On Sunday, 3 March 2019, a group of lucky locals and visitors met at Gum Bend Lake for a cooked breakfast and an interesting morning of bird and wildlife discovery.
The event, presented by Condobolin and Districts Landcare, was met with enthusiasm by young and old alike.  We even had some caravan visitors join us for breakfast to discuss bird and conservation issues.
Jasmine Wells from Local Land Services talked about the endangered “small purple pea” and the importance of protecting many of our endangered species.  She is helping to produce a useful guide book of endangered species of the Central West area which will be available in Condobolin shortly.
Warren Chad or “Chaddy” our local bird expert took the group for a walk and talked about our local birdlife. Chaddy is very passionate about conserving our native birds and explained how important it is for many bird species to have a diverse and connected habitat.
Birds can exhibit very different behaviours and react differently to ‘man-made’ changes in the landscape.  While some birds have thrived on the clearing of native vegetation to create large expanses of cropland, most have been badly affected.
For example many small woodland birds won’t travel far out of their protected habitat and rely on thick connected tree corridors and shrub habitats to provide protection from predators.  When they are isolated in pockets they may not breed with others of their kind.
Cats and foxes are two of the worst predators that kill large numbers of native birds and fauna.  Ground nesting birds have little chance of breeding or surviving when their nests are continuously raided or attacked.
It’s important to understand the importance of maintaining areas of thick biodiverse habitat and controlling predators to ensure the survival of many endangered species.