Pride of Australia

The Raptor and Wildlife Refuge’s very own Craig Webb was awarded the Environment Medal at News Ltd's Pride of Australia awards in November last year. Craig received this honour in recognition of his tireless efforts and contribution to wildlife rehabilitation. His drive and commitment have led to the creation of The Raptor and Wildlife Refuge, an inspiring facility that has incorporated innovative ideas leading to the development of huge flight areas perfect for exercising Australia’s largest raptors.

Reminders

Our AGM:
Sunday 19th September Noon @ the Refuge, Bloomsbury Lane, Kettering.
Members only, but become a member at the gate for only $15.00

Who Are We? A busy 6 months

Some of the animals that have passed through the refuge in recent months:

4 Wedge Tailed eagles	8 brown falcons
6 swamp harriers	4 tawny frogmouths
Wallabies	Green rosellas
3 brown falcon chicks	3 swamp harrier chicks
3 masked owls	Owlet nightjar

Highlights:

The successful release of quite a number of smaller raptors over the last year.

Unfortunately Craig has had to euthanize a quite a few wallabies hit by cars - PLEASE SLOW DOWN WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT.

Can you help?

Wanted:
• bird transporters
• great local wildlife articles for our newsletter
• volunteers for a range of activities
• rabbit breeders to help feed the hungry residents

Please contact Craig for more information

Member contributions

Living up here in Belgium, it's a rare privilege to have insight into the Australian conservation and preservation efforts and challenges, especially considering the colossal threat of worldwide Climate Change. Australia has much to teach the rest of the world about what can and must be done to rectify human use and abuse of our natural resources.

The Raptor and Wildlife Refuge of Tasmania, Inc. is a prime example of working private and public interests hand and hand with the shared goal of a sustainable re-wilding of our precious and endangered animals and habitats. In his way, Craig Webb helps to keep all our dreams and hopes for wildlife alive with the Refuge's rehabilitation and educational endeavours.

Please do continue to help support the Refuge in any way you can.

Joanne Weissman

The Funny!

Source: BOOBOOK (Journal of Australian Raptor Association)

Ziggy's Corner: A kids' perspective on wildlife

Hi, my name is Anna and I am ten years old, nearly eleven. I am also Craig's niece. I would like to be a marine biologist. Marine biologists study the ocean and work with underwater animals. I think being a marine biologist would be interesting because I love scuba diving, underwater animals, and the way coral grows because I find it interesting and I would also like to share my love of the sea with others.

I want to be a marine biologist because I love the smell of the salty sea water and the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. I am already trying to get my junior scuba diving license; this will enable me to scuba dive more often and more freely so I can strive to my goal of becoming a marine biologist. I have already snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, Phi Phi Island in Phuket and Hanauma bay in Hawaii and scuba dived in pools in Phuket and Bali.

If you do not know already I am extremely sporty and love to get to the beach as much as possible. Some days that I go to the beach I love to sit on the rocks and watch and listen to the waves crashing against the rocks. I love the feeling of the sand between my toes and sometimes in my swimmers. I like the days when Bella my best friend comes to the beach with me because we bury each other, build sandcastles, hunt for shells, boogie board, toboggan down the sand dunes, surf and most of all we love to snorkel together. My favourite under water animal is the Hawaiian state fish; Humuhumunukunukuapua`a. I go to Norah Head (NSW Central Coast) sand dunes a lot to see the gorgeous view and to go running down them.

If I was a marine biologist I would try to help save the whales from becoming extinct from whaling. I would also do school excursions to teach kids about the ocean life and help teach them to snorkel and scuba dive because it is so much fun and they can enjoy the ocean like I do.

Anna van Loon

From the Secretary

During the past six months I have been busy preparing paperwork for a number of important purposes. The first was for a Wildlife Exhibition Licence, which we were granted, and the Refuge is now establishing one section for the display of birds, well away from rehabilitating raptors, which can be viewed by the public. The second was for a grant from the Kingborough Council towards the Education Centre. At the time of writing, we were still waiting the outcome of our application. The third was for a grant from Tasmanian Community Fund, and this application will be submitted shortly. We have been very encouraged by the support already given towards the construction and outfitting of the Education Centre, and donations in cash or in kind, are always welcome to complete and maintain this facility.

Anthea Wallhead

What's new at the Refuge

Recently we gained the Wildlife Exhibition Licence, from DPIWE which was a huge effort from board members Anthea Wallhead & Alastair Shepherd. It took three years to achieve but will be worth the effort as this will enable us to educate students.

