Byron Bay Wetlands and the October bush-fire

Byron Bay Wetlands appear to have escaped relatively lightly from the October bush-fire that burnt from Byron Bay to close to Brunswick Heads in October 2023. The fire impinged mainly on the western side of the reserve and did not affect the wetland area directly.

Close to the wetlands, the fire did not crown and was a relatively cool burn.

Bird and species numbers do not seem to be affected as shown by post-fire bird surveys on Birdata. This male Varied Triller was close to the fire area.

The fire skirted the eastern fringe but did not affect the eastern ponds.

Several Cicadabirds were calling including this female in the Malaleuca swamps.

This male Cicadabird was photographed at Brunswick Heads, close to the northern extreme of the fire.

Half way on its journey to Brunswick Heads the fire passed through this wetland at Tyagara, burning right down to the waterline.

More "Bush Birds" in South Coast, NSW township

My garden bird species list in the coastal township of Bendalong is still growing as birds adapt to changes due to the Currowan Bushfire and the heavy rains that have followed.

The Brown Thornbill (10 cm) is the most common of the “Small Brown Birds” that frequent the Shoalhaven area and is currently visiting the garden more often than before.

Figbirds are reasonably common near the coast during summer but this female and her mate were the first I had recorded.

The Eastern Spinebill is a regular visitor but it has been having a tough time recently due to a build up in numbers of Little Wattlebirds, who compete for the nectar from these Salvia flowers.

The Eastern Koel is a regular over the summer. This rather ragged young male is losing the last of his (brown) juvenile colours. Together with the Figbirds the Koels should be making their way north at this time of the year. Koels, being a cuckoo, are often raised by Red Wattlebirds in this area but this is a species that has almost disappeared locally losing out to the Little Wattlebirds after the bushfires.

Bush birds come to town

After the fires two years ago there have been more bush birds in the coastal townships on NSW’s South Coast. In Bendalong last week I recorded my first Grey Shrike-thrush within the township. Other visitors last week were a Brown Cuckoo-Dove, a Dollarbird, a pair of Noisy Friarbirds, and an Olive-backed Oriole. All of these are uncommon visitors to town gardens. There have been a lot more Grey Fantails, Whistlers and Scrubwrens in the town over the past year.

This Grey Shrike-thrush was a visitor to this Pittosporum tree most mornings last week.

The Dollarbird is an infrequent visitor in the town. Here it perches in a tree that was scorched during the Currowan Bushfire two years ago.

The Pittosporum is host to a host of bird species. An Olive-backed Oriole pays a visit.

Bushfire devastation made worse

The need to protect trees remaining after the Currowan bushfire seems obvious. However for some the bushfire has given reason to cut down more trees.

On returning after the NSW lockdown to two survey sites in Conjola National Park I was dismayed at the first to find a large shelterbelt had gone and that the roadside treeline had been cut back a further ten to twenty metres from the road. This occurred some time between June 2021 and October 2021, during the lockdown period - over a year and a half after the fires!

The Bendalong Mountain Road Birdata survey site extends from this point close to the Bendalong Road corner to the far corner 200 metres down the road. On the left hand side of the road a shelterbelt of mature eucalypt trees has been totally removed and replaced by the barbed-wire fence. On the right hand side of the road the treeline has been cut back ten to twenty metres from the power lines.

At the second site on nearby Nerringillah Road the trees had again been cleared a further ten to twenty metres from the road. In addition there has been extensive clearance of trees along the Bendalong road, for approximately two kilometres the bush has been cleared 10 to 20 metres back from the road.

On enquiry it seems that this clearance is legal. There are a number of regulations that might have allowed removal of these trees. Electricity companies have powerful “rights” to clear land where there are above-ground powerlines. Under the Electricity Supply Act 1995 and even the the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, they have an absolute power to remove trees.

Then in August this year the NSW government introduced new rules that allow landowners to clear rural land within 25 metres of their boundary with very few restrictions; the Rural Boundary Clearing Code under the Rural Fires Act 1997. If the land has not been previously protected there is little requirement to consider environmental impact and no need to offset the loss of vegetation.  

