Yamba Roundup Results - 4/03/12

Well this was the first year Wetlandcare have undertaken the Annual Yamba Toad Muster and what a wonderful success it was. With Marty from Clarence Council, Nigel from CMA, Dell, Steve and Geoff from NPWS and no less than 7 CVCIA volunteers working alongside Wetlandcare, it was a real joint effort.

Glenis and Max help out in community education at the Yamba Toad Roundup.

Bevan, Rob and Sharon R took the bus to Yamba Sportsground to help out while Max and Glenis kept watch on the golf course and helped people out. Kath and I stayed back at the gold club and helped with the mammoth task of processing toads people brought back in.

The event attracted a total of 270 participants. The total number of Cane Toads collected on the night was 2,521. The most caught by any one group was 130, and the heaviest toad weighed 277g. I was so proud of the 7 CVCIA volunteers that attended to help run the event. I don't think the night would have been such a success without us so thank you all so much. The gas bottle was without a fitting and Max was able to find a mate there on the night who was a plumber and fixed it. Kath was so wonderful weighing and processing toads for hours and I had to drag Rob and Bevan away at the end of the night. You guys are awesome and I know Wetlandcare really appreciated your help. Cheers, Sharon.

Myna Trapping Tales - Part 2

And this from Moira...

Hi again 11/2/12
2 mynas yesterday and 2 this morning and transported them to the happy hunting ground. It is amazing how greedy 2 birds can be. Hope I can get all the ones that are coming to my place. Saw some finches eating the seeds that grow on a reedy looking thing, shall have to try and get some more growing. Be glad when the mynas allow other birds in the yard again.
Bye for now
Moira

Hi laura, 27/2/12
woe is me, not much luck this week. Have only caught 11. I had put the
cage in an area under a table and the silly buggers went in. No food at
entrances or anything. That makes 38 so far.
Moira

Great work Moira. Like how your "not much luck week" includes trapping 11 without any bait! We will have to call you Bevan II soon. Cheers, Sharon.

Myna Trapping Stories - Part 1

Our myna trappers are having a great time out there and overcoming obstacles like nothing else. John from Seelands writes:

I have trapped 25 birds in February with little noticeable impact on the local population.

It took me a long time to get going as the trap attracts inquisitive dairy cows and eventually I had to build a fence around the trap.

Thanks for looking after hte trap so well John! Those cows are curious. I remember putting in a row of trees along our road and they pulled every single tree bag off them! Cheers, Sharon.

Myna update from Cairns

This was forwarded to me by someone from the Birding-Aus e-list:

3,000 mynahs trapped in Cairns.

There has been a Rotary Club "Remove Indian Mynahs" project in Cairns for some weeks and thus far there has been 3,000 plus removed. Cairns Men's Shed has made up 225 traps to date and there is a good public acceptance of the fact that this introduced species is a real problem, hence the good results. Three members of the "Men's Shed" have captured 1500 birds between them. Broad estimate of numbers in the Cairns area has been put at 250,000.

Wow! Cheers, Sharon.

24/02/12 - Warregah Island drain of doom

Well 8 toadbusters braved the storm just before 7:30pm to check out what was happening at Warregah Island. Unfortunately we collected a whopping 263 toads but there were 6 times that many mosquitoes on each of us at any one time.

Bevan, Sharon L and Sharon R tackled the drain of doom near Graeme's place with little action (mind the eels!) and poor Sharon R had a hole in her gumboot. Max and Glenis, David and Kaleb were back after last week so wonderufl to see some keen new toadbusters. Kaleb had about 10 toads in one hand at one point during the night.

No photos (the mosquitoes stole my camera) but thank you Rob and Bevan as usual and the rest of the crowd. I have 4 vols for next Sunday night (Rob, Bevan, max and Glenis) so please let me know if you can make it as well. Cheers, Sharon.

New Common Myna Control Officer in Clarence Valley

I would like to congratulate Kevin Noble on his successful appointment as the new Myna Control Officer in Clarence Valley (pop… woo hoo…. fizz – that’s me popping the champagne and cheering!). And we all know he will be ably assisted by the divine Ms Laura Noble. Well done guys, you deserve it after all your hard work.

Congratulations to Pam again for securing this funding and Pam will be the Project Manager for this contract. Stay tuned for much excitement in myna world. I cannot express enough what a delight and joy it is to have so much support and friendship from so many of you. I am happily backing down from many of my start up jobs and please note the blank, dumb look that will come over my face when you ask me a myna question next – I will say “ask Kevin and Laura!!”.

Cheers, Sharon.

17/02/12 - Brooms Head Wildlife Night

With a rip-snorting 13 volunteers turning up for Brooms Head last Friday night, we only bagged 112 cane toads, but saw a heap of wildlife. All up we saw 1 Barn Owl, 1 Dingo, 1 Bandy bandy, 1 Water Rat, 1 Samll-eyed Snake and 2 White crowned Snakes. How cool is getting out in nature at night??

White crowned snake at Brooms Head

Not many toads, but the boys picked up a pile of 2-3 week old juvenilles that had obviously just hatched behind the shop and RFS station. Good catch guys! Next weekend Warregah and then the Yamba Roundup. Thank you to everyone that turned up - great effort! Cheers, Sharon.

Caleb has a maths lesson in counting cane toads.