The Golden Whistler - BirdLife
Transcript of The Golden Whistler - BirdLife
The
Golden Whistler
Volume 8 Number 6 June 2019
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
The president is experiencing technical difficulties
with her wifi while travelling in NSW but has left
instructions for the inaugural:
Golden Bird Photo Competition
Pictures should to be of recognisable Australian
bird species
Pictures need be submitted on 10cm × 10cm
sized photo paper
Completion is open to all members, experts and
beginners all
Entry is limited two pictures per photographer
Each entrant will be allocated a number, for
unbiased judging
Photos to be ready and handed in at November
meeting Saturday 23rd
Results will be announced at Christmas Lunch
21st December and published in Newsletter in
the New Year
The prize will be unlimited bragging and small
golden bird statue
NEXT OUTING
DATE: Saturday 27th July
TOPIC: Panyyabyr Landcare Woodland Bird
Surveys, followed by excursion to & opening of
Walker Swamp Bird Hide
MET: Off The Rails Dunkeld, Skene St corner with
Stirling St, Dunkeld
TALK TIME: 9am
WALKERS SWAMP: 11 - 11:30am met at Walker
Swamp beside Lynches Crossing Rd
BRING: Morning tea to share, lunch and suitable
clothing for trip out to possible wet conditions at
Walkers Swamp
CONTACT: Dave Nichols 0407 321 747 or Greg
Kerr 0418 846 993 for Walker Swamp
Outings will be cancelled on days of
Total Fire Ban, Extreme Heat and
other Hazadous Weather condition
CONTENTS:
2. & 3 Camp Report & Bird List
4. Sightings
5. Members Report
6. Local activities & Quiz
7. Up Coming Events & Letter from CEO
8. UNESCO Report
BirdLife Hamilton monthly newsletter, Editor Samantha Greiner 0428 395 773
Minimay Camp Report
2 June 2019
Most members had arrived at camp during the early
afternoon of Friday; some then ventured into the
woodland around Ben's Swamp, a short walk across
a paddock at Langley Lodge. Although the swamp
area was dry the Buloke and Grey Box Woodland
had some northern Victorian bird species making
use of the habitat. Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters
made a nice change from their more common
cousins the White-plumed Honeyeater, a flock of
Yellow-rumped Thornbills foraging in trees had us a
little confused about their identification and to finish
a very active female Red-capped Robin lead us
around one section of the woodland.
After our evening meal members enjoyed some
friendly competition with Birdy Bingo, brilliantly
hosted by Sue Mason. The object of the game was
to get two lines of bird pictures covered on your
bingo card, with bird species from all over the
world. This made it both educational and
entertaining; I think we all learned some new
species that night. With a small chocolate prize on
offer for the winner members could have played
onto the night but stopped after four games.
Langley Lodge © Kevin Williams
On Saturday morning members awoke to a crisp
white scene at on the Wimmera Plains of Victoria.
We started our day with a visit to the Bank Australia
conservation property just off the Kaniva Edenhope
Road. Jess Gardner, from Greening Australia, met
us at the gate and then lead us into camp, where
the team who where planting Buloke, Allocasuarina
luehmannii, had a welcome camp fire going. Jess
explained that the Minimay property was Purchased
in 2008 and covers 525 hectares. Wendy
McDonald's report, on page 5, has more details
about this property and organisation.
After listening to Jess and warming ourselves beside
the camp fire we walked through some of the
Buloke & Yellow Gum Woodland areas to investigate
the bird life within them. As usual our group soon
split up into smaller collections of people trying to
identify and take pictures of the bird life we where
hearing or seeing. Members had success with
correctly identifying Hooded Robin, Diamond
Firetail, Yellow Thornbills, Golden Whistler White-
fronted Honeyeaters and many Spotted Pardalotes.
After rounding up the tail end bird watchers, we
enjoyed a hot cup of tea and chat with the
volunteer tree planters back at the camp fire. The
planting crew then went off to plant a couple of 100
trees and we went bird searching for another hour.
This time we found a family of White-browed
Babblers to play hide and seek with amongst the
shrubs which had grown from a direct seeding
project. Other people reported finding Variegated
Fairy-wren, Eastern Yellow Robin and Southern
White-faces to add to the site list, which reached 47
species.
After lunch, back at the lodge, we then went west
to visit Morea State Forest off Peter Mulraney's Rd.
While creeping along looking for an entry point into
the reserve, we spotted a single Scarlet Robin on
the fence of a paddock. After everyone got some
lovely shots of the robin we shifted the cars off the
road because we had also found a track into the
forest.