The Bendalong Mountain survey site is a standard Birdata two hectare site for conducting 20 minute surveys. This older map of the site was prepared on Google Maps. It shows the shelter belt at the road side and the bush on the left hand side, part of Conjola National Park.

The reason for this clearing is likely to be given as “ bush fire risk management” but it seems highly unlikely that these clearances would have protected anything or in any way changed the course of the devastating Currowan fire last year.

I started monitoring these survey sites after the fires, to get an idea of bird numbers in the central area of Conjola National Park. At that time the park was still closed so road-side sites were the only way you could do this.

There are not a lot of birds in this area, at least this has been the case during the surveys I have done since the fires. The most recent survey, conducted after tree removal, counted eight and seven total birds on the sites respectively in a 20 minute count. It will be difficult to see if the removal of trees has any effect on bird numbers in this small area. Nevertheless clearances like this are part of the insidious decline in habitat, responsible for the decline of bird species generally.

Bird recovery after the Currowan fire

The Currowan fire of New Year’s Day 2019/2020 reached the shores of Lake Conjola and pressed close against the villages of Cunjurong, Manyana and Bendalong. Only small fragments of bush were untouched. In the burnt out areas the good rains of the past two years have seen good recovery of the undergrowth. In other areas totally dead trees intersperse with those that are gradually recovering their crown foliage.

This area near Lake Conjola entrance was badly burnt in the Currawon fire. Despite good rain and plenty of water around recovery of the bird population has been slow.

A Chestnut Teal duck takes advantage of this pond’s food offerings; a pond that was often dry in previous years.

A young Grey Fantail feeds on insects attracted to the pond.

South Coast NSW pictures

South Coast bird photos from a few weeks ago, posted from locked down Sydney town.

Laughing Kookaburra perches on a stump burnt out in the New Year 2019/2020 fires.

Quite a few Galahs around.

And there have been more Spotted Pardalotes around this year, sometimes in flocks of over a dozen.

Birdlife Shoalhaven Bushfire Research Report

Birdlife Shoalhaven is monitoring the after effects of the devastating Currawon bushfire on the New South Wales South Coast. They have just released their 2020 report.

A typical scene as the bush recovers from the fire seventeen months earlier. This White-throated Treecreeper reaches the truncated top of the fire affected tree it has been feeding on.

The long-term aim of the project is to examine changes in bird species richness and abundance in the Shoalhaven in the post-fire period. The report analyses changes at 115 survey sites within the fire footprint and 52 sites outside the fire footprint as a comparison. They use BirdLife’s Birdata 20 minute, 2 hectare survey technique to survey bird species and numbers.

They found that bird numbers and species numbers increased on average during the year across lightly to heavily burnt sites and the recovery in numbers of birds was greater in lightly burnt areas. Outside of the fire footprint the number of species did not change significantly but bird numbers actually decreased through the year, perhaps as birds moved back into recovering burnt areas?

The small peninsular at Dee Beach near Bendalong on the New South Wales south coast was heavily burnt and the soil was barren after the fire. This photo was taken last April 2020, four months after the fire.

The same area in May 2021, another year and one month later. A head high swathe of acacia and eucalypts now forms an impenetrable cover, a happy hunting ground for insect eating birds.

While the detailed picture is very complicated there is no doubt that the heavier rains of the last year have helped the recovery of the birds. And that more research on this critical issue is badly needed. If there had been better baseline data from before the fires this would have provided a better picture of the fires effect. Birdlife Shoalhaven are to be congratulated on undertaking this important project.

The recovery is very different at the Walter Hood Beach survey site. Other than a handful of Banksias at the beach edge, the trees are all dead and the green cover beneath them is less than a metre high. There were no birds on this site when it was last surveyed.

One year and one month after the NSW bushfires

It was just over a year ago that the Currawon bushfire raged through Conjola National Park south of Sydney, burning most of the park. At the survey sites I monitor the rains of the last year have meant a faster recovery than expected, but progress varies greatly depending on the terrain. Where the hottest fires struck in tall eucalypt forest there is a mix of trees recovering through epicormic growth and other trees, usually the smaller ones, that appear to be dead at this stage. In coastal scrub there are large areas where all the trees are dead but the undergrowth is renewing.

