Golden Day for Mother of Ducks

Photos by David Waugh DPE
07th Feb 2023

The Mother of Ducks Nature Reserve’s birthday was celebrated with some talking, walking, and twitching on the weekend. The event marked 50 years since the lagoon was gazetted into the national parks family on January 12th, 1973.
The celebration coincided with World Wetlands Day celebrations, a day marked around the world to increase people’s understanding of these critically important ecosystems.
Leah Pippos from National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said that they had a great turn out of around 60 people who gathered to mark this milestone event in the lagoon’s history.
“We were blessed with fantastic weather, informative speeches and wonderful tours,” Leah said.
“There was a vast age range of visitors who attended the event aged from 6 to 88 including local community members as well as several travellers from out of the region.”
Leah was master of ceremonies for the day, which included a welcome to country by Leslie Patterson from the Guyra Local Lands Council and speeches from NPWS staff as well as guided tours around the reserve.
Joanne Ocock from NPWS spoke about the importance of the Upper Wetlands in the local area and Aaron Simmons, New England Area Manager, spoke about the significance of the reserve and what NPWS are doing to conserve the Lagoon.
The reserve is a breeding place for several freshwater wetland bird species and a resting place for numerous migratory birds. Over the last 50 years, NPWS have recorded 18 threatened or significant bird species, including the Australian Painted Snipe, Australasian Bittern, Curlew Sandpiper and Little Eagle.
NPWS Joint Management officer and Anaiwan man Brad Widders spoke about the cultural significance of the lagoon to Aboriginal people in the area. Also supporting the day were Southern New England Landcare, who had a stall which provided comprehensive about the area, and members of the Guyra Golf Club, who helped by cooking a sausage sizzle.

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