Look out for our birds

Dear Echo News,

Bird Week is over for this year.

I was one participant from postcode 6056, and preliminary results reveal that from our postcode 229 checklists were submitted with 102 species recorded and 7586 birds counted.

Great work to everyone who took part during the week.

Over all, in Australia 154,786 checklists were submitted, 685 birds were recorded and 5,149,918 individual birds were counted.

A great effort.

The aim of Bird Week is to get people more involved with the birds that live in their local area.

Also, it helps to map changes that occur over the years like our local magpies being decimated by a disease at present so numbers are declining.

The extent that this is happening and how drastic it is can show up in the information collected.

So next year become a citizen scientist and take part in Bird Week in October.

Just put it in your search engine – there’s no special skills required.

Let’s look after our birds and their habitats.

Yours in birding.

P Masters    

Viveash

Echo News social media comments

In response to Calls for action on Swan flooding issues:

T Max: 

Plant native trees, revegetate with native shrubs, groundcovers and don’t keep destroying natural areas. Work with nature instead and retain as much of it as possible. We need to keep moisture in the land!

B Woolrich: 

There’s the issue of the developers wanting the City of Swan to rectify this at the cost of the ratepayers. The city also has limited influence in stopping these developers. If there’s an objection to the development, all they do is refer it to the state government and get the approval. Our council is toothless in these decisions.

L Lynch:

This is why there needs to be an inquiry into State Planning approval processes. It simply favours the developers. Communities are ignored and councils become useless. Rate payers have to pick up all the rectification costs.

In response to Controversial land sale ignites Kalamunda dispute:

C Parker 

These blocks were “given” to the Shire as part of a subdivision according to City of Kalamunda so wouldn’t that have been for public open space as part of a subdivision? How can that then be sold off?

And $50,000 is a tiny amount of what they will make on the sales. Why and how was Ray White chosen to sell? The names and prices on each offer is part of the “public consultation”. Blocks are already fenced and no restrictions mentioned on retaining trees. Many more questions to ask about this.

In response to Residents raise floodplain and bushland concerns:

L Bavin:

Developing roads and houses on top of wetlands causes the groundwater level to rise and flood its way to the river. That is what is happening with my property right now. It is under water. It’s not stormwater but groundwater that has nowhere to go. The water doesn’t disappear and the one small creek from the Brooklands site runs through a lot of land before it gets to the river, hence even more flooding.

N Groom:

Could the City of Swan please paint a line down the middle of this side of the road and train lines so we can have two clear lines of traffic while waiting for lights?