The next big and exciting project underway at the Raptor Refuge is the "Education Centre". This is one of the final large projects in the pipeline in the near future and to date we have raised approx 30K of the 80K needed. This project has brought supporters out of the woodwork, from our local Electrician Dale Fullard (Hairyman) to Roland (Draftsman) and John Lewis (windows), Peter Pepper the community Liaison Officer for Forestry Tasmania has also kindly arranged sponsorship of the structural Celery top Poles for the main building , so as you can see the Education Centre is not only gaining great support but will in fact be a vital and truly wonderful tool in the future for Conservation issues, educating students and being a Central Hub for the Raptor & Wildlife Refuge.

I will be having Aurora's Employees involved in annual "learning about Raptors" days and this will be offered to other large corporations to give insight to staff about threats and issues facing Tasmania's Raptors. This I believe will not only create awareness but will give these workers a respect that seeing these awesome birds and what is involved can only do.

1) 2)

3)

1) Wedgies enjoying their new perch in one of the large flight aviaries. 2&3) Construction of
flight aviary #3.

Raptor Refuge: a showcase for upcoming artistic talent

Hutchins year 12 students have taken on the Raptor Refuge as a project to be passed down between students from year to year. Ben (left) designed and painted the stunning artwork on the toilet block after Alex (right) passed on the portfolio at the end of 2009.

Food for thought

I heard of Craig and the Raptor Refuge years ago and I always wanted to go an have a look, but as everybody knows our lives are still far too busy and so I never took the time to do so. However this summer I finally did and the reason for that was my oversupply on chicks because my chooks decided all to go broody (unfortunately out of 15 eggs only 4 were hens).

As any chook owner will know you can't keep the "boys" because they don't lay eggs and secondly with so many girls around them they'll start fighting when they are 6 month old. Because I can't kill them and I don't like to eat my own chooks either I was always desperate for solutions. Out of desperation, when I couldn't find a place for them my husband had to kill them (not that he is keen to do that either) and they ended up as fertiliser on our compost heap. So now with 11 roosters this year I was a bit in a panic as to what to do with them. Could I find enough people who either wanted them for the pot or for their lonely chooks as a companion? Then , one day when I was out in the garden I saw a wedgetail eagle flying over our property obviously looking for pray. The same afternoon a white Goshawk landed on top of the netting of my chook yard settling in quite nicely and waited patiently for the chooks and chicks to come out so he could have a feast. That's when I thought about the Raptor Refuge and that those raptors needed to be fed much more urgently because they are injured and the refuge needs to feed them.

I went onto the web, found the website and contacted Craig straight away, asking him if his eagles would love to get some nice young roosters they could eat. He replied instantly and then and there I learned that my roosters would be euthanized first before Craig could feed them to the eagles. (All animals are euthanized humanely at the Refuge using CO2 compliments of BOC Gases). So I was delighted because this way I could help Craig and his eagles without feeling too guilty. When I delivered the roosters to the Refuge Craig told me that a women had brought him little baby rabbits as she also didn't know what to do with them. What a great way to help a good cause and keep the refuge's food bill down. It must be hard enough to run something like the Raptors Refuge on your own with little support from the government or councils, so every little bit helps.

I've learned as well that eagles love to eat rabbits more than they love to eat chooks :-). So anyone out there with an oversupply of chicks, baby rabbits, guinea pigs etc., please contact Craig . The animals will go to animal heaven for a good cause. Who wouldn't like to see these majestic birds getting their strength back and being released into the wild again so we all can enjoy them while they are flying high above our heads, leaving us to marvel how a massive bird like this can fly so graciously and majestically?

Thank you Craig for looking after our Tasmanian raptors...

Ursula Luetke-Steinhorst from Cygnet

My Spot

Dear native animal admirers, conservationists and forward thinkers, welcome to my 2010 Newsletter to all new members and long standing supporters of the Raptor & Wildlife Refuge.

Well firstly I made the decision to do only one newsletter per year opposed to bi-annually, a lot of effort goes into each edition so please enjoy what I hope is a bumper edition and will have you absorbed and entranced in wildlife stories and wonderful progress made here at the Raptor Refuge.

Flight aviary # 3 is almost completed, Aurora has been fantastic in supplying the poles and the equipment and manpower to erect them all, the fact is that In Tasmania powerlines are a problem facing Eagles and other raptors, but in saying this Aurora is fully aware of the issue and are proactive in trying to lessen the threat.

