When I came home this afternoon, I saw the devastation next door. They had brought in a slasher and slashed everthing on their property, and along our fences. That was where "my wrens", the ones I posted so many photos of, the ones that had lost their brood twice, had a new nest and were feeding their young again. It was too late, I went to have a look. There she was, looking everywhere. She actually crawled into the slashed shrubs to look for her young. She had a fly in her beak, as you can see. She sat on the fence for a while, looking at me, but there was no sign of life, her babies had gone. Later, her and her mate sat infront of my window, as they always did, singing. Nature will tell them to build a new nest, and start again. (It's just that I'm very sad for them, because I'm human and nature is cruel)
The photo is a bit dark, sorry, but here she is looking for her Babies:
Awwww.
That's heartbreaking, M-L.
I suppose it has to be done, what with fire season and all, but they've destroyed a whole world and its inhabitants.
Wendy
Mandurah, WA
Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar Site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlinoz/
wow,the third nest gone for the poor female wren... i hope she raises a successful brood next time
Oh gosh just heartbreaking :(
Its such a delicate balance working in an urban environment - would be great if people actually watched what was going on on a site before doing work like that though.
I don't know that Nature is cruel, Araminta. Perhaps from a human perspective but from a Nature perspective Nature does what Nature does. Perhaps the cruelty lies with the folk who slashed everything next door to you. As I've posted before, it's interesting to note the people who escape to the hills to experience the beauty of the bush & then destroy it so that they can survive bushfires. I can understand people slashing feral annual grasses which dry off in summer & provide a huge fuel load for any passing fires. But it's a shame they wait until the seed of these grasses ripen before slashing so that there's another growth of feral grasses & a new fire hazard next season. Different strategies for living in the bush are needed in this country where many Australians are still wedded to European ways of living in the environment.
You are right Woko, it’s not nature that is cruel. As always once it’s gone it’s gone . Even if you can make people pay for what they did, or you can force them to replace what they destroyed, the damage is done. In this case, unfortunately it will fall under “fire prevention”, the new excuse for the destruction of habitat. Most of the vegetation had spilled over from my side of the fence, where I let everything just grow. Paradise to me, weeds to others, haven for birds. In reality it means at least 4 wrens less. People don’t think about birds for one second, when I talked to the neighbour and showed her what they did, her reaction was : o, that’s sad, and how have you been lately? (in one ear, out the other, and how was your day dear?) No point in talking to anyone like that!? All I can do is plant more and hope birds will stay where they can live in peace.
M-L
Yes, I think you can spend heaps of time on people who lack the capacity to think or behave differently - time that could be better used protecting & restoring habitat. You can only do what you can within the limits of your own capacity & resources & hope that some people will take note & do likewise. Of course, publicising your efforts in gentle ways can also produce positive results. While it's natural to despair about the destruction of the environment it's important to avoid letting that despair get in the way of your positive efforts. Keep on truckin', Araminta!
Speaking of publicity, are there any noticeboards in your area where you could post your superb photos of birds in your backyard?