Threatened Species Day was celebrated on the Coal Point Peninsula with the installation of 27 nest boxes for Squirrel Gliders (Petaurus norfolcensis) and the unexpected sighting of two patches of Black-eyed Susan (Tetratheca juncea).
The Coal Point Progress Association in conjunction with Lake Macquarie Landcare’s Super Saturday Session hosted the mass installation of nest boxes. Twenty-one locals and landcarers attended the day to hear Dr Chris Mclean, a Squirrel Glider specialist, describe how people can help the threatened population, and then they got out and did something helpful.
 |
| Fiona Hawke installing her new nestbox |
Supporting the local Squirrel Glider population was as easy as installing a nest box or two with a suitably small entrance hole, 40mm diameter, to exclude larger possums and birds. The Toronto Men’s Shed cleverly crafted 30 such nest boxes. With natural habitat hollows taking over 100 years to form and mature trees regularly being felled the new nest boxes were a timely addition to the local bushland.
Expressions of interest for nest box locations were sought via The Chronicle and twelve local landholders responded. The day prior to the installation a reconnaissance mission was undertaken to see if there was enough connectivity to remnant bushland and suitably high trees for Squirrel Gliders to be able to launch from and glide between. Three properties didn’t meet the critter criteria. Alternative nest boxes for birds and larger possums were recommended.
The installation process was guided by a comprehensive risk assessment developed from conversations with long-time nest boxing expert, Ray Thomas, Dr Chris Mclean and the Conservation Volunteers Australia’s working at heights and use of ladders module from the In Safe Hands toolkit. The installation process was trialled and revised with landcarers at a Hunter Region Landcare Network meeting.
With safety predicating feet not being more than 1.8m off the ground it seemed that the nest boxes were ‘too low’ to the untrained eye. Dr Chris assured us that “if a cat was going to climb to the nest box the height would make little difference”.
Two volunteer teams armed with ladders, 65mm roofing screws, cordless drill and baton-backed nest boxes, safely secured sixteen nest boxes over two hours in the mosaic of public reserves along the vegetated West Ridge and Threlkeld Reserve, known locations of the mini-marsupials. The private landholder installation was undertaken by bush-regenerators from Trees In Newcastle.
Now the nest boxes are in they have the potential to also be a great monitoring tool to see how many Squirrel Gliders are local residents. It will be much easier to locate them and determine their spread along the peninsula. An ethics application is in process to allow for monitoring expeditions to be held.
The sincere thanks list
- Toronto Men’s Shed for the construction and painting of the nestboxes
- Bunnings –Glendale for the donation of marine ply
- Lake Macquarie Landcare for Super Saturday support
- Trees In Newcastle landcare team and Bush regenerators for installation support
- Ray Thomas- Regent Honey Eater Project for sharing his expertise
- Locals landcarers for their ongoing commitment
- Members of CPPA who made it all possible
No comments:
Post a Comment