20 people came to walk around North Lake, Western Australia as part of World Listening Day 2011. With still conditions we could hear the Kwinana Freeway to the east but this didn’s stop the large number of frogs from calling (active after the recent rain). Bird species calling included black swans, black ducks, grey teal, mudlarks, Australian ravens, magpies, grey butcherbirds, wrens, great wattlebirds, swallows, williewagtails, twenty-eights, rainbow lorikeets, lbjs (unidentified) and silvereyes (we think) passing in a flock overhead.
Around the far side of the lake walking at the water’s edge was rewarded with a high-fidelity frog chorus and a dragonfly caught in the plastic of a rehabilitation plant guard. The east side of the lake was a peaceful contrast to the surrounding road network.
Rainbow Lorikeets in the soundscape
Also highly noticable was the large number of introduced rainbow lorikeets calling whilst flying over head and which were also nesting on the east side of the lake. Apart from radically changing Perth’s soundscape with their strident calls, lorikeets outcompete twenty-eight parrots (Western Ringnecks) for nesting hollows.
The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) was introduced into the wild in Perth, Western Australia, during the 1960s. When lorikeets were first recorded in the wild in Perth no action was taken to remove them. From fewer than 10 escaped or released birds, the population is now distributed over a large part of the metropolitan area and may expand to number over 20 000 birds by 2010.
Tamra Chapman, Department of Environment and Conservation and Marion Massam, Department of Agriculture
and Food. Pestnote 200 March 2007 see http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_93047.html
Roe 8 (Roe Highway extension)
Trees with nesting hollows large enough for parrots such as twenty-eights are found in Perth’s remaining wetlands and remnant bushland patches such as North Lake. If approved the 70 metre wide 6 lane highway extension to Roe Highway will pass between North Lake and Bibra Lake, not that far from where these photos were taken.
Please add your personal comments to this online letter in support of the Stop Roe Highway and Save Beeliar Wetlands! campaign now. More information about the Beeliar Wetlands can be found here: http://www.savebeeliarwetlands.com/
Hi Perdita,
This was my first World listening day walk, so I thank you for aiding this enlightening and wonderful experience.
At some stages we imagined what it would be like walking with our eyes closed, the aural senses certainly being heightened, although a bit tricky to carry out! But when concentrating, the sounds of the insects, birds, frogs and sadly even the traffic was fascinating. It gave me a new appreciation for the area and a broader knowledge of the types of wildlife that live in the wetlands.
Thanks so much