Darters move in along Barwon
ONE of the advantages a field naturalist has by spending a lifetime in the one place is that inevitable changes can be watched and recorded — at least that is my experience in Geelong.
One of these changes has been the development of a tiny nesting colony of darters in the trees along the Barwon River near Princes Bridge in Belmont.
Darters are found throughout Australia with the exception of the dry areas of South and Western Australia.
They are a cosmopolitan species, also found in New Zealand, Africa and much of southern Asia.
Fish are the main food, and darters use the long, narrow beak as a lance to spear their prey while swimming underwater.
They usually swim with the body submerged and only the long neck and head above the surface, giving them a reptilian appearance.
The male is black with a white streak that runs from the base of the beak down the side of the neck, and there is rusty colouring on the throat. By contrast, the female is grey with a whitish throat and chest.
Both have silvery plumes on the wings.
They are big birds, with a serpentine neck and long narrow beak, and long tail, giving an overall length of about 90cm. The wingspan is about 1.2m.
Darters had been no more than casual visitors to Geelong until October 2002 when a couple of pairs built nests near Princes Bridge.
They had been found nesting in trees at Nerin Nerin Swamp, near Clunes, in 1975, and in 1989 there were a few nests at Lake Merrimu at Bacchus Marsh, so perhaps it was inevitable they would reach Geelong.
What is surprising is their choice of nesting place — in some trees overhanging the river that is extensively used by rowers and canoeists, close to a major arterial road.
They have now been joined by some cormorants that nest in the same and adjacent trees, and it will be interesting to see how long they remain in the same area.
The cormorants, at least the little pied species, also nest locally with a colony established in some trees in the lake in Balyang Sanctuary. Wildlife observations and questions can be sent to ppescott @optusnet.com.au