_.:-:-

_ The ear parchesuere a bright orange-tintedtellow b||l theyuere not dark enough "Kodak- in colorrrto bede.cribed as being yellou. fhe yellor.rerrended in a very narrow line around to the front of the bird where, immediately below the neck, there was another vellow patch. The posterior borders of the yellow cblour_ atrons were all lined with a thin black border. Also, where the grey of the back met with the rvhite of the frout, there was a similar black border. tread .lare -,The uas rerl darl grel ro bllck in colour. lre Drllwa\. ,l blilcke\cepl lor lhe po.leriorhalf of rhe lo\\.ermandtllle \ htch $aJ a palepink Colour,.trealed with black. The eyes were brown; feet were black, both upper and lower surfaces; the tail was rnottled Ulack ana i6ie grey.

fhe flipper.uere r,rltiteundernearh; darl .late crev on,the upper uing: rhe rip of each ffipperwa, biacft unqerneal.

Behayiour At no time did the bird show ary fear of hunans. With small,children approxirnarell rle .ame heighra, rISerT.tne Dtrd sOmettmesshO\ ed some aggre.,iOnif they venturedcloser than about 60 cm. Sudden ,morements by person..vehicjes. anirnals, elc. caLtsedthe btrd 1o becomealefl bUt. otherwiseiL ua",reryplacid and readill accepreduhole. dead fi.h as roo{l trom the^hand_. On only one occr.ion did ir prch up rood trom the ground and rhat was uhen jt had beenhand fed a fi,h uhich ir thendropped. Becauseof its obvious attachment to humans The penguin adapted quickly and to conflnenent within being over 2 000 nautical miles from its habitat, an- average backyard but the did not enjoy being placed in bird.was.consideredin dangerof a.bor drrrilg tra.n\porration. beingdeliberarely or {frer one nig'hr'inW.O. accidentallyharrred by human acrion:-.Afrer vra(rers po\se^s)lorl fuither . begancalling at dtuI. pre.rrrrr_ talks with Mr. Sperce it was decided pensuin aoly Ior tnole Tood. to send the to the careof the Perrh1oo-

THE RAOU BIRDOBSERVATORY AT EYRE by 5. J. J. F.Davies

When the Australian post _ Omce closed the Evre Tn lq76 two organirations.quite independenrly. Telegraphic Station in 1927it sold the building for eid, becameintere\red in Lyre. The post Omce Historicii presrrnrrblythinking thar it nas r.rorth no mori thanihe Society.realising rhe hisroricimporlance of the buildins \alue ot the materialsil conlained. Sited les" than a and its remarkably good stare of preservation,begai kilometre from the Southern Ocean, sheltered from the to make plans for its restoration ai a museum of ihe storms._oflhe GreatAustralian Bight by rr^o,anO a,,nei. old TntercolonialTelegraph Line. The Royal tte- bltldtng .lood. uninhabitated, {usrral- for orer fortr velrs. a.ian OrnilhologistsUnion at the sametime realised dellrng both the elementsand the randalr.' The its potential as a bird observatory and both bodies original purchaser took some materials from it ana Uulti approached the W.A. Department of Fisheries and them into his honrestead on the Nullarbor, but G Wildlife to seewhether restoration was feasible. Good- very rough terrain between the and the will and co-operation have characterisedthe rsstoration old Telegraph_Srationprotected ir from rie Aeipoifarion project-so (hat by Seplemberol lqjj, rhe RAOU rnar njl\ beta en th^e.telegraph stations at lsraelile Bay was able to instalSyd Bakera: the first caretakerof and Lrrcta. In 1965 the Covernment of We>tern rhe Eyre Bird Obser\arory.followed b1 John Martindale Australiacreated the^Nuynland Natureneserre. seiiing as rts first uarden when lhe Obserratoryand Vuseum a.rdea long srrip of lhe southern coastfrom I.raeliti openedro ri'irors in April. 1478. A grant from Bay lo lhe viciniLyof \4undrabilla primiljve the ar a area. Utah. Foundarion helped the ob\er\atory to establish wrth re5trictedaccess. The old Eyre TelegraphStarion lls screnlthcprogramlne and lhe contribulionof a sreat stood in this reserve, but still remained inuied. deal of material by lhe Departrnentof Fisheries"and

