Flooding in the mutton bird rookery kills chicks about to hatch

With Australia in the grips of devastating floods, and torrential rain falling over huge areas, Phillip Island -- in the far south -- has not escaped damaging rains, flash flooding and deaths in the mutton bird rockery.


With only two days to go before the mutton birds hatch, a low-lying part of the rookery flooded today. Presumably the adults sitting on eggs would have escaped, although I can't be certain about that. I'm sure though, that the chicks in the eggs will have died.

Walking in the rain along the beach this afternoon revealed areas of bad erosion caused by over-loaded stormwater drains emptying into Western Port Bay. It is this type of pollution that's affecting the diversity of life in the bay.