This particular aviary is not only going to be the biggest and best yet, but it was a mammoth job as all 9 holes had to be dug with 4 excavators with rock breakers, Clark Purton were just a terrific bunch of blokes and they not only did professional work but trusted me with a 4 tonne excavator so I could achieve even more tasks over the weekend, The Main Pole that Peter Pepper organised from Forestry Tasmania for the centre is an amazing tree, the tree is regrowth, and @ 28 Metres high 1.5 metres wide @ the base and weighing 9.6 Tonnes……..

The day it went up was certainly a memorable one, as was the day it arrived with the help of…cartage contractors I don’t think the crane driver will forget it either, at one point the log dropped a few inches as the chain chinked, I think his washing machine got a workout on his strides that day.

What does continue to amaze me is how the workmen from the different organizations that are involved, initially appear gruff and only interested in doing the work, but as I am seeing time & again, after a few hours or in this case a few days, the questions come pouring at me and the cameras start appearing, I treat these opportunity’s as another educational moment and regardless of age I push the message of conservation and why these birds need and deserve our help. I have got to know a few of the blokes from Aurora now and I must say that there professionalism and commitment is second to none.

I have to make mention of a business that is not only winning awards in every category imaginable but the Bloke behind it is truly inspiring, Rob Penicott from Penicott Wilderness Journeys has made a commitment to help Tasmania’s environment and he is right behind the Raptor Refuge with not only an annual financial donation but in sharing his philosophies with me, he wants to make his backyard a better place for all and I take my hat off to you Rob.

Other projects include artwork by students from Hutchins school on the toilet block, ongoing landscaping and mulching of the ever-growing bush screens & aesthetic tree plantings.

Kerry Black is a Local Volunteer who has turned the Hospital/prep room/shed into a thriving and well organised rat and mouse factory, I used to source rodents from the Uni but that has changed and growing our own bird food was the only real option. I have to say that even though most Volunteers have good intentions; the bottom line is that I have to train them and from my experience they are so keen initially, but they do think that handling Eagles and other raptors will be part of services required, WRONG, the fact is I had almost given up on “Volly’s” as I have had a few hmmm I shall simply say characters but I can say unequivocally that Kerry has proven to be what I deem to be the definition of a great volunteer, she is a Mature age Biology student at UTAS and for about a year now has been methodical, energetic, and motivated to learn about the ways of the Refuge and what I require, Honesty and trust are huge issues for me and Kerry has ticked all the boxes and been fabulous, we are working together with her handling skills now, that reminds me I better update the first aid kit….. Thanks Kerry.

Now on a different note: For those that do know me, you are aware that I call a spade a spade and not a shovel, I may not be the most diplomatic bloke around (as in I have none) but I thrive on speaking the truth and make no apologies about my passions or my outspokenness on certain issues, I am saying this as yet again I have upset certain locals with my views and have voiced them. When I confronted a local RE: their cat killing our local wildlife and would it be possible for them to take responsibility for the cat by creating a cattery so our local birds are protected, I was told me that if anything happened to their “cat” they would be very upset, as I looked him in the eye and explained that I am upset NOW that his cat IS KILLING our wildlife NOW, his response was he likes his cat and can do what he wants with it, I find this a very redneck attitude.

Time and time again I watch these cats stalking birdlife. Please don’t get me wrong I don’t despise cats, I just despise what they do and feel that now current laws have been changed to try to eradicate and curb the current feline problems, that it is an opportune time to try to negotiate politely with people and their redneck attitudes with Jurassic ideas That if they could take responsibility for their cats then our wildlife will have a chance. Oh and if you think I care what you think………………………..the amount of times I have been told that peoples cats don’t go out at night and don’t eat native wildlife because they make a point of keeping the cat fed and the cats stays in doors, hmmmm well lest just say a cracked record springs to mind. So as a proactive approach to the serious feline felons I am offering to donate enough high quality new poly-propylene netting to construct a cattery, anyone interested please contact me.

So in summary the Raptor & Wildlife Refuge of Tasmania Inc is kicking some serious goals, not just with a steady stream of birds being released back to nature and not just with more facilities being constructed to cater for more injured /orphaned birds/animals, but with an awareness about our beautiful Tasmanian Birds and Animals that I believe have an ongoing and positive effect State-wide. There are currently seven Wedge-Tailed Eagles in care and they are from every corner of Tasmania including 1 from Flinders Island, there are also a myriad of smaller raptor species here. I even released a Duck from Drew Point last week, well my Son Ziggy did.

