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Painted Snippets

The newsletter of the Australian Painted Snipe Project

Volume 4 May 2012

A stunning female bathes herself, unperturbed by onlookers at Canberra’s Kelly Swamp. Photo: David Stowe

None of us would have predicted the events which unfolded in the months that followed, when one-in-10-year rains extended south

Just add water

It’s been an eventful 2 years since our last edition of Painted Snippets hit the stands. After from the tropics and caused extensive flooding the 2008/09 summer, our concerns for the species were reinforced by a return of just 11 individuals observed across Australia. throughout 4 states, rejuvenating wetland and river systems throughout the Murray Darling, Bulloo-Bancannia and Lake Eyre Basins as well as across the Top End.

Once the floods began to subside, observers ventured out, discovering ephemeral wetlands which, in some cases, hadn’t been inundated in 20 years! Soon enough, Australian Painted Snipe (APS) records started rolling in. With conditions remaining wet throughout the year and Tropical Cyclone Yasi providing similar flows in early 2011, the last 2 years have seen over 400 individual APS1 recorded (Fig 2)across every state and territory except Tasmania, in what has been true testament to the

Contents

1. Just Add Water 2. Around the soggy grounds 5. Déjà vu 2005 6. A bird in the hand 7. BirdLife Australia Wetland Birds Project 8. iBis for your iPhone 8. APS EPBC listing upgrade 9. Moolort Plains wetland project 9. APS surveys. How to contribute to species conservation.

opportunistic nature of this enigmatic wader.

Chris Purnell, Threatened Bird Network

1 This is the assumed number of individuals, accounting for resightings within regions and is an upper estimate.

Around the soggy grounds

Survey results for the period from October 2009 to February 2012.

Figure 1. Drought refuges: APS cling to coastal and Riverina sites in years of poor rainfall like this in 2006.

ACT

A total of 4 birds were recorded in 2011 from 2 sites in our nation’s capital. This included 3 individuals which received much attention from birders, passers by and media alike, less than 4km from Parliament. threatened-species staff seemed to be tripping over the species at every turn. One observation from the wetlands toppled the record for number APS flocking at one site2, with a staggering 57 individuals.

NSW

However, it was the number of records which came from new sites which proved the most encouraging. APS were observed at wetlands throughout the NSW, from the coast to the remote gibber country in the state’s far west. Interestingly, despite the proliferation of freshwater wetlands throughout the state, there was a surprising number of observations from saline saltmarsh habitats.
Historically, wetlands throughout the Riverina have provided reliable sanctuary for APS populations during drought periods (Fig. 1), so it was no surprise that we received reports totalling 90 individuals from 9 sites within the region. This included 3 breeding records and 2 wetlands which boasted up to 30 individuals each.

Records also came in from other sites including the Hawkesbury, Hunter, Gwydir Wetlands and the Macquarie Marshes, where NSW OHE

A flock of 30 APS was observed by Peter Merritt by a NSW rice paddy. Photo: Geoff Jones

2 The previous record, set in 2001, stood at 40 birds and originated from Seven Mile Lagoon in the Lockyer Valley.

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Figure 2. Observations of Australian Painted Snipe (N.B. Something missing? If you know of an observation not shown below, please report it.)

NT

The wetlands of the NT’s tropical north are thought to be regularly used by migrating birds outside the summer months as they leave south-eastern Australia to feed on the retreating monsoonal wetlands. It is typically a difficult region to survey, but the same can’t be said for the wide open spaces of the Alice Springs Sewage Works, where observers are regularly treated to migratory birds dropping in to wet their bills on transit. In 2010 this included 2 Australian Painted Snipe which stayed for a week and then disappeared to find their next arid oasis. Another single bird was observed on a private property south of McMinns Lagoon in the Darwin region.

QLD

Members of BirdLife Australia North Queensland were kept busy chasing up sightings from Mt Eisa to Mt Carbine, while others like Dominic Chaplin from Mareeba were lucky enough to have them take up residence in their backyards.