This Rufous Whistler is feeding in the epicormic growth on medium sized eucalypts, in an area that is recovering well from the fires.

Bird numbers are recovering but still not to the pre-fire levels. The most noticeable absence is the large honeyeaters, especially the Red Wattlebirds.

The shrubs in this coastal scrub are dead. The thick mat of regrowth is now over a metre high and looking very healthy. The weeds that grew earlier have now been overgrown. A few birds hawk for insects in the regrowth.

In this patch of burnt medium sized eucalypts the regrowth is a mixture of acacias and eucalypt. In places it forms a thick mat that is now up to two metres high. The mix of species seems to be encouraging a wider range of birds.

Conjola National Park – beaches and lagoons

The beaches and lagoons of Conjola National Park are popular holiday destinations, with excellent surfing and swimming. The park includes parts of Conjola Lake and Berringer Lake as well as Swan Lake, Berrara Creek lagoon and Nerrindillah Creek lagoon.

Kingfishers frequent the park’s streams and lagoons. This Sacred Kingfisher patrols a small pond that has formed during recent rains.

The coastal region has four endangered ecological communities: these are the Coastal Saltmarsh, Swamp Sclerophyll Forest, Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest and Bangalay Sand Forest communities. Endangered Hooded Plovers and Pied Oystercatchers nest on the park’s beaches and Little Terns nest at Lake Conjola Entrance.

Pied Oystercatchers are an endangered species in New South Wales. A number of pairs were breeding within the park this year.

Hooded Plovers are closely monitored and nest sites are protected to prevent beach goers inadvertently destroying the nest. Hooded Plovers are highly endangered in New South Wales with the population estimated at only 50 birds in total.

This week's visitors

Numbers of species and the total number of birds are slowly increasing in the aftermath of the Currowan bushfire at the seven South Coast NSW sites I regularly survey. The sites are two hectares in area and I record standard 20 minute surveys into the Birdata survey app that is managed by Birdlife Australia.

Superb Fairy-wrens were scarce after the bushfires but are now making a slow return.

The Yellow-faced Honeyeater is the predominant honeyeater at the moment, enjoying the absence of larger Wattlebirds who have yet to find good food sources in this area.

A solitary Australian Raven paints a stark picture against the burnt bush.

One thousand cuts

One of the biggest ironies is the many reasons given for cutting down more trees after so many were lost in the bushfires. All good reasons in some people’s eyes or from certain perspectives. To clear the road, to make people safe from falling trees, to protect the infrastructure, to stimulate the economy through forestry, to create employment after the fire and the pandemic, to make way for development, to provide a better buffer against future fires.

The electricity company makes good on a promise to better protect infrastructure from bushfires by chopping another 5-10 metre swathe of bush on each side to protect the wires.

For the environment (and implicitly the future economy) this is a one way street. Each tree gone takes us further away from the sustainable future we need to reach.

At some point in the past it had been decided to chop two paths through the bush. One for the road and one for the wires, thereby already doubling the bush destroyed.

Spring has arrived

In an area that was ravaged by bushfires it has been encouraging to see new nests and lots of breeding activity this spring. The flush of new growth and seeding of weeds and grasses looks to be providing ample food for many of the smaller bush birds. Hopefully this will translate to a successful breeding season.    

This Golden Whistler makes his protest clear from a nearby tree after two Eastern Spinebills came too close to the nest the Whistlers are building.

High in a Eucalypt tree across the water from a boat ramp, this Eastern Osprey returns to the nest and its young. This photo was taken with a 600mm equivalent telescopic lens from the boat ramp at a distance of about 100 metres. It is so important not to disturb breeding birds as they recover from the bushfires.

Birds and the EPBC Act 1999

Taking photographs in burnt out bush land - land that is slated for future development - brings to mind the importance of the review underway of Australia’s top environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The act is reviewed every 10 years and Professor Graeme Samuel’s final report from the review is due in October.

The post-fire explosion of herbs and weeds is providing ample food for Crimson Rosellas.

