The Powerful Owl Project
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Powerful Owl Project December 2020 2020 Season Round Up A hearty hello to all as we run down the slope to the Our 2020 breeding season has been interesting end of 2020. This year has been a year of challenges, overall this season. Whilst usually we see nests fail in heartbreak, loss and healing, but also reinforcement of the snap colds of early July, our early breeding event the goodness in people and the strength of community meant that we lost chicks this season, rather than in Australia. Our fire affected communities are still just eggs. This was distressing for owl parents who recovering, rebuilding and are very much in our were observed attending nests in highly agitated thoughts as Summer ramps up. In Sydney the beating states as per previous failures, and also sad for our heart of the Powerful Owl Project, our citizen scientists, citizen scientists. However, it was interesting to have sweated and been tick-bitten, cried a great deal document owls trying a second breed within the but also laughed with giddy delight at the antics of our season after an early failure, something we haven’t Sydney Basin Powerful Owls in 2020. Amongst all the recorded in the project previously. tribulations of COVID, flood and bushfires our PO In three locations we saw Sulphur-crested Cockatoos Project owly empire has selflessly continued to survey take over owl nesting hollows within one day of a our nocturnal birds. Hats off to you POP family. Your failed breeding. In one of our Lane Cove territories efforts in conjunction with financial support from our we found the body of a very young chick that had project partner Lane Cove Council have paid off in been pulled from the nest and dropped 10m from the these ways: hollow entrance, confirming Cockies are still major - the identification of more new breeding territories competitors for tree hollows in the urban space. Our this season than we have recorded in the last five Centennial Park owls that received such a lot of years, bringing the tally of known territories from media coverage this season 214 in 2019 to 239 in 2020 (https://www.centennialparklands.com.au/stories/2 018/get-to-know-the-baby-powerful-owl-in-the- - the opportunity to provide 57 different advocacy parklands) were also plagued by cockies. Fantastic actions to temper vegetation management, photos collected by Francisco Martins documented clearing, building and burning in New South cockies entering the hollow whilst both Mrs PO and Wales and Victoria to protect 45 different chicks were at home, with Mrs PO flying off after they Powerful Owl territories left. - providing data to develop two new cut-in hollows targeted for Powerful Owl breeding - consultation around habitat building for four major urban developments in the Sydney Basin - a chance to provide education about owls, nest boxes and vegetation management to over 500 members of public via in person and online events with media outreach to +2000 people. For we BirdLife Australia science folk the best outcomes this season have been advancing data collection contributing directly to our understanding of rodenticide use as a threat to urban owls, better understanding movement patterns in dispersing owl youngsters and continuing to develop a network of communication between land managers, the public and scientists that benefits our declining owl fauna. Whilst two chicks fledged at this nest, Kookaburras A Tale of Many Owls, COVID-style attacking a chick soon after fledge, were very likely contributors to the early death of the second Hi my name is Simon fledgling. A similar scenario happened in Sutherland Van der veen, better in 2018, when human visitors at fledge caused the known as Simmo. Kookaburras to pay unwanted attention to the I’ve been a volunteer owlets. Herein lies a cautionary tale about human for the Powerful Owl impacts on fledging. We always need to be mindful Project (POP) for a of our impacts on breeding birds. few years now. Basically, I’ve been sticking to my assigned area during Quick Statistics this time and last year I missed the MEASURE 2017 2018 2019 2020 whole breeding Citizen Scientists season because I 560 608 655 665 participating was in the Outback. Known 181 212 214 239 This year has been PO territories completely different for everybody, owls included. Covid 19 lockdown meant my local gym and swim Potential breeding 60 124 93 127 centre were closed and nearly all social gatherings territories banned. So what better way to spend this period than looking for and monitoring endangered (and Pairs breeding 50 89 70 109 awesome) powerful owls. Yay. Chicks fledged 78 126 84 90 Trudging up and down creek