The following letter was written by Spencer and his mum Maxine (pictured above with Glossy Bob and other local Glossy lovers) and sent to the Uniting Church President Deidre Palmer, who has referred their concerns to the Synod of Queensland.
The quote “Killing the planet is against our religion” referred to in the letter was found on the Uniting Church Australia Facebook page and we totally agree that killing the planet is not okay. We believe the Uniting Church actually care about the environment and want to do what’s right. It’s just a matter of working together. Spencer and Maxine really believe that if the Uniting Church help save the Glossies habitat it will be a really positive step for all of us.
Dear Ms Palmer
The situation we find ourselves in with the Uniting Care (Blue Care) development site is difficult for all parties. Our weak environmental laws are letting our wildlife and environment down. It is now up to the Uniting Church, Uniting Care (Blue Care), Lendlease, Council, Noosa Biosphere, our local community and any other stakeholders involved to come together to find a better solution for our Glossies. Our Leaders are failing to protect our vulnerable wildlife and their habitats, so it is now up to Churches, Corporate Businesses, Environmental Groups, local Councils and local communities to lead the charge and stop Australia’s extinction crisis, before there is nothing left for our children.
Since the mid 90’s Isobel Pert, Glossy Bob Carey, Tim Lennon, Mike Ogden, Valda McLean (and the Noosa Parks Bird observers), Graham McLean and Eric Anderson (the Glossy Warriors) have been protecting the Glossy Black Cockatoos and their habitat in our local area. They have been observing the Glossies feeding, drinking, roosting, how they move around our local area, how they favour certain Allocasurina littoralis trees over others. The knowledge they have gained over the past 25 years of observing the Glossies is vital to the survival of the Glossies in our local area.
Isobel Pert quickly realised early on that the Glossy Black-Cockatoo feed trees were special. Back then before all of the development Allocasurina littoralis were quite common, but she could see that the Glossies would only feed on certain trees. She realised the main key to the Glossies survival was to protect the feed trees. Isobel wrote to our local council and others informing them of her observations and the need to protect the Glossy Black-Cockatoos habitat. Isobel has watched development after development destroy vital Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat. Isobel has observed first hand the way the Glossies respond to their trees being destroyed. Normally Glossies are very quiet birds and don’t tend to call out when they fly over. She recalls after their habitat was destroyed for the Noosa Springs development the Glossies were circling around and calling out (crying) for weeks. Isobel wasn’t able to protect these trees, but she knew she needed to protect the feed trees in our local neighbourhoods. She worked with council to design and make signs to protect the diminishing feed trees. Isobel’s Glossy feed tree signs are dotted around our local neighbourhoods, protecting feed trees from being chopped down.
Bob Carey (Glossy Bob) and Tim Lennon were introduced to the Glossies by Isobel, they are passionate advocates for our local Glossies along with Isobel. Tim has been working with Daniella Teixeira from the University of Queensland over the past 3 years. During this time Tim has been photographing the birds to help identify our local Glossies. Tim has taught Spencer how to photograph the Glossies for identification and how to record the birds when they drink at the waterholes. Glossy Bob knows everything there is to know about our Glossies and teaches all of our community about them. His dedication and love for the Glossies is infectious. Bob knows all the feed trees, the roosting sites, the waterholes and has been monitoring the Glossies every move for years. Bob has taught Spencer all about the Glossies and most nights you will find us monitoring the Glossies with Bob at one of the local watering holes.
This year Bob and Spencer have been doing presentations on the Glossies together, to make more people aware of the importance to protect our Glossies and their diminishing habitat. The Noosa Biosphere organised a Glossy Gala this year in November to raise money for our local Biosphere Glossies. They then held a forum with all the local Glossy Black experts and stakeholders to determine how the funds would be best used to help the Glossies. After lots of presentations and group discussions we concluded the most important thing we needed to do was to protect what remaining Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat we have left, this included the Blue Care development site. Every single person in the room was deeply concerned about the loss of this crucial Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat and hoped there was some way of saving it.
Heather North (University of Sunshine Coast, B.Sc (Hons) Class I (2018) Glossy Black-Cockatoo feeding ecology), with the help of Glossy Bob and Tim, studied some of our local feed trees including the Uniting Care (BlueCare) development site. The site was used as part of the study because it is the largest recorded and only known stand of Allocasurina littoralis feed trees in our local area, that our Glossy Black-Cockatoo population feed on. I refer you to this website link so you can read the abstract from Heather’s research. Finally Isobel’s observations of the importance of protecting our Glossy feed trees had science to support what she already instinctively knew 25 years ago.
Spencer like all children in our local area have a deep love for the environment that surrounds them. Everyday we are reminded by our children that we need to look after the environment better than we have been. We have been failing our children day after day all over the world, we are all guilty of killing our planet. Our local children are trying to stand up for their environment. Our local children have seen first hand the destruction to our precious wildlife and environment left behind by the fires, in our local area and around Australia. They understand it is not the time to destroy what little habitat we have left for our wildlife, it is a time to protect our wildlife and their habitat. Around Australia and the world our children are trying to be heard. We need to listen and restore their hope for the future.