So thank you for your continued support in all the many forms, I will continue to push the messages of conservation, I will continue to develop the Refuge and I will continue to voice my passions and I will continue to walk the talk or as I say, do as I have said, To me honesty is truly the best policy and here at the Raptor Refuge I will be a voice for the animals.

Craig Webb

Proud sponsor

Pennicott Wilderness Journeys are proud sponsors of the Raptor & Wildlife Refuge of Tasmania Inc.

“The work that Craig Webb and his team do at Raptor & Wildlife Refuge is enormously beneficial to the Raptors and other wildlife of Tasmania. There are many Raptors currently residing along the coastline of Bruny Island that have directly benefited from Craig’s hard work and dedication”

Robert Pennicott, owner of Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, is responsible for the creation of his two multi-award winning ecotourism experiences, Bruny Island and Tasman Island Cruises.

Pennicott Wilderness Journeys provides two key Tasmanian coastal wilderness cruise experiences along the coastline of Southern Tasmania. These two multi-award winning experiences, Bruny Island Cruises & Tasman Island Cruises take passengers below the highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere in search of seals, dolphins, whales and birds of prey. Their customers can choose between a three hour cruise along the coastline of Bruny Island or the Tasman Peninsula, Port Arthur.

Robert Pennicott is passionate about sustainable operation and sharing a proportion business profits for the conservation and management of the environment he operates in. Establishing the Tasmanian Coast Conservation Fund in 2007, Robert has since donated $65,000 which is being used by Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife on a feral cat eradication project on Tasman Island. This business is 100% carbon offset, Ecotourism Australia accredited and has been awarded EC3 Green Globe Lite Operator status achieving well in excess of best practice results.

For more information on Pennicott Wilderness Journeys and their cruise experiences go to www.pennicottjourneys.com.au

Treasurer's report

After many years of barely surviving financially, the Refuge appears to have almost made the transition to a position where it is self-sustaining. We presently have over $12,000 in the bank. This turnaround has come from:

1. substantial improvement in the profit generated by our annual calendar sales. Thanks are particularly due to all at Aurora and Anthea, Craig and Rachel in arranging extra sales outlets and to those outlets.

2. maintained member numbers and subscription income,

3. substantially increased by number and dollar cash donations,

4. ongoing support by discount and in-kind sponsorship.

This much improved financial position has not stopped progress and since the last annual Open Day construction has been completed of a multi-purpose shed, slatted aviary separations to cater for increased bird numbers, the third flight aviary is well advanced and tree planting and landscaping has continued (including by the Refuge’s newest neighbors, who have made substantial plantings at their own cost to provide privacy for the birds – a wonderful gesture of goodwill for which we are grateful).

At last the Refuge is on the verge of being able to construct the long-planned Education Centre. The infrastructure for this project is in place, courtesy of a prior grant from the Tasmanian Community Fund and we have set aside $10,000 for the project. Commitment in principle has been obtained from Aurora to provide sponsorship of $10,000 and negotiations are underway with many other potential sponsors.

If anyone has skills, materials or money they would like to donate please contact myself or Craig. I encourage you to renew your membership and look forward to seeing you at this year’s Open Day, where the full audited annual financial report will be available to anyone interested.

Alastair Shepherd 

2011 Calendars

Featuring stunning photographs of Tasmanian wildlife.

Place your orders now!

2010 sold out so don’t miss out this year.

We need your photos!

Do you have photos of Tasmanian raptors sitting idly inside your computer? Would you like to help us share with the world the beauty and plight of these raptors in Tasmania?

The refuge is currently updating its database and fact file and is in need of Tasmanian raptor images. If you have any images of the following, the refuge would love to hear from you:

Swamp Harrier, Masked Owl, Brown Falcon, Collared Sparrowhawk, Tawny Frogmouth, Southern Boobook Owl, Forest Raven, Brown Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon, Wedge-tailed Eagle, White Goshawk.

Photographers will retain copyright of their photographs and all photos will be credited. Please email images to: craig@raptorrefuge.com.au

The cherry picker man lets one fly

Some of you may remember the article I wrote about Dave Dyer and his generous and completely selfless attitude by offering his Cherry Picker and his time to help maintain the aviaries. Well he has only become more of an asset to the Raptor Refuge. I have called him down a number of times to replace ropes and other "Aviary Tweaking“ exercises.