47 inflating at a tremendous rate. An observatory had to be at an altractive site, somewherewhere birds came and went, and yet where interesting specieslived throughout the year so that a year-round programme could develop. The building had to be large enough to accommodate "development" visitors and the site protected from yet accessibleto visitors. Eyre Telegraph Station met these requirements well. Being on the sea,Eyre receivesan annual influx ofwaders from the Northern Hemisphere. A mallee belt extends eastward from south- alons the Nullarbor coast,and the malleesthere ffoweriarlier than those in the south-west, As a result many species of nomadic honeyeatersvisit the area in winter, so that the observatory receives both sunmer and winter migrants. Local populations of Red-capped Dotterels, Major Mitchell Cockatoo, Mallee Hens and Fairy Theformer Telegraphic Station at Eyrewhich is now the RAOU Penguins provide material for year-round study of Bird Observatory interesting species,and the general bird life of the area (over 160 speciesare now recorded) adds to the variety. yolunteer Wildlife combined with a labour force of Eyre is only 20 niles from the Eyre Highway, and the RAOU and Post Office Historical Society members, nearest settlernent, Cocklebiddy, is served by daily enabled the building to be restored. Scientific and buses frorr Perth and , so that accessis fairly domestic equipment was bought, a small telegraphic simpte. At the same time, Eyre is suficiently out of museum set up and Australia's first bird observatory the way to have some of the romantic glamour that brought into being. attaches to such famous ovetseas observatories as What is a bird observatory? At the tum of the Skokholm and Fair lsle. Its environs lie in a fauna century a man living in the tiny village of Jutland in resene and are, therefore, protected from unexpected North-western Europe began to make careful records of development, and its historical associations give it an the birds that struck the lighthouse near the village. attraction beyond its biological ones. He recorded the numbers of each speciesand the dates Although I have written largely of the birds of Eyre, upon which he observed them. Gradually his records its reptiles and flora are equally interesting, containing began to show the pattern of migration of various an inter-mingling of south-eastem and south-western species of birds as they passed Jutland going north in species,tempered with organisms from the inland that the sDrins and south in the autumn. That was the -observatory. are characteristic of the itself. The first 6ird Thereafter many other observ- Telegraph Station is a large building, with accommod- atories were established, both in Europe and North ation for 20 people at a time, and would be an ideal America, and they provided an increasingly clear picture place for fie1d excursions from schools. Full board is of the patterns of bird migration, both from careful per day ($65 per week) for those able to get to the systematic sight records and from recoveries of birds $trO Observatory under their own steam. For those needing banded at the observatories. Brrt they did more than to be picked up in a four-wheel drive vehicle at Cockle- this. Because they provided accommodation for vis- biddylhe charge for the first night is to recompense itors, the observatories became a focus at which ornith- $16, the cost involved in the ferrying; subsequentnights are ologists, particularly young amateurs, could meet, at the a night rate. Although these charges may could participate in careful regular scientific study of $10 sound high, the RAOU receives no subsidy for the birds and could learn the techniques of scientilic omith- running of the Observatory, and they are the lowest ology. Much of the successof amateur ornithology in that can be sustained. They compare well with hotel Bdtain had its origin in the bird observatories. charges on the Eyre Highway. Teachers and others By the mid-1970's the Field Investigation Committee interested in using the facilities at the Eyre Bird Observ- of the RAOU had clearly in mind that observatories atory.may obtain further information by writing to the were needed in Australia. But where? Land was ex- Warden, Eyre Bird Observatory, Cocklebiddy, via pensive, buildings more so and maintenance costs were Norseman, 6443 Western Australia.

continuedfront page 45 With raised wings and quivering bill sacsthe pelicans, supported by a flotilla of diving black cornorants, added ..spectacular majesty to a scene of peace and CORRECTION tranqurllty. The Diminishing Heritagestory in S.W.A.N.S.Vol. 9 Then some thick-skulled moron in a sDeed boat circled and thunderedthrough the flock scattering No. I was supported by two exquisite coloured photos feathers and spray in all directions. photos of the Marl, Perameles bougainville. The were The river is still there . . . as beautiful as ever, but the taken by well known wildlife photographers, Michael birds have gone somewhereelse. The chap in the photo Morcombe and Bert Wells. p.45 died of shock when a vet amputated his smashed wing. The Department's Wildlife Ollicers are wonder- Apologies are expressed to Bert Wells for crediting ing why people do this and why others don't simply him with the wrong photo and apologies to Michael re'polt a boat's registration number when such an offence Morcombe for omitting his name from the larger of rs commlttgd. the two portraits. To be apathetic is to condone this type of cruelty.

90339111/79-2600 WILLIAM C. BROWN, Governhe.t Frint€r, Western australi.