Our local schools St Thomas More, Noosa Flexible Learning Centre, Sunshine Beach Primary and High Schools are surrounded by fragments of the Glossy Black-Cockatoos once extensive home grounds. All the kids have grown up watching the Glossies feed in their school grounds, learning from Glossy Bob how lucky they are to have these special birds around. The children and the Schools understand the Fussy Glossies need their help especially after the local fires and have been planting more habitat for the Glossies in their school grounds. They don’t understand how we can destroy such crucial habitat, while they are trying to replenish the diminishing Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat. Our community is very concerned about the mental well being of our children who walk, shop, play and live in the surrounding area to the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site. How do you restore faith and hope in children who will be witnessing mass destruction on our watch, that they know will contribute to killing our planet, which is against anybodies religion.
Since 2018 Spencer has been observing and photographing the local Glossy Black-Cockatoos. This winter season was his third season observing the Glossies drinking at Bob’s Spring (near the Sunrise shops between the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site and Sunshine Beach State High School). This year alone we have had 11 Glossies on the same day and time feeding in the Blue Care site. After feeding they all flew to Bob’s Spring for their evening drinks. We have also observed our local Glossy pair from the last 2 years, return in September 2020 with a juvenile. This pair have been observed feeding at the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site in previous years and returned to this feeding ground with the juvenile. They have been teaching their juvenile how to feed and drink on what we consider to be their home ground (the Uniting Care site). Spencer also observed the same juvenile and another juvenile that had been left by their parents safely in the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site. The pair of juveniles knew their parents were coming back to feed them so started to beg. Spencer arrived on the scene just as the parents flew back to the juveniles. One family went to Bob’s Spring, the other flew out over the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site. We believe the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site is crucial habitat for the Glossies. During the winter months when the Glossies flock (23-24 birds) they use this site to feed and drink. They also have roost trees near by that they roost in during this period. The sighting of two juveniles this year in the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site, signifies the nest hollows/breeding sites must be close to the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site and the Glossy Black-Cockatoos home ground. There is no other current recorded site in our local area, that has all four vital features (a waterhole, plentiful known mature feed trees, roosting trees and breeding sites in close proximity to all of these) necessary for the Glossies survival, together in this volume.
We do not believe there is a replacement site for our local Glossy Black-Cockatoos and we are not confident in the success of an offset site for the Glossies. The offset site doesn’t have a known Glossy Black-Cockatoo waterhole, we have no guarantees that the Glossies will go to this offset site, we have no way of catching these birds and taking them to this site (they are wild and fly to the feed trees, roosting trees, nesting trees and waterholes they know) we have no guarantees that the trees won’t be all male trees and we have no guarantees that the trees will produce the fruit our Fussy Glossies like to eat. Our local Glossy Black-Cockatoos congregate at the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site in larger numbers than any other local site. We don’t fully understand what the significance of this is yet. We do however all agree that the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site is a very significant home ground site for our local and visiting Glossy Black-Cockatoos. Spencer and I believe from the observations we are making that the Glossies congregate here at the Uniting Care (Blue Care) site to meet a mate. So if we are right, this would interfere with this process and ultimately the survival of our local Glossy Black-Cockatoo population. Habitat loss is the greatest cause of decline in birds and an even greater risk to a vulnerable species like our local Glossy Black-Cockatoos and will lead to their Extinction.
Over the past 25 years our local Glossy Black-Cockatoos have been observed by our Glossy Warriors led by the passionate Isobel Pert & Bob Carey, they know our local birds and their habitat requirements. Their dedication and love for our Glossies has filtered out into our community, creating a sea of Glossy Warriors. Thanks to the UNESCO Noosa Biosphere Reserve they have raised the awareness locally and afar of the plight of our Glossy Black-Cockatoos. We are now in a Climate Crisis and an Extinction Crisis, specialist bird species like the Glossies are relying on us to get it right. We need to try and find a way to preserve this remarkable site, so that it can be studied further to help us better understand the Glossies needs currently and into the future.
This Uniting Care (Blue Care) site has already proven to be of great value to the local Universities and the scientific world. To gift this property to our community, would be to gift it to the world. Imagine the faith and hope you would restore in all the children around the world, that somebody is listening and taking extraordinary steps to put a stop to the destruction of our planet. Let’s make it everyone’s mission to stop killing our planet. Let’s send a message loud and clear to the rest of the world and our Government that it is time for change. Let the Uniting Church, Uniting Care (Blue Care) and Lendlease pave the way.
Spencer wants to make sure other children like him get to enjoy these beautiful birds. He hopes you will fall in love with them through his photographs and drawings and want to save them.
Thank-you
Maxine & Spencer Hitchen
For the Glossies and the Children
🙂😃🌿🦅🐨🐛🐸🌸🦋📷
