Five ducklings have been reunited with their parents and six siblings after falling down a three-metre-deep manhole at the launch site of Watercare’s tunnel boring machine, Piper.
The McConnell Dowell crew, who are helping Watercare deliver the Warkworth to Snells Beach wastewater transfer pipeline, discovered five ducklings were missing after one of the parents returned with only six of their 11 ducklings after a two-hour sojourn last Friday.
Soon after noticing there were only six ducklings swimming in the sediment pond at the site, members of the crew went into search and rescue mode to find the missing ducklings, says McConnell Dowell’s senior stakeholder and environmental advisor Celeste Rauner.
“The crew made their way towards a scruffy dome – a large steel grille placed over the inlet to allow for stormwater run-off on site – where they suspected the ducklings may have fallen through into a stormwater manhole.
“As the crew got closer to the scruffy dome, they could hear a faint chorus of quacks.
“Without wasting any time, the crew safely rescued the two-week-old ducklings.
“After the successful rescue, the crew transported the ducklings to the smoko room at the launch site, where the ducklings could rest up before being reunited with their parents.”
Rauner says the ducklings were carefully released, one by one, into the pond where the rest of their family was.
“It was super cute seeing how they swam straight over to their parents. They were all quacking happy to be reunited.”
Watercare project manager Dirk Du Plessis says this isn’t the first time a flock of birds have decided to make the Piper’s launch site their temporary home.
“For instance, in late December 2022, a dotterel family halted the Warkworth to Snells Beach wastewater project when it chose to build a nest over the Christmas break.
“As soon as it was spotted the nest with three spotted eggs inside, they put a protective fence around it.
“All operators were alerted to avoid the area until the eggs hatched and the family had moved on.
“Luckily, we were able to get the project underway early in the new year when the dotterel family had packed their bags and set up nest somewhere else.
“Also, when we were upgrading our Army Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, we captured and relocated native skinks to protect them before construction began.”
Du Plessis says taking this approach reflects Watercare and McConnell Dowell’s joint safety and values to care for everyone around us and the environments we work in.
“We always do everything we can to protect the local flora and fauna in our infrastructure projects.”
“I’m proud of the efforts made by the crew to reunite the ducklings with their parents.”
Du Plessis says the construction of the Warkworth to Snells Transfer pipeline is running smoothly, and Piper is expected to finish tunnelling the final leg in early November.
“Piper is moving at a good pace, averaging 25mm a minute, and has so far drilled 350 metres of the final 1.5km of the 5km pipeline.”
