Singing for the Saltmarsh
Saltmarshes on the western shores of Port Phillip Bay provide important habitat for endangered Orange-bellied Parrots and a host of other fascinating plants and animals. These Singing Honeyeaters were recently sighted in saltmarsh shrubland at Jawbone Marine Sanctuary, Williamstown.
Singing Honeyeaters on Shrubby Glasswort - pic by Jim Walker
A southern population of Singing Honeyeaters (Lichenostomus virescens) is recorded from Mornington Peninsula to the South Australian border. They eat seeds and berries, nectar and pollen, and a whole range of animal life (insects, damselflies, praying mantis, grasshopper, bugs, lerps, beetles, larvae, ants and spiders). Pretty versatile!
Incoming tides can bring sediments into a saltmarsh area and outgoing tides can remove them. Over time, this causes small changes in the elevation and slope of the soil, creating different zones of soil salinity and waterlogging. As different saltmarsh plants are adapted to different zones, a longterm increase in sea level could favour some species and eliminate others.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the saltmarsh was able to migrate inland as sea levels rise. But the landward edges of many saltmarshes have already been filled in for residential development or agriculture. There’s no time like the present to start planning for substantial areas of saltmarsh to be protected into the future.
Great photo of these beautiful birds. They have now established a breeding population on the western end of Phillip Island. I first recorded a single bird on the island in December 1983 near the Penguin Parade. Sightings increased in frequency through the 1980s until it was a resident of the Parade area by the 1990s. Presumably it has colonised the Island from the Mornington Peninsula.