General News
5 August, 2024
Great corella exodus: trees off the menu
THOUSANDS of pesky corellas have deserted the Loddon River at Bridgewater in the past week. Days after the river town’s development committee launched a petition calling on the State Government to act on a decade-long problem, corellas took...
THOUSANDS of pesky corellas have deserted the Loddon River at Bridgewater in the past week.
Days after the river town’s development committee launched a petition calling on the State Government to act on a decade-long problem, corellas took flight.
They left behind river gums stripped of leaves and bark and standing as a bare sentinel at both banks of the river.
Graham Morse, a long-time advocate for reducing bird numbers, told Northern Victoria Region MP Gaelle Broad last month that corellas were damaging trees and continued to be a blight on the popular town.
“There has been significant damage to trees and corellas are having an impact on tourism and the mental health of residents,” Ms Broad said.
Mr Morse has spent more than a decade campaigning for action with residents saying each time corellas returned, they were in larger numbers.
They believe the recent run of morning frosts and cold days have sent the corellas scurrying to warmer climates.
“They just disappeared all of a sudden. But they’ll be back,” one Bridgewater resident told the Loddon Herald this week. The State Government had been due to announce last month funding under its Corella Management Grant Program, an initiative it says will “support community, industry, and local councils who are being adversely impacted by long-billed corella and little corella populations.
No details have been released.
Bridgewater’s petition has already had hundreds of signatures. Forms are available at the post office, Bridgewater Bakehouse and other businesses.