With so much water in our landscape this year, Southern New England Landcare has witnessed an unprecedented level of interest in Mother of Ducks Lagoon at Guyra.
The lagoon is full, and she hasn’t been this way in at least 15 years.
Images of Mother of Ducks Lagoon are being posted all over local Facebook pages, bearing witness to her beauty.
And locals, who have been locked down under Covid-19 restrictions were using her as their allowable excuse to get some refreshing exercise.
Josh Armitage, a Ranger with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is extremely pleased to see the community interest in the lagoon too.
“We are keen to improve ecological outcomes associated with Mother of Ducks Lagoon Nature Reserve through community engagement and targeted cooperative actions with the local Guyra community, ” said Josh.
“The lagoon is important to the local environment because it is a special place right next to town. It is home to a number of rare and threatened bird species and ecological communities.
“NPWS feels that the opportunity to act cooperatively with the community can produce some fantastic outcomes for the community and the lagoon,” he said.
NPWS recently contacted Southern New England Landcare, to see if they could form a partnership and work together to get a local interest group formed up.
Karen Zirkler, Executive Officer at Southern New England Landcare said, “We seem to have had increased interest in the lagoon among community members since the unprecedented drought of 2017-2019.”
“The impetus seems to be present among the community now to facilitate formation of a group,” she said.
Do you love having Mother of Ducks on your doorstep? Are you someone who would like to be involved in caring for her? What might this entail?
Why not join Southern New England Landcare and National Parks & Wildlife representatives at an informal gathering lagoon-side and enjoy the spring bounty?
“We’ll organise a sausage sizzle and a guest speaker or two, who can tell us some history of the lagoon, and simply get out and enjoy her beauty,” said Karen.
If you are keen to find out more, please register your interest with Southern New England Landcare by emailing mail@snelandcare.org.au or calling 02 6772 9123, and watch eNews or www.snelandcare.org.au for a date coming soon!
Image: Drone image of Mother of Ducks Lagoon, Guyra, showing the extent of the water.
Image supplied by New England Area, Northern Inland Branch, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