As the 3 new massive flight aviary unfold I imagine Dave and his trusty ute with the all important gear will be of great assistance, but this time I am writing to say that it was my great pleasure to ask Dave if he would like to release a Brown Falcon..... he jumped at the chance and I could here the excitement in his voice. I was first aware of this particular bird when a woman was at my gate explaining she had seen it on the ground unable to fly, down the channel at Middleton. So off I went and after a long search discovered him with a sibling flying erratically around the grounded Falcon. It turned out to be a recently fledged bird and had somehow come to grief, most probably due to a crash landing in the early "learn to fly lessons", anyway after a sprint through a long grassed paddock and right on its tail, the poorly bird disappeared into deep and impenetrable Blackberry's. No matter what I did over the next frustrating 2 hours I wasn't going to be able to access the bird, let alone even know exactly where it was, so disappointedly I left.

2 days later the lady who owned the property delivered an emaciated and very weak brown falcon to me, she had found it by accident on a walk. It received immediate and quite intensive care and over the course of 5- 6 weeks became strong, robust and fit .This bird was certainly one of the lucky ones and I must mention how much is learned from the individual cases, a chat to the Raptor Guru (Nick Mooney) and many things often become clear and fit the scenario. Over the past 6 months a total of 7 Brown Falcons came in and not all were as lucky as the one Dave released, it was a magnificent bird and truly beautiful, the picture here shows a great bloke with a success story, Good on ya Dave...

The world around us

As the editor of this newsletter, I normally don’t contribute much in the way of content. However I’m currently in New Zealand working on a Department of Conservation (D.O.C) project to help conserve NZ’s rarest kiwi species, Rowi (Okarito Brown Kiwi). So I thought this might be a good chance to spread the word about one of our neighboring countries’ unique wildlife species.

New Zealand actually has six species of Kiwi. They are a unique burrow dwelling, flightless bird that roam the forests at night probing the soil with their long bill looking for worms and insects, and calling to each other with shrill calls.

There are only about 350 Rowi left in the wild, contained within a single tract of forest at the base of Franz Josef Glacier on New Zealand's’ South Island. Stoats (type of weasel introduced to control rabbits) predate the young chicks inhibiting recruitment of new individuals into the breeding population. Unmanaged less than 5% of chicks make it to adulthood. A large stoat trapping program was trialled and found to increase survival to 14%. Now the project has developed into an incredibly hands on management program referred to as Operation Nest Egg (O.N.E) in which a large number of adult pairs are monitored with transmitters. These transmitters monitor the birds’ behavior and tell us when a bird starts incubating an egg (we have a plane that flies over the forest and picks up a the signal for these transmitters once a month). We track into the bird and remove the egg from the burrow and the egg is then hatched in captivity. The resulting chicks are transferred to a predator free island off the north coast of the South Island, where they learn to find food and shelter in the wild. Once these juvenile kiwi reach about 1kg in weight, they are too big for stoats to eat and so are returned into the forest from which we removed them as eggs. This hands on management has increased survival into adulthood to greater than 80%. It is estimated that once the population reaches 600 breeding individuals it will be large enough to withstand the effects of stoat predation and O.N.E will be eased back to a more passive management program.

Kiwi are New Zealand's iconic wildlife species and this is a rare example of a conservation project where the cause of decline is a simple identifiable problem (stoat predation) and because of their iconic status, funding and sponsorship are available to invest large amounts of time and effort into recovery.

Hayley Ricardo

Feature bird

I:
• am a raptor found throughout Australia and in New Guinea
• am commonly seen along roadsides perched on fence posts and dead trees
• often give load, raucous and crowing calls in flight

Breeding:
• I breed in the old stick nests of other raptor or corvid
• males soar and perform erratic zigzagging diving displays at the start of the breeding season

Food:
• I eat mammals, birds, reptiles (including snakes), amphibians, and arthropods, carrion and (rarely) fish.
• I forage mainly by still hunting (waiting on an exposed perch), though also by hovering and soaring.
• I pursue insects on foot and rob other raptors. I also follow livestock, farm machinery and other animals for flushed prey
• Members of a pair sometimes hunt cooperatively

I am...

Brown Falcon

Falco berigora (berigora is an Aboriginal name for this falcon)
Source: The Birds of Prey of Australia, a Field Guide, Stephen Debus, Oxford University Press/Birds Australia, 1998.

Contact us

Email: craig@raptorrefuge.com.au

PH: 0408725869

Post: PO BOX 108 Kettering 7155