In the meantime Australia’s parliament has just passed legislation on to the Australian senate that would result in each state conducting its own process to assess and approve projects before the appropriate national standards or compliance checks have been set up, a change that many believe will further dilute the act’s effectiveness.

Likewise the small birds are flourishing; like this Variegated Fairy-wren.

The twenty years since the EPBC was passed have seen continual deterioration of Australia’s environment and loss of biodiversity. The act needs a total overhaul and the importance of the current review cannot be overstated. We should all be letting our politicians know how important this is.

Eastern Whipbird looking for a meal.

South Coast bird survey update

It was back to the south coast NSW surveys last week to follow up after recent strong winds and tree damage. In the township the species count was up slightly and there were more birds to count due to flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets and Little Corellas. The town is still providing home to birds displaced by bush fires with Golden Whistlers and White-browed Scrubwrens in town gardens.

Three Dusky Woodswallows were unexpected visitors to the survey site, swooping above the treetops.

Bird numbers in bush sites are recovering, but not back to the pre-drought levels of 2017. Increases on sites vary with the severity of the fires, especially whether the crowns are green or not. Some areas are still black and barren and have not changed much since the fires, graced by the occasional Australian Raven or Eastern Yellow Robin.

There are plenty of small birds around; Fairy-Wrens, Thornbills, White-browed and a few Large-billed Scrubwrens.

Some areas with smaller scrub show no sign of recovery, the increased light after burning allows a thick mat of grass and weeds to flourish below the charred remains.

Storms and rain

After years of severe drought New South Wales’ south coast is now in a sodden state, the result of two successive “east coast lows” and follow up rain. Locally the low’s have delivered 290 mm and 160 mm respectively. And the strong winds caused damage to both trees and dwellings.

These two Australian Wood Ducks moved into town, nibbling grass and herbs on wet lawns and in running drains.

The total rain to date this year is just over 1,000 mm, the dams are now full and the water table is high. With water that is helping heal the bush after the disastrous bush fires of the summer.

This Little Wattlebird perches on the branch of a fallen tree that is now awaiting the chain saw and the mulcher.

Six months after the fires

It is nearly six months since over 80 per cent of the Shoalhaven’s forests were destroyed by the enormous Currowan bushfire. Recovery of the bush has been better than expected, blessed by the heavy rains that followed the fires. The trunks of many trees are liberally covered by epicormic ‘green’ shoots, the eucalypt’s recovery system that comes into play when the tree’s crown is damaged. Around the forest fringes at ground level a blizzard of weeds of all varieties is growing, interspersed with shoots from the lignotubers of smaller eucalypts and banksias, another recovery mechanism characteristic of the Australian bush. In areas where the fires were very hot sadly the ground is still parched and the trees still bare and lifeless.

This headland suffered severe heat but the ground layer is regenerating, mainly from sprouting lignotubers in a sea of weeds.

In the two years before the fires, bird numbers had already decreased by up to fifty per cent at sites I was monitoring, a result of the drought. In the months before the fires, the bush was very dry and desiccated grass crunched underfoot. Then in the weeks before the fires struck, locals reported hundreds of birds flocking to garden bird baths, apparently the last source of drinking water as the humidity dropped further.      

There are many Grey Fantails feeding on insects above the new foliage.

Six months later there are few birds in the high fire intensity areas. On the fringes small birds are invading the weeds, feeding on insects and the seeding grasses. Parrots seem to be finding plentiful food and are ignoring the seed trays I leave out.

This Golden Whistler is an occasional visitor in township gardens, but has been frequently seen since the bushfires.

In the townships small bird numbers have increased. The garden has been visited by Grey Fantails, Golden Whistlers, White-browed Scrubwrens, Lewin’s Honeyeaters, Brown Thornbills, Superb Fairy-wrens and Eastern Whipbirds. Pigeons are spending an unusual amount of time in the town with Wonga Pigeons, Brown Cuckoo-Doves, Common Bronzewings, Crested Pigeons and White-headed Pigeons all sighted recently.

The Brown Cuckoo-Dove, another unusual visitor seen here in a township garden.

Developers to clear last unburnt bush at Manyana

After years of drought and then the bushfires; it is a real-estate company based on Canterbury Road in Sydney that intends to deliver a final blow to Manyana’s wildlife.