While many of the APS records which originated from the Sunshine State came from what we would consider “typical” habitat, a few records raised eyebrows as birds

A rare look at APS prey. Bowra Station: Eric Tan

Month 2012 3

Nth Stradbroke Island: Glen Carruthers

dispersed to some unlikely sites. These included a stormwater drain behind a Townsville retirement home and the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens. However, the most unlikely sighting of recent times came from North Stradbroke Island. This is one of only a handful of records from islands, and to observe the species on the edge of a sandy track in the middle of heathland (right) was particularly atypical!

SA

The eastern states weren’t the only ones to benefit from rain events in the Murray Darling Basin; South Australians were happy to see the waters arrive along the Murray and in the North East of the state through the Channel Country, in addition to local rains. Australian Painted Snipe returned to historic sites like Bool Lagoon in the South East and the Greenfields wetlands to the north of Adelaide. They were also observed on the eastern and western sides of the central Flinders Ranges and as far north as the Coongie Lakes on the Cooper Creek floodplain, where researchers from Deakin University caught a lone male while conducting waterfowl migration studies.

VIC

As with NSW, Victoria’s Northern Country was inundated by floods in September 2010, with the water only beginning to recede in early 2011, and APS sightings soon followed. First it was a trickle of sightings throughout historic sites within the Loddon River Basin. Then, after an uncharacteristically southerly winter record from south of the Grampians, birders started to scan the edges of every wetland. By the end of 2011, 23 birds had been reported from 9 sites within 100km of Melbourne CBD.

There were also a couple of casualties reported in the state (read more on page 6).

WA

Some of the most reliable Australian Painted Snipe sites in Australia are in the Kimberley and Gascoyne regions, so it was surprising to get our first sighting for summer 2010 from within the Beeliar Wetlands system, 20km south of Perth. In line with migration-ecology theories, sightings in the north followed in autumn and winter. Birds were observed on the Roebuck Plains, at the Argyle Diamond Mine and on a tiny ephemeral swale in Parry Lagoons NP. By spring, the devastating floodwaters which had hit Carnarvon early in 2011 were receding, creating ideal conditions for Australian Painted Snipe, and they arrived in droves.

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Roadside swale, Kerang: Chris Tzaros

Déjà vu 2005

Recent excursions to ephemeral wetlands in McNeill Claypan stir up not-too-distant memories for local Les George.

I went to the south-western side of McNeill Claypan this morning. I had seen a lot of Black-winged Stilts in this area on 1 October, and on wading out onto some of the newly emerged islands had found one nest with two eggs, though the behaviour of the majority of these birds suggested to me that there would be a colonial nesting. There were also a couple of other nests that I would visit: a Tawny Frogmouth and Nankeen Kestrel nest in the same tree and a small or

McNeill Claypan: Les George

secondary Little Pied Cormorant rookery. It became obvious when I neared the northern end of the Blackwinged Stilt colony, their yap yapping and distraction or leading displays, there was no way I could get near without every living species hearing the warning that danger approached. A short distance onward I stopped to try and identify and count waders in the middle distance. When I moved again I heard the now familiar soft wing-beats of an Australian Painted Snipe taking off: 2 were seen flying out and landing in the water, with only their heads and backs visible. They waded/swam about 1.5 metres to a small, sparse clump of Lignum where they hid for a time before making their way to a small island with sparse Spike Rush. Then they moved forward furtively a couple more times before resting behind raised mounds of grass rootlets, where a small flock of Red-kneed Dotterels was feeding. The Australian Painted Snipe appeared to be a pair, a male and a female. They would have known that I was still present, whether they could see me or not, as the stilts were still giving their alarm calls.

I walked perhaps a further 200 metres and the ground from under a Coolabah erupted. “Ahh, bulls**t” I said, as I knew I had stumbled upon a large group of this enigmatic species, impossible to count as they flew in all directions. However, none had flown far, so I moved to the south of the tree from under which they had flushed for a clearer view and counted 20. Rather than risk putting them all to flight again, I thought it prudent to walk a bit further, and 4 more flew from the shade of another Coolabah, and movement was seen beneath another further on; perhaps it was some Black-tailed Native-hens. I skirted around this tree, looking for any sign of movement. Scanning the mud mounds, no Native-hens were seen, and no Painted Snipe either — I didn’t know what the movement might have been. Now I estimated that I was adjacent to the area where I had waded out to find the first Black-winged Stilt nest on 1 October, so I left the Painted Snipe to regroup.

