock exclusion of selected areas and management of the large numbers of Grey Kangaroos. In 2005-6 the ALT undertook extensive surveys of fauna and flora. Quarterly bird surveys were carried out by a team of volunteers under the auspices of the then Birds Australia. These surveys provide useful baseline data for comparison with results from the current project. An initial desktop review based on vegetation surveys at 42 plots and bird surveys at 6 associated sites in 2005-6 identified potential survey sites across the estate. BLEG members conducted a reconnaissance of potential survey sites in November 2017 and selected eight sites for quarterly surveys. A ninth site was added during the life of the project. From 1995 to 1997 then Birds Australia undertook a ‘Birds on Farms’ project (BoF) across much of southeast Australia. The project was revived in early 2018, and it was agreed that the Strathfieldsaye monitoring project be treated as a BLEG contribution to BoF 1 SURVEY METHODS: Bird monitoring involved quarterly surveys over a 12-month period, commencing in summer 2017. An additional ‘autumn’ survey was included to synchronise surveys with the BoF schedule. The BirdLife Australia methodology recommended in initial consultations for the national ‘Birds on Farms’ program was adopted, these being 20 minute counts in 2 hectare plots each located within larger survey areas of 500 m radius within which ‘area searches’ are undertaken. Subsequently, the current BoF program was limited to 2ha/20-minute count sites only. For the Strathfieldsaye surveys, we retained the embedded 2ha sites within 500m area searches at six sites, with 500m area searches at a further two sites. A ninth site, confined to a 2ha/20-minute count site was added to the schedule from the May (autumn) survey period. Experienced volunteers gathered at the estate for each quarterly survey series at approximately 0900, and spilt into two teams of from 4 to 6 members to conduct simultaneous surveys. Team A surveyed in order Sites 1 to 3 and Site 7, while Team B surveyed Sites 4 to 6 (in reverse order) and Site 9. The teams reconvened at Site 7 around noon for lunch, then completed the survey at the remaining Site 8 (See following section for details of sites). Birds seen/heard were recorded on record sheets with separate entries for 2 ha and 500m radius sites. Time of surveys, duration, current weather conditions, indications of breeding activity and comments on behaviour were noted. Surveys (with number of BLEG participants) were conducted on 15 December 2017 (10), 16 March (8), 23 May (10), 25 July (11), and 17 October (9); Madeline Watts of ALT was also a member of the survey party for the first three survey sessions. The initial scoping survey in November 2017 and five project survey periods amounted to a total time investment of approximately 200 person-hours. Night-time audio recordings were conducted to supplement the main surveys to help identify nocturnal birds that are often cryptic in daytime and which otherwise might remain unrecorded. Field recordings were made by Ms Madeline Watts, Australian Landscape Trust, and analysed by Dr Brian Martin, Birdlife East Gippsland. An automated audio recorder was deployed at eight locations in the Estate. The sites correspond with the locations used for daytime observations. Recordings were made between 21 December 2017 and 25 June 2018. A total of 177 recordings were made, each of about an hour's length. The recordings were generally made between 8:00 pm and 5:00 am. The recordings were analysed using computer software to display spectrograms as well as using audible recognition of calls. Calls were compared to standard databases to confirm identification. Experienced observers also helped to identify calls. Analysis of recordings has so far occupied approximately 150 person-hours. Results of surveys are entered onto Excel spreadsheets and submitted to the estate management and entered onto the BirdLife Australia Birdata database. Results of the 2005-06 surveys were lodged with the ALT management of Strathfieldsaye, but unfortunately could not be found; nor have any records been recoverable from the Birdata database managed by BirdLife Australia. Personal copies of data retained by Len Axen, one of the volunteers involved in the earlier surveys, were made available to BLEG, but it is unclear if these are a complete record of the surveys. 2 SURVEY SITES: Site details are listed below (see also the accompanying map). Table 1: Survey Sites Name BoF ID* Survey type Ecological features 2ha; 500m 1 Gateway Scrub T1285 500m, 2ha Plains grassy redgum woodland, dense Manuka understory, ungrazed; woodland and pasture 2 Perry River North T1286 500m, 2ha Plains grassy redgum woodland remnant, part grazed; woodland, pasture, waterpoints 3 Lake Tiny T1287 500m, 2ha Permanent artificial freshwater wetland; grassy woodland and pasture 4 Bush Electric T1288 500m, 2ha Plains grassy redgum woodland, lomandra understory, ungrazed; woodland, pasture 5 Gravel Pit T1290 500m, 2ha Permanent small artificial wetland, melaleuca scrub, poa grassland, ungrazed; open pasture 6 Bombing Target T1291 500m, 2ha Plains grassy redgum woodland, lomandra, dense Woodland Manuka understory, ungrazed; poa and samphire 7 Swell Point 500m Plains grassy redgum woodland, poa grassland, shoreline and Lake Wellington 8 Barton’s Swamp 500m Samphire swamp, melaleuca thicket, permanent waterpoint, fringing plains grassy redgum woodland 9 Windbreak T1289 2ha Planted eucalypt windbreak, grassy understory * Site identification number assigned by Birds on Farms coordinator for data entry in electronic Birdata Two-hectare sites were marked out on the ground with tape, each being rectangular with sides measuring approximately 200 by 100 metres, and oriented as shown on the map. While each 2ha site was surveyed comprehensively, this was not practicable with most of the 500 m sites within which 2 ha sites are embedded. RESULTS: A total of 105 species was recorded during 2017-18, comprising 98 in daytime site surveys, with another two incidental records outside survey sites and a further five species recorded only by audio recorder. The 2005-06 surveys recorded 108 species. Across the two sets of surveys 132 species have been recorded on the estate; 24 of those recorded in 2005-06 were not encountered in 2017-18, while another 23 species were added to the overall list in 2017-18. Appendix 1 provides the combined list of species for the estate. 3 Daytime Surveys: The number of species and total number of birds recorded at each survey site are shown in Table 2. Spring (October) and Summer (December) counts were generally higher than counts in cooler months: the highest total of 74 species (October) is approximately 75% of the total number of species recorded during all surveys combined, while the lowest total of 53 (May) is only 54% of all recorded species. This marked seasonal variation is probably due to a combination of factors, particularly the greater detectability of some species in warmer months when birds are more vocal while establishing and defending territories and advertising for mates, as well as the arrival of summer migrants. However, progressively severe drought conditions over the life of the project may also have a bearing on the species diversity and abundance. Site totals were ranked according to the total number of species recorded and given a score of 1 (most species, highest rank) to 8 (fewest species, lowest rank) for each survey period (the Windbreak site was excluded from analysis). An average score was calculated for each site for the five survey periods. The standard deviation from the average is an indication of the degree of variability in total species numbers for each site. Gateway Scrub ranked highest for number of species (and lowest overall score of 6), while the Gravel Pit ranked lowest (highest overall score of 36). Table 3 indicates the degree of variability in species number per survey period. Gateway Scrub had the least variability between surveys with consistently high species diversity, followed by the Gravel Pit, with consistently low species diversity – that is, the sites with both the highest and lowest average number of species showed the least variability in species diversity across the 12 months of surveys.