It has been more than two years since I have gone to the “Grant’s Picnic Grounds” up in the Dandenongs.
The horrible place where bus after bus , filled with tourists , turns up to feed the Parrots.
Oh yes, there are rules and regulations now. The amount of busses in one day, where and what can be fed. People are urged to wash their hands, before and after.
You know , that kind of thing. Nobody does, because nobody tells them. (I asked people on the bus, they weren’t told anything)
So I took my camera and had a look.
It was 9 o’clock in the morning, two busses had pulled up already. As I discovered, the organizer had some, what was declared: Aussie Breakfast, for the Asian tourists.
It consisted of Lamingtons and coffee in a plastic cup. ( Arguably the kind of breakfast every Australian has in the morning. But that’s beside the point)
What unfolded next, should have amused me, but it somehow didn’t, because I love birds.
About twenty Cockatoos swooped above the shrieking Asian tourists, tried to dig their claws into their heads to find a place to sit and get close to that Aussie Breakfast.
Now, there are signs everywhere, telling you not to feed the birds in that area. Feeding is supposed to be controlled, remember?
As you can see in the photos, far from it. Needless to tell the guy in charge. He just waved his arm to chase the bird with half a lamington up in the trees.
His words were: Lady (this was me), if I would do that, I’d have to do it all day. He also made sure not be in any of my photos.
By the time I left, two more busses had arrived. Driving down the hill, two more were coming up. All that in one hour. They are open till 4-5 o’clock.
The birds will have to suffer for 4 more years , that's when the contract with the council runs out.
No doubt they will try to get a new permit, the place is a big money spinner.
i remember about 10 years ago there were heaps of Crimson Rosellas (thousands) and a few King Parrots amongst them that would come daily, last time I went there there were only a few Crimsons but a few hundred Sulphur Cresteds. I suppose the cockies eliminated the smaller competition, I was surprised to see the cockies there are first as I thought they were predominately an open country/dry sclerophyll bird not dense cool temp rainforest. I suppose they are only there for the food.
I was also concerned that human foods aside they were only feeding them sunflower seed exclusively, which anyone who has ever kept psittacines will know is not the wisest move. Of course, I'd much rather them not feed the birds at all though I fear hundreds are now dependent on human handouts. Back in the day it used to be a free for all to feed them, I recall trudging through a few inch thick layer of sunflower seed husks prior to regulation.
Frankly, it make me want to chuck. These exploiters of wildlife who have no consideration for the well-being of wildlife need to be run ouit of town. Their tokenism towards the discouragement of the artificial feeding of native birds is absolutely sickening. What a joke. What a farce.
Shocker. And that sign...
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the birds are completely dependent on handouts and would starve if artificial feeding were ceased.
Not that I'm defending the practise, indeed i think it's disgraceful that it's been allowed to get this far.