McNeill Claypan: Les George

Month 2012 5

Some time was spent wading out to islands and checking for nests and eggs; of the 29 stilt nests seen in the immediate vicinity, 20 had eggs, 4 clutches of 4 eggs and two more that were probably incomplete. On returning, I had ideas of counting and identifying the sexes/juveniles of the APS. The first seen was alone; I photographed it before it flew further south. Moving toward, at the tree that most birds had appeared from, I detected some movement. I could see at least 7, but perhaps not all present were visible. A scan of the mud hummocks revealed two discrete groups out there. Again there were 20 birds. I scanned back towards the tree, where I could still see some movement, and unfortunately some were heading north rather than east toward those remaining on the mud mounds. A full assessment of sex or juvenile ratios wasn’t possible; those on the mud mounds had now begun to disperse.

Of those seen, at least 4 were females; males were no doubt present, but all photos taken proved to be of juveniles, at least 10 of them.

Of the birds seen on my return, a single bird, a minimum of 7 emerging from the tree, 20 still on the mud and the pair seen in the first instance gives a total of at least 30 birds. Déjà vu 2005*. There is also the probability that the male with 3 downy young (seen on previous visits) are still somewhere out there.

*McNeil Claypan has proved to be one of the most significant sites in Australia for the species with APS observed 4 out of the last 6 years (including at least 19 in 2005).

As a member of the Carnarvon Land Conservation District Committee, Les is currently working to gain national recognition for McNeill Claypan with the assistance from TBN.

A bird in the hand

…could be worth a 1500 in the bush

Upon hearing of an APS being rehabilitated by a carer in Shepparton, Birds Australia staff jumped at the rare opportunity to band and leg-flag the bird. The banding of the fully recovered bird was done under extreme duress (ours) as the plucky young male gave a once-in-a-lifetime show of its menacing threat display and call, allowing us to make a world-first audio recording.

Within hours, the bird was transported to an appropriate release site and released successfully. A welcoming party of aggressive Willy-wags was quickly seen off with the aforementioned threat display (spread wings tilted in a mock charge) before making for the sanctuary of the Juncus.

Historically, there have only been 5 birds banded (the latest in November 2010) and a single bird resighted. This specimen, banded in 1957, had only travelled 11km from its Naracoorte release site before it was shot. Being the first flagged APS, if resighted, bird “orange 00” (left) will give us an invaluable insight into the migratory ecology of the

Bird 00: Chris Purnell

species.

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Late in 2011, another Painted Snipe was unceremoniously struck down in Central Victoria, when a male was handed into the Bendigo DSE office, as Biodiversity Officer Peter Johnson reports:

Bendigo is located in the middle of Box Ironbark forests and woodlands, and is certainly not considered to provide suitable APS habitat. So you can imagine the excitement of having one turn up in the middle of town. Upon retrieval, it was found the bird had a broken wing after a suspected collision. This is, of course, a potentially fatal injury for a bird which relies on its ability to migrate long distances. Unfortunately, the wing could not be repaired and the individual was euthanised. It will become a display specimen and help educate others about the high conservation value of protecting Painted Snipe habitat.

BirdLife Australia Wetland Birds Project

In late 2011, BirdLife Australia’s Threatened Bird Network (TBN) established a Wetland Birds Project. With help from the Upper Murray, the Arid Lands, South East and Adelaide Mt Lofty Ranges NRMs in South Australia, the project set out to engage communities across the state and raise awareness of the significance and key threats to wetlands in the regions. Wetland Bird Workshops at Bool Lagoon, Banrock Station, Marree and Myponga were supplemented with some hands-on work in the field, as attendees armed with newly developed wetland bird ID sheets (above) tried their hands at identifying waders, waterfowl, crakes, rails, herons and more.

