As nesting season approaches, wildlife carer and local bird expert Deb Pearse has contacted The Echo about her concerns for the precarious state of the Brunswick Street osprey nesting platform, near the river in Ballina.
She says she has been talking to both the NPWS and Ballina Council staff since the end of the last nesting season, but there’s been nothing but ‘passing the buck’.
Ms Pearse believes that the nesting platform needs to be repaired, and/or relocated, with the structure deteriorating to such an extent that it’s a risk both to birds using it and to people passing underneath.
‘They have now built a children’s playground a little to the side and under the nest,’ she said.
‘The osprey poo will spray over the playground if they nest this season.’
Safety hazard
Deb Pearse told The Echo, ‘The nest is in a shocking state, worse since the storms. There are big bolts barely hanging in rotten wood and one whole side could fall at any time. They don’t seem to see it as a safety hazard even for children, it’s extraordinary.
‘A few of the nests need repair but this one is by far the worse,’ she said.
Ballina Council’s story ‘keeps changing; no staff, the floods, they’re building new metal cradles but not finished because of the floods, may relocate…’
Ms Pearse says she knows council staff are busy, ‘but I’ve been onto them for months, long before the floods.’
She says the best outcome would be to repair and relocate the nest 400m away to the trawler harbour ‘where they hang out all the time anyway’.
Time running out
Ms Pearse says the osprey pair who have been using the nest for the past fifteen years are listed as vulnerable, with the survival of every fledgling vitally important.
‘They are becoming more at risk all the time because we cut down all the big trees they need to nest in, amongst many other things that impact them. The nest is empty at the moment, they usually start nesting again at the end of this month, if they do this year.’
She says a solution needs to be found as soon as possible, with wildlife carers throughout the area concerned about the deteriorating nest situation but none of the relevant organisations apparently prepared to take responsibility.
‘I cannot believe they’ve done nothing,’ said Ms Pearse.
‘If one of those bolts falls or the cradle does and lands on someone’s head, God forbid a child, they will be liable. If they don’t care about people then they won’t care about those beautiful birds.’
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