lines and valleys certainly kept up some level of fitness and funnily enough kept me pretty well socially isolated. A full breakdown of the 2020 season will be provided Curiously dark creek lines, mozzies and sewage pop th in the December 20 talk but one of the most tops only seem to attract the denizens of the bush, interesting outcomes we have found is the shift from oh and crazy owl spotters, of course. single chick clutches in 2019, to double and even a triple chick clutch! We are monitoring more owl pairs I learned quickly, after slipping into the first creek overall, but fewer of these pairs are breeding. There and soaking my shoes and phone, that gumboots and was a heartening trend for chicks in double chick old work pants beat runners and jeans every time. clutches to survive past the first month post-fledge. Good news indeed. Our blended owl family described later in this newsletter is one great success story, The first week of May I set out in hot pursuit of likely with three fledglings raised successfully and all well owl roosting areas hoping to find owl pairs within to date. Overall we are still seeing a declining trend habitat suitable for breeding. Using the satellite maps on my phone, I would find areas of thick bush, usually in our Sydney Basin owls. along a creek line and then go check them out. These searches took me through areas of the North Shore of Sydney and to the West that did not already Words from the People contain known owl territories. Tune in to a project wrap up Zoom talk on Sun 20th December at 7pm for full news on the Sydney PO population 2020 breeding season. Places are capped at 100, so please register using this link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ?id=expDKyGaU0uJQ0oQ_2mXDeI4PEi31n5Oqt3rKx Sometimes 4Vl6xUMUg5TVFUUjdaTVo5RjFGSzRMVVZOTUFXNi4 when u owling, In the meantime, please read below some stories owls are not from our citizen scientists who have put in many hard all you find! yards this season to help our lovely owls and seen – Jenny Z some awesome things on the journey. 2 The Powerful Owl Project Once a pair was found each and the other 2 both fledged 2 chicks each. I it was a matter of going saw a total of 31 different adult owls blessed with 9 back for weekly visits to white fluff balls of joy. Four of these territories also try and find that super contained Australian boobook owls. all-important nest hollow tree. Checking What else happens while out in the bush looking for too often could mean owls? Well I was spooked by countless swamp the owls change their wallabies crashing through the bush, in turn I behaviour which could spooked a poor sleeping bandicoot, got hit in the interrupt their breeding head by a sugar glider (this I was actually grateful activities and that for considering it could have been an owl saying hello would have been the instead) screeched at by many raucous white last thing I wanted. cockatoos, pooped on by an incontinent possum, Using non-invasive copped a fair few mozzie bites, even more midge techniques is a must. bites, half a dozen ticks, saw some amazing hidden The less light the waterfalls, received a few odd looks from locals out better, even red on their nightly walk, 2 leeches, a couple of echidnas, torches can have an saw no snakes, no bunyips, no nude walkers, found impact. Believe me 1 sleeping lizard and a white bellied sea eagle in a when I say it is possible gum tree. to find and monitor owls and their nest hollows with no torch or infrared light whatsoever. What a way to spend my time during a global pandemic which hopefully was a once in a lifetime Finding nest hollow trees take time, patience, a occurrence. Looking routine, commitment and sometimes just a hint of after our threatened good fortune too. Never luck! Luck is sitting in your wildlife through warm, dry home looking out the window and seeing volunteering with the a nest hollow right there. Good fortune is standing in POP has been a one spot along a 1 km creek line in the cold and dark rewarding experience for 1 hour and hearing a chick trill from a hollow and many thanks go nearby. The feelings when finally seeing an adult owl out to Beth for sharing fly into or out of a hollow or hearing the chick trilling all her insightful inside were elation, joy and some relief. I felt totally knowledge and rewarded for the work that went into finding the passion. Furthermore, chicks and what the project is trying to achieve. thanks to all the wonderful volunteers Reporting these findings to Beth and knowing we and leaders who give could alert the land managers to this special tree, up their valuable time helping safe guard it during the breeding season and for this much needed hopefully longer.