Using the APS and Australasian Bittern as flagship species, the project hopes to achieve a greater appreciation of wetland diversity and sensitivity among the community.

Month 2012 7

On a larger scale, the project aims to launch a concerted wetland bird monitoring program in conjunction with the BirdLife Australia’s Shorebirds 2020 and Atlas of Australian Birds projects. By working with established local government projects, a national monitoring program will:



Identify larger-scale trends Improve upon population estimates Indentify significant wetland habitats Provide best-practice management advice.

iBis for your iPhone

Wetlands Birds App

After the success of the Shorebirds ID app developed by Neil Shelley, TBN has commissioned Neil and his son Luke to produce a new Wetland Bird app, to be released later in the year. The app, which will utilise the Melbourne Museum Field Guide to Victorian Fauna platform, will provide a free and comprehensive guide to Australia’s wetland birds, annotated diagrams, distributions, listings, photos and audio of calls.

APS EPBC listing upgrade

As mentioned in the last edition, TBN instigated a reassessment of the federal threatened status of the Australian Painted Snipe in late 2009. Wader and wetland specialists came to the conclusions that:

The estimated population is currently between 1,000 and 1,500 mature individuals and is unlikely to exceed 2,500.

The species’ area of occupancy is shown to have decreased by over 50% in three generations, with a clear continued reduction in numbers exceeding 20% over two generations.
On the strength of these conclusions, BirdLife Australia submitted a nomination for the species to be upgraded from Vulnerable to Endangered. Unfortunately, the listing missed the 2010 review but has been assessed in the 2011 round. The submission of the nomination happened to coincide with the drastic spike in the population described above. Understandably, additional comments provided to the listing committee from several experts identified that this event represented a false recovery, typical of opportunistic species. Historic data for APS and other sympatric wetland species, such as Baillon’s Crakes, show similar spikes in years of flood (e.g. 1974–76) among an overall context of decline.

The period for public comment has now closed and the Listing Committee will deliver its final ruling in mid to late 2012.

Rarely photographed, this APS chick was one of many likely to have hatched in the NSW Riverina in early 2011.

The next 2 years will be crucial to the declining species, as birds fledged in peak conditions strive to find habitat, reach sexual maturity and contribute to the population.

Photo: Trevor Bullock

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Moolort Plains wetland project

Wetland conservation beyond the fencelines.

The Moolort Plains wetlands system is situated on the Victorian Volcanic Plains and consists of around 50 ephemeral wetlands (almost exclusively on private property). Located within the Loddon River Catchment, the freshwater marshes and meadows are part of Victoria’s only national biodiversity hotspot and support over 160 waterbird species,

Three of the region’s swamps: Geoff Park

including Australian Painted Snipe. Recognising the significant response the wetlands had to the higher-than-average rains of 2010–11, the North Central CMA instigated a comprehensive investigation into the environmental values and threats applying to the wetlands. This fantastic directory formed the framework for an integrated management plan involving key stakeholders, including the Moolort Landcare Group, Trust for Nature, BirdLife Australia and Mount Alexander and Central Goldfields Shires. In September 2011, the Australian Government announced funding of $919,000 for the project as part of the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country initiative. In a terrific example of active wetland management (and good news for Australian Painted Snipe), the project will aim to protect and enhance priority wetlands on the Moolort Plains. The focus will be on management and restoration using: buffer fencing; invasive plant and animal control; facilitated regeneration and revegetation; and the development of in-perpetuity management agreements. Educational material will be produced to support an integrated program of education and awareness activities.

Spotting APS: Chris Purnell

APS surveys

how to contribute to species conservation.

The continued contributions of observers to the Australian Painted Snipe database have been integral in unlocking some of the knowledge gaps still apparent for the species. The recent climatic conditions have also given us a unique chance to identify significant ephemeral wetlands throughout the country. Habitat information supplied by observers will provide added weight to our habitat modelling and feed into recommendations to land managers for best-practice management of wetlands.

If you’re interested in contributing to the project please visit:

www.birdlife.org.au/projects/painted-snipe-project/volunteering- in-surveys

Month 2012 9

Here you’ll find information on: o how and where to survey o online data entry portal o downloadable Painted Snipe Survey Form o Painted Snipe ID brochure.

