Anthony Somerville: Dubbo man found with rare bird eggs

A man who claimed he was locked up in an Indonesian prison for bird smuggling was busted hiding hundreds of rare eggs in regional NSW.

An avid bird watcher who helped himself to hundreds of rare eggs has been convicted of a raft of threatened species harm and possession offences after authorities uncovered his secret stash.

In November 2016, Dubbo man Anthony Somerville, 76, was found with 284 eggs which belonged to threatened and endangered bird species.

Five eggs belonging to the barking owl, a vulnerable species, were found in Anthony Somerville’s possession. Picture: David Milledge/DPIE Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

According to a statement of agreed facts tendered in court, Somerville came to the attention of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service staff in September 2016 when his ute got bogged in the Beni State Conservation Area near Dubbo.

The area had been closed due to the weather and after the staff saw Somerville, surveillance cameras were installed to monitor who was coming and going from the area.

Four days after the cameras were installed, Somerville was captured hanging around the area multiple times, including once with a tomahawk and ladder.

According to court documents, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage specialist investigators were called in to conduct in-person surveillance and a search warrant was executed at Somerville’s Dubbo residence in November 2016.

Two eggs of the painted honeyeater Anthony Somerville took from a nest near Warren and later blew. Picture: NSW Land and Environment Court

Inside the house, investigators discovered two cabinets with a collection of eggs which appeared to have been preserved by having been hollowed out, stored in compartments and protected with cotton wool.

Cards with information about the eggs were later found inside a caravan Somerville lived in, along with tools like a drill and syringe to help remove the contents of eggs.

When investigators asked where he got the eggs, Somerville said “believe it or not, out of a nest” and “in a paddock that was flooded” at Parkes.

During a later interview with Dubbo police, Somerville said he used a ladder to collect the eggs and “brought ‘em home and took care of ‘em”.

He explained that he “extracted the inside out of them so they were a specimen shell”.

Eggs belonging to the painted honeyeater, a vulnerable species, were found in Anthony Somerville’s possession. Picture: Matt Wright/ Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

Leah Tsang, an ornithology expert from the Australian Museum was given hundreds of eggs seized from Somerville’s property to analyse and she concluded that eggs belonged to bird species that were either classified as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, native to Australia or migratory to Australia.

He pleaded guilty to 18 charges of harm threatened species, along with four possess threatened species and protected fauna offences.

In a sentencing assessment report tendered in court, Dubbo Community Corrections staff who interviewed Somerville noted he had a history of anti-social behaviour which ranged from stealing and receiving stolen goods, to possessing a firearm in a public place and attempting to export native fauna.

“Mr Somerville expressed poor insight into his offending by attempting to justify and validate his actions by asserting his collection is now displayed at the CSIRO,” the report stated.

“Mr Somerville justified his offending behaviour by denying any negative impact on the ecosystem, claiming he was preserving the fauna and therefore improving the ecosystem.

“Further, Mr Somerville is of the view that his knowledge and expertise in this particular field is far superior to that of the authorities.”

Three eggs of the grey-crowned babbler Anthony Somerville collected from a nest near Warren and later blew. Picture: NSW Land and Environment Court

The report also stated that Somerville had claimed “he was incarcerated in an Indonesian prison in 1989 for a period of 12 months for bird smuggling”.

In an affidavit tendered in court, Somerville’s daughter Donna Somerville said her father suffered from diabetes and lived in a caravan at her house on a $1000 a fortnight pension.

According to Ms Somerville’s affidavit, her father was a bird enthusiast who had been collecting eggs since 1955, some of which were donated to the Museum of South Australia.

Somerville has also offered his collection of eggs to the CSIRO when he passes away, the court was told.

Justice Nicola Pain sentenced Somerville in the NSW Land and Environment Court last month.

Two bush stone-curlew eggs Anthony Somerville collected from a nest near Warren and later blew. Picture: NSW Land and Environment Court

Prosecutors had failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that Somerville knew the eggs he harmed belonged to threatened bird species, however he was aware that he needed a licence to collect bird eggs, Justice Pain noted.

“The prosecutor has not demonstrated that there were viable local populations of these threatened species and that the loss of the number of eggs specified in each harm offence was likely to have placed the population at risk,” she said.

“Furthermore, some of the eggs were infertile.

“There is no evidence of actual environmental harm beyond the harm to the eggs themselves.”

An egg of the southern scrub-robin Anthony Somerville collected from a nest near Nombinnie Nature Reserve and later blew. Picture: NSW Land and Environment Court

Justice Pain found Somerville had not expressed remorse for his actions and said she could not find that he would be unlikely to reoffend.

“The defendant was convicted in 1988 on three counts of being knowingly concerned in attempts to export wildlife,” Justice Pain noted.

Somerville was convicted and sentenced to a 14-month community corrections order which bans him from entering national parks or state conservation areas during that time.