[BITList] Robbie goes AWOL: Tracked bittern with thousands of fans missing in action - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[John Feltham]

See also…


https://vimeo.com/68458195 <https://vimeo.com/68458195>




> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-13/tracked-bittern-robbie-goes-missing-in-action/7322388?WT.mc_id=newsmail <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-13/tracked-bittern-robbie-goes-missing-in-action/7322388?WT.mc_id=newsmail>
> 
> Tracked bittern with thousands of fans missing in action
> 
> Updated about 3 hours ago
> 
>   </news/2016-04-13/bittern-in-the-wild/7322500> Photo: Wild bittern Robbie was first fitted with his transmitter in April 2015. (ABC) </news/2016-04-13/bittern-in-the-wild/7322500>
> An endangered bittern bird, known as 'Robbie', who was part of a pioneering crowdfunded tracking project, has gone missing and scientists fear he may have come to an untimely death.
> 
> Scientists say they have lost contact with the transmitter on the large brown waterbird, who has attracted a large and devoted social media following on his travels across three states of Australia.
> 
> There are only about 2,000 or 3,000 Australasian bitterns left in the world, and about a quarter or a third of those breed in the rice crops of southern New South Wales, where Robbie was first tagged.
> 
> Wildlife ecologist Matt Herring, who has been studying bitterns in New South Wales rice fields for four years, fitted a satellite tracker to Robbie a year ago after a crowdfunding project raised $70,000 to help buy the transmitters.
> 
> The project's backers ensured Robbie a solid following of thousands of people on social media, and he even generated his own personalised hashtag #robbiethebittern.
> 
> "Robbie came online every 48 hours and he stayed online for eight hours," Mr Herring said.
> 
> People were able to follow the bird's travels as he flew 600 kilometres to the South Australian coastline, the tracker showing just how hard life can be for a waterbird relying on an artificial wetland.
> 
> "He stayed down in that neck of the woods for a few months over winter and then he returned to the Riverina," Mr Herring said.
> 
> "He flew 600 kilometres back but it was too early for the rice season and that was in September, so he turned around and flew back to the coast."
> 
> The tracker showed Robbie made nine state border crossings in 323 days and also divulged his favourite spot — the recently restored Long Swamp wetlands system near the South Australian/Victorian border.
> 
> In May last year, staff from Mount Gambier-based Nature Glenelg Trust were thrilled to sight the now famous bird at the spot, with his boxy transmitter standing him out from the crowd.
> 
> "We had a good view and for a couple of blokes who know nothing about animal tracking/transmitters, the small attachment on his back was pretty obvious," reported NGT's Lachlan Farrington on the Bitterns In Rice project website.
> 
> "It was kind of weird seeing a rare bird in the middle of nowhere and being on a first name basis. A field highlight which will be hard to top — just wish I had my camera ready."
> 
> What has happened to Robbie?
> 
> Mr Herring said it was difficult to accurately predict what had happened to their famous bittern, who had provided a wonderful insight into the movements of the endangered species.
> 
> Robbie's last known location was Long Swamp in south-west Victoria, and this week his online following was told scientists had lost contact with the bird.
> 
> "It's possible that the transmitter just came to the end of its life or the battery ran out or the harness fell off," Mr Herring said.
> 
> "Dare I say, he may even died, but we don't really want to think about that one."
> 
>    </news/2016-04-13/bittern-points-its-beak-skyward-to-camoflague-itself-in-crops.j/7322576>          Photo: A bittern points its beak skyward to camouflage itself in crops. (Supplied: Matt Herring) </news/2016-04-13/bittern-points-its-beak-skyward-to-camoflague-itself-in-crops.j/7322576>
> The crowdfunding campaign raised enough funds to pay for satellite trackers to monitor 10 birds, and Mr Herring said transmitters had been fitted to another two bitterns, dubbed Vin and Collie Lion.
> 
> Unfortunately Vin's whereabouts were unknown as trackers had also lost contact with the bird.
> 
> Collie Lion, named after the Collarenebri Lions Club, was still being tracked in the rice fields, waiting for harvest to begin his own journey.
> 
> As for Robbie's devoted online following, many were still hoping the big brown waterbird had simply freed himself of his tracker and was out there somewhere, living life free of the public eye.
> 
> "Thanks #robbiethebittern for some great science communication, your outreach was impeccable," wrote Lachie Mcburney on the project's Facebook page.
> 
> "Who needs 20 birds with collars when you have just one Robbie?"
> 
> Topics: endangered-and-protected-species </news/topic/endangered-and-protected-species>, environment </news/topic/environment>, birds </news/topic/birds>, animal-science </news/topic/animal-science>, mount-gambier-5290 </news/topic/mount-gambier-5290>, coleambally-2707 </news/topic/coleambally-2707>, nsw </news/topic/nsw>,nelson-3292 </news/topic/nelson-3292>, vic </news/topic/vic>, sa </news/topic/sa>
> First posted about 5 hours ago
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