As you’ve read, Australian Painted Snipe have been recorded in a variety of wetland types, but they typically prefer shallow, freshwater wetlands where water levels are varying and intermittent. They feed on muddy, complex shoreline or islands, often fringed with vegetation of low to medium height. These include (but are by no means limited to) Lignum swamps, inundated paddocks, roadside swales, Red Gum swamps, Melaleuca swamps and inundated dune swales.

Knee of Dotterel and wing of Stilt: ingredients for magic in your wetland

The following species are sympatric to APS: Baillon’s Crake, Black-winged Stilt, Blacktailed Native-hen, Red-kneed Dotterel, Latham’s Snipe.

If one or more of these ingredients is present (especially if breeding), it’s a good indication conditions are may also be suitable for APS.

Two species which have very similar habitat requirements to the APS are the Baillon’s Crake and Redkneed Dotterel. Like the Snipe, these species are nationally distributed, highly dispersive and opportunistic, so a look at their records from New Atlas data gives us a fair indication of where suitable (surveyed) APS habitats occur (Fig. 3).

Figure 3.: Observations of two sympatric species from the New Atlas of Australian Birds (1998-present).

For any extra information or to report a sighting, please contact Chris Purnell:

[email protected] | birdlife.org.au

Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester St, Carlton VIC 3053 Tel: (+61 3) 9347 0757 ext 233 | Fax: (+61 3) 9347 9323

10 Newsletter Headine

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  • Ramsar Wetland Management in Australia

    Ramsar Wetland Management in Australia

    Ramsar wetland management in Australia 16 / Wetlands Australia February 2014 Ramsar in New South Wales – a tale of 12 sites New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage While Dickens wrote about only two places in his ‘Tale of Two Cities’, New South Wales can tell a tale of 12 unique sites protected under the Ramsar Convention. e 12 Ramsar sites in NSW cover a range of climatic e NSW Government has committed, through zones and landscapes found in the state. ese unique intergovernmental agreements and partnerships, to wetland environments include icy cold alpine lakes in provide for the protection, sustainable use and the Snowy Mountains, extensive mangrove forests in management of all NSW wetlands, including Ramsar the mouth of the Hunter River near Newcastle, broad wetlands. Water availability is the primary pressure on river red gum forests on the inland oodplains of the Macquarie and Murray rivers, and even the occasionally inundated Lake Pinaroo in the state’s harsh and arid north western corner near Tibooburra. e tale begins with Towra Point Nature Reserve on Sydney’s doorstep and the Hunter Estuary Wetlands near Newcastle’s busy ports, both were designated as NSW’s rst Ramsar sites on the same day in 1984. Both wetlands feature extensive areas of mangroves and saltmarsh and provide critical habitat for up to 34 species of migratory birds and many sh species. Since these initial listings, a further 10 Ramsar wetland sites have been established across NSW. e Paroo River Wetlands was designated in 2007 and is NSW’s 12th and most recent Ramsar wetland, containing one of the last remaining unregulated wetland systems in the State.
  • Wetlands Australia

    Wetlands Australia

    Wetlands Australia National wetlands update February 2014—Issue No 24 Disclaimer e views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment. © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2014 Wetlands Australia National Wetlands Update February 2014 – Issue No 24 is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ is report should be attributed as ‘Wetlands Australia National Wetlands Update February 2014 – Issue No 24, Commonwealth of Australia 2014’ e Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable eorts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party] ’. Cover images Front cover: Cobourg Peninsula Ramsar site in the Northern Territory contains a range of wetland types that support biodiversity (Jeanette Muirhead) Back cover: e shorelines of Lizard Bay within the Cobourg Peninsula Ramsar site in the Northern Territory (Jeanette Muirhead) ii / Wetlands Australia February 2014 Contents Introduction to Wetlands Australia February 2014 1 Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth 3 Wimmera wetland project benets whole farm 4 Murray
  • Ramsar in the Hunter the Ramsar Convention, the First

