Mass water bird casualties at Bells Swamp, Central Victoria

Thanks to Jane Rusden, Convenor, BirdLife Castlemaine District, for quickly answering the call to provide a survey of birds at Bells Swamp. Jane got together a “crack team” yesterday and the results of their surveying have already been sent to relevant government ministers and stakeholders. We hope that the problem can be identified and remain localised to Bells Swamp. Unfortunately most of the ducks in the area are now dead, so the sixty sick survivors that have been rescued over the past eight days are very important now.  The survey results can be accessed via the following links.  Both surveys show very few water birds and no ducks.

Survey results:

https://birdata.birdlife.org.au/survey?id=8340833&h=41773d2c

https://birdata.birdlife.org.au/survey?id=8340845&h=2033531e

More information at: https://midlandexpress.com.au/latest-news/featured/2023/02/14/mass-casualty-event-for-ducks-at-bells-swamp-conservation-reserve/

Thanks to Sam, local wildlife carer, for the photos of birds rescued from the swamp.