Manyana on New South Wales’ south coast is surrounded on two sides by bush burnt out by the fires that destroyed over 80 per cent of the Shoalhaven’s forests. In a miracle of tenacity firefighters saved the Village and also a 20 hectare plot of forest on its north-west corner.  This plot consists of 13 hectares of Northern Coastal Sands Shrub/Fern Forest, five hectares of Bangalay Moist Woodland/Open Forest, and one hectare of Bangalay Paperbark Woodland. It is now the largest block of unburnt bush for many kilometers.

The New Year 2020 fire burnt all the way to Cunjurong Point Road but firefighters saved the bush block on the right and the Manyana Village. This is the block that developers are now preparing to clear for housing. The bush on the left was burnt by the Currowan Fire that destroyed over 490,000 hectares of bushland.

This block was zoned residential back in 1972 and then in 2008 a subdivision for 182 blocks and homes was approved by the Labor state government. Development is about to start after all these years. Two weeks ago the developer announced the recent temporary reprieve they had applied because of the fires was now over and that they would commence clearing, despite opposition from locals. The state government says its hands are tied because the project is already approved; the Shoalhaven Council says it is out of their hands. Protestors are taking the issue all the way to the Federal Government.

Protestors have defaced this sign on the fence enclosing rare Bangalay Paperbark Woodland that will be saved under the subdivision plan to form an isolated and inadequate reserve.

This bush now provides badly needed food for wildlife isolated by the fires. In 20 minutes standing on the road across from this block I observed one Eastern Spinebill, six Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, a Pied Currawong, and heard several Spotted Pardalotes, Little Wattlebirds,and an Australian King Parrot. An old nest was visible, most probably belonging a Pied Currawong.

This Yellow-faced Honey-eater feeds on Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) on the Manyana bush block under imminent threat of clearance for a new housing subdivision.

NSW South Coast Bush Shows Green Shoots

Ten weeks after the bush fire there are green shoots to soften the bleak colours of the burnt bush. The heavy rain of the past few weeks has been very timely but a lot questions remain about the fire’s impact on wildlife.  Bird species numbers on the bush survey sites I monitor are not showing any increase since the fires. But this week a flock of Thornbills feeding in the fresh green foliage increased the total number of birds counted.

The “Path” site photographed in my January 28 blog showing the magic effect of time and rain. Unfortunately there were very few birds to match its green appearance.

There do seem to be more birds around the townships and some less common birds have taken up residence. The photos below show some of the newcomers.

This Wonga Pigeon has taken up residence in the vegetable garden, here seen exploring the compost heap.

Another pigeon, the White-headed Pigeon has turned up, not often seen in these coastal towns.

This Glossy Black-Cockatoo was at Garrad Reserve, Narawallee.

NSW South Coast Birds after the Bush Fires

The trepidation of our trip down the Princes Highway from Nowra was relieved to some extent by green patches along the burnt out roadside. Then turning onto the Bendalong road this devastating scene; these barren and charred remains.

Bendalong road, January 2020

The seaside towns of Bendalong and Manyana are intact despite being burnt on all sides, a tribute to the firies. Even the bush along the Bendalong beach-front has been burnt out. The dawn chorus was subdued, a pair of Magpie-larks and then a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo’s screeching. The numbers of town birds are well down; ones or twos where previously there had been a dozen.

The “Path” Birdata bird survey site, 95% burnt out.

The two Birdata Survey sites I set up in 2017 were burnt so I wanted to see how bird numbers had changed. On the “Path” site survey I found it a relief to hear a lone Little Wattlebird calling, later to be joined by two Lewin’s Honeyeaters and then some Striated Thornbills. On the “Bush Track” it was fifteen minutes before the first birds arrived; two Eastern Yellow Robins and then a Rufous Whistler.

Eastern Yellow Robin on the “Bush Track” site

The two sites were already badly affected by drought and bird numbers dropped off during 2019, as seen from the survey results below. The birds are going to need all the help they can get to recover from this double whammy to bird life.

Birdata Bird Survey results for Maple Street sites 2017-2020.