November Lake Macquarie Named After Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Area: About 750 Sq Km. Population: 183,139

Newcastle Herald

Thursday December 4, 2008

NOVEMBER

LAKE MACQUARIE Named after Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Area: About 750 sq km. Population: 183,139

NOVEMBER

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

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2ND

? Muswellbrook Two-Day Gold

Cup Carnival starts, Skellatar

Park, Muswellbrook

3RD

New moon

7TH

? Folk in Broke music festival

starts, McNamara Park

10TH

Born today: Chris Joannou

13TH

? Black Friday sleepover,

Maitland Gaol

29TH

King St Fair, Newcastle

Why I love Lake Macquarie

I love living at Caves Beach because I get to

spend my leisure time at the beach.

Caves Beach Surf Life Saving Club

vice-president Darryl Hadfield

Lake Macquarie with its beaches, mountains,

and a beautiful lake in between is

quite unique. With friendly people in a

healthy environment there is no place I

would rather live.

Lake Macquarie Mayor

Cr Greg Piper

The lake is a magical, beautiful place

with a fantastic community. It is the

greatest place to live.

Bolton Point community worker

Coral Allen

The people who live in the city of Lake

Macquarie are the luckiest people in the

world and Im even luckier having travelled

enough to realise it.

Lake Macquarie citizen of the year

Graham Burgess

Vanishing Hunter

- Steve Roderick

Swift Parrot

Scientific name: Lathamus discolor

Conservation status: Endangered

A small parrot about 25 cm long, the Swift Parrot is bright green with

red around the bill, throat and forehead. The red on its throat is edged

with yellow. Its crown is blue-purple. There are bright red patches under

the wings.

One of the parrots most distinctive features from a distance is its long (12

cm), thin tail, which is dark red. This distinguishes it from similar lorikeets,

with which it often flies and feeds.

The parrot breeds in Tasmania during spring and summer, migrating

in the autumn and winter months to south-eastern Australia. In NSW it

mostly occurs on the coast and south-west slopes. Within the region it is

recorded most often in the Swamp Mahogany forests of the Central Coast

and Port Stephens or within the Spotted Gum - Ironbark forests around

Cessnock and Branxton - areas which are under pressure from proposed

large-scale developments.

The parrot is primarily in mainland Australia between March and October,

mostly in areas where eucalypts are flowering profusely or where there

are abundant lerp (from sap-sucking bugs) infestations. Following winter

they return to Tasmania where they breed from September to January.

On the mainland the main threat to the parrot is loss of habitat through

clearing for agriculture, urban and industrial development, and collisions

with wire-netting fences, windows and cars during the breeding season

and winter migration.

DECC has identified 13 actions to help recover the Swift Parrot, including

reducing collisions in areas where Swift Parrots are foraging by closing

window blinds, letting windows get dirty or hanging wind chimes, mobiles

and the like in front of windows, and hanging strips of fabric across

wire-mesh fences.

- DECC NSW Threatened Species

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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