    Ramsar in the Hunter the Ramsar Convention, the First

    Ramsar in the Hunter The Ramsar Convention, the first intergovernmental treaty to focus on the environment, was signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, to guide national and international wetland-conservation measures. It was first signed by seven countries and of those Australia was first. The history of how the Ramsar became a reality under the leadership of Dr Luc Hoffman and Sir Peter Scott is well documented and can be easily found. In the same year in the UK, the first wetland centre, Slimbridge, opened near Dursley in Gloucestershire, spearheaded again by Sir Peter Scott, who also played a leading role in the formation of Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Many would say the formation of the Convention was ahead of its time since the goals, written mostly in the late 1960s, continue to be relevant today over 50 years later. The Ramsar Convention is unique in a number of other ways: it is the only convention to be focused on a single ecosystem type: and it continues to operate independently rather than under the umbrella of the UN like most other multi-lateral conventions. Worldwide there are over 2400 Ramsar sites in 171 countries. Australia designated the world’s first Ramsar site under the Ramsar Convention – the Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory - in 1974 and now has 66 listed Ramsar wetlands, in every state and territory, covering approximately 8.3 million hectares. The Hunter Estuary Wetlands are one of 12 Ramsar sites in NSW and the Shortland Wetlands component is one of only three in NSW that are privately owned and managed.
  • National Report on the Implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

    National Report on the Implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

    NATIONAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RAMSAR CONVENTION ON WETLANDS National Reports to be submitted to the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Romania, June 2012 Please submit the completed National Report, in electronic (Microsoft Word) format, and preferably by e-mail, to the Ramsar Secretariat by 15 September 2011. National Reports should be sent to: Alexia Dufour, Regional Affairs Officer, Ramsar Secretariat ([email protected]) National Report Format for Ramsar COP11, page 2 Introduction & background 1. This National Report Format (NRF) has been approved by the Standing Committee in Decision SC41-24 for the Ramsar Convention’s Contracting Parties to complete as their national reporting to the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties of the Convention (Bucharest, Romania, June 2012). 2. Following Standing Committee discussions at its 40th meeting in May 2009, and its Decision SC40-29, this COP11 National Report Format closely follows that used for the COP10 National Report Format, which in turn was a significantly revised and simplified format in comparison with the National Report Formats provided to previous recent COPs. 3. In addition to thus permitting continuity of reporting and implementation progress analyses by ensuring that indicator questions are as far as possible consistent with previous NRFs (and especially the COP10 NRF), this COP11 NRF is structured in terms of the Goals and Strategies of the 2009-2015 Ramsar Strategic Plan adopted at COP10 as Resolution X.1, and the indicators
  • Framing Effects and Benefit Transfer in the Fitzroy Basin

    Framing Effects and Benefit Transfer in the Fitzroy Basin

    Framing effects and benefit transfer in the Fitzroy basin John Rolfe * Adam Loch * Jeff Bennett** Paper presented at the 46th Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society 13th – 15th February 2002 Rydges Lakeside Hotel Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * Faculty of Business and Law, Central Queensland University, Emerald QLD 4720 * Faculty of Business and Law, Central Queensland University, Emerald QLD 4720 ** National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. Abstract. Policy makers are often interested in how estimates of the value of an environmental asset may be disaggregated into component pieces. This is particularly the case when they are seeking to transfer benefit estimates made in one situation to related circumstances. This is the case for the environmental values of the Fitzroy River basin in Central Queensland. The basin comprises several smaller catchments that share similar development opportunities, environmental issues and water resource constraints. This paper describes an application of the choice modelling technique to estimate values for the basin as a whole and two of the smaller catchments to determine how values may be related. Comparisons are undertaken to assess the validity of the choice modelling approach to benefit transfer issues in environmental valuation studies. Keywords: Choice modelling, framing, benefit transfer, irrigation, environment. 2 1. Introduction Within the framework of environmental valuation the need often arises to apply values estimated for an environmental good in one context to another similar context. This process is called benefit transfer (BT). Boyle and Bergstrom (1992:657) state that benefit transfer is ‘the transfer of existing estimates of non-market values to a new study which is different from the study for which the values were originally estimated’.