16 June 2022

A new online community hub and a win for the Orange-bellied Parrot

In this update, you will learn about:

  • Our new WTP Online Community Hub
  • How the Orange-bellied Parrot temporary refuge is already seeing wonderful results

Launch of the WTP Online Community Hub

We are making some improvements to how we share the latest news about the WTP.

We are separating our WTP communications into two dedicated pages for the community:

  • this page you are currently following, will now be called Birdwatching at the Western Treatment Plant, and dedicated to all things birdwatching at the WTP including interesting updates about our birds, changes to site access and important safety news.
  • we are launching a new page, Western Treatment Plant Online Community Hub, which will cover all the other fascinating things happening across the site from conservation to sewage treatment to heritage to resource recovery.

I am not a birdwatcher and would prefer to receive general WTP news instead, how do I do this?

  1. select 'My Profile' then 'Edit Profile' and 'Unfollow' the Birdwatching at the Western Treatment Plant page
  2. Then navigate to the new WTP Online Community Hub and click 'Follow' at the top of the page. It's that simple!!

I am a birdwatcher and I want to get updates from both pages, how do I do this?

  1. You're already following Birdwatching at the Western Treatment Plant, so you don't need to do anything.
  2. Navigate to the new WTP Online Community Hub and click 'Follow' at the top of the page.

Thank you

for keeping our Orange-bellied Parrots safe.

On 2 June 2022, we notified birdwatchers of the need to create a temporary refuge for the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrots (OBP's) that visit the Western Treatment Plant over winter. This was because of unacceptable birdwatcher conduct that was preventing them from renewing their depleted energy levels from migration, and gathering together in flocks.

The wonderful news is that in only 2 weeks our OBP Recovery Group have confirmed that the birds are indeed using this refuge area, and can now behave more naturally without frequent interruptions. For the first time this winter, we have confirmed that the two smaller groups of birds have now found each other and joined into a single flock. While we are used to getting excited about one or two OBPs, for a species that traditionally formed large winter flocks of 40+ birds at this very site, this flocking behaviour is a really important step in the right direction for this species.

We want to thank you, our birdwatchers, for being so responsive to the needs of this Critically Endangered species. We appreciate this temporary sacrifice you are making of not going into the refuge area. It is already providing great benefits to the OBPs that we all value so much.


Keep in touch

If you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact us via email [email protected] or telephone 131 722.