Hunter Water has thrown the Hunter Wetlands Centre a lifeline in the form of three million litres of water, following an emergency request to tup up the dry wetlands in hopes of protecting the local bird population.
The recent dry weather has had an impact on local bird populations particularly Egrets with young chicks being unable to keep cool and sadly perishing.
Hunter Wetlands CEO Dr Stuart Blanch said the birds need water in the wetlands.
"When the chicks started getting ready to leave the nest about two weeks ago, suddenly it was an emergency because all the wetlands were dry and the birds, because of that, were dehydrating because if heat stress. There was no food because there was no water and their parents were not feeding them so we were losing about 10, 20, 30 birds a day were dying."
Since the water has been turned on, Dr Blanch says the birds are returning.
"I was watching on Saturday morning. We started the water at 10am and about midday there were 16 Egrets walking over the baked dry ground to where the water was flowing out and they were literally drinking the water straight from the hose. From that moment on a lot of birds in the Wetlands have come into the one-hectare area that has been saved," Dr Blanch said.
The water is expected to get the wetlands through the rest of summer, but Dr Blanch said this is not permanent this is a stop-gap measure.
"This is a solution for this summer, but we can't do it next summer and the summer after that. The reason why we are getting these prolonged periods of no rain and very hot weather is that we are changing the climate. We all have to do more to rescue our wildlife and start really taking climate change seriously," Dr Blanch said.
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| Wetlands CEO, Dr Stuart Blanch & Hunter Water Managing Director, Jim Bentley. Picture supplied. |
