3 November 2017

The Beak | Summer Edition

WTP Bird Blog | With Melbourne Water's Senior Biodiversity Scientist, Will Steele

Welcome to the first edition of the Western Treatment Plant bird blog! The Western Treatment plant is recognised across the world as a haven for wildlife - in particular as one of Victoria’s premier bird watching sites. We have over 200 species of birds that visit the site each year so we thought we’d provide you with an insight some birds you’re likely to see over the summer months.

Shorebirds

These little guys travel all the way from Siberia and China to roost and feed at the Western Treatment Plant. Species include the Red-necked Stint, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper. Over recent years there has been a noticeable drop in Curlew Sandpiper numbers globally, and the species is now listed as Critically Endangered in Australia. To help support this now endangered species, Melbourne Water manage some of the ponds at WTP to provide the birds with roosting habitat and alternate feeding areas off the shoreline. In what we think is a world first we have also installed ‘trickle’ outlets for nutrient-rich treated effluent to flow out onto the mudflats where the migratory shorebirds do most of their feeding- this assists the birds to gain 50% of their body weight in fat to help fuel their long journey home!

Waterfowl

Ducks are another group of WTP visitors to look out for this summer. If it’s a hot and dry summer across inland Australia we can expect many more Grey Teal and Pink-eared Duck to arrive. The Australian Shelduck have already started arriving for their annual moult and we’d hope to see 10,000 shelduck on the site around Christmas. The numbers of waterfowl at the WTP generally peak during February/March – as other wetlands dry out or become less suitable as feeding grounds. During late summer the WTP will have its maximum number of birds with shorebirds and waterfowl both waddling around the site – making the WTP ponds and foreshore possibly one of the most densely populated bird sites in Australia at that time.

Look out this summer

  • Red-necked stint
  • Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
  • Curlew Sandpiper
  • Grey Teal
  • Pink-eared Duck
  • Australian Shelduck
  • Brolga (we have a pair with a young chick at the Borrow Pit and other brolgas across the west of the site)

Please share your sightings on social media, and let us know by tagging us!

@Melbournewater | #westerntreatmentplant