In 1995 Pat McConnell and Al Young completed a report on the bird life of Cooby Dam for the Toowoomba Council. That report is contained here, and makes for an interesting comparison to our recent survey work at Cooby.
Pat had the following observations to ad, on the republication of this report:
“Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s when I visited the dam a lot there were extensive reed beds right from Groomsville Road well into site 1 marked on the map. Hence the sightings of the bitterns. These reed beds were cleared by the council for some reason and this certainly decreased the dam’s suitability for several species. At least three species that have been seen since then – Al Young has recorded a Northern Mallard and I have recorded White-throated Nightjar and Australian Raven.”