Sally observed that the forest seemed to be alive
with yellow birds; mostly they were a large group
of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters with a couple of
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater thrown in to keep
people on their toes. But by far the most exciting
find was three Painted Button-quail, which kept
quietly moving ahead of us giving us a glimpse
every now and then.
Painted Button-quail © Kevin Williams
With another frosty morning waiting for us on
Sunday we decided to start the day at 9:30am. The
gathered members were given instructions for the
day and we headed out the gate right on time.
However we did not arrive at our destination a
mere 7min down the road but instead found
ourselves in Frances across the South Australia
boarder! With Sunday's paper and a full tank of
petrol on board, the lead car was soon back in
control. Getting everyone safely to Tallageira
Nature Conservation Reserve on Apsley Road, back
in Victoria.
Continued on pg 3
Minimay Camp Report Continued
June 2019 3
At this stop the reserve was predominantly Brown
Stringybark with an understory of flowering Desert
Banksia, consequently it was dominated by lots of
noisy New Holland Honeyeaters. In some of the
quite areas people did get to see Rufous Whistler,
Striated Thornbill and Eastern Yellow Robin.
It was then off to very late morning tea and early
lunch beside Lake Bringalbert or Bring-a-bert as
some kept saying. We enjoyed sitting beside the
lake, the sun on our backs, watching the antics of
the resident Australian Shelduck which were trying
to deffend their patch of water. Eurasian Coots
grazing on the shoreline looked like a flock of
domestic black chooks, until they raced back into
the water when disturbed!
Golden Whistler © Robyn Logan
With a very short club meeting after lunch,
reminding members of upcoming activities, the
camp contingent waved good bye to the nine
members that left that afternoon. We then had a
short walk around the northern edge of the lake to
find a lovely stand of Silver Banksia on a sand dune.
Little and Red Wattlebirds where making use of the
prolific flowing of this mini forest of Banksia.
The Masons, Williams and I then made our way
back to Langley Lodge via Lake Charlegrark which
was very quiet both for campers and bird life. We
finished our day with a couple of rounds of Birdy
Bingo after tea, eating more chocolate prizes and
knowing we did not have to be ready to leave until
10am.
Thank you to all the participants for braving the
frosty winter condition on camp. I hope you all
enjoyed this northern setting as much as I did. On
my way home I found another camp spot for a
future camp weekend but during May or October!
Lake Ratzcaste.
Samantha Greiner
CAMP WEEKEND BIRD LIST
Spotted Pardalote © Charlotte Davis
Musk Duck Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Black Swan Buff-rumped Thornbill
Australian Shelduck Brown Thornbill
Australian Wood Duck Southern Whiteface
Australasian Shoveler Spotted Pardalote
Pacific Black Duck Striated Pardalote
Hardhead Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Australasian Grebe White-eared Honeyeater
Common Bronzewing Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Crested Pigeon White-plumed Honeyeater
White-faced Heron White-fronted Honeyeater
Straw-necked Ibis Noisy Miner
Yellow-billed Spoonbill Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Black-shouldered Kite Little Wattlebird
Whistling Kite Red Wattlebird
Black Kite White-fronted Chat
Brown Goshawk New Holland Honeyeater
Wedge-tailed Eagle Brown-headed Honeyeater
Nankeen Kestrel White-naped Honeyeater
Brown Falcon White-browed Babbler
Black Falcon Golden Whistler
Eurasian Coot Rufous Whistler
Black-fronted Dotterel Grey Shrike-thrush
Masked Lapwing Australian Magpie
Painted Button-quail Grey Currawong
Silver Gull Grey Fantail
Galah Willie Wagtail
Long-billed Corella Australian Raven
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Forest Raven
Rainbow Lorikeet Little Raven
Musk Lorikeet Magpie-lark
Purple-crowned Lorikeet White-winged Chough
Crimson Rosella Jacky Winter
Eastern Rosella Scarlet Robin
Red-rumped Parrot Red-capped Robin
Laughing Kookaburra Hooded Robin
White-throated Treecreeper Eastern Yellow Robin
Brown Treecreeper Silvereye
Superb Fairy-wren Welcome Swallow
Variegated Fairy-wren Common Blackbird
White-browed Scrubwren Common Starling
Weebill Mistletoebird
Striated Thornbill Diamond Firetail
Yellow Thornbill Total 87 Species
Sightings
4 June 2019
Annie Carmichael
Burkes Parrot & Banded Lapwing, Alroy Station, Cunnamulla, 27.06.19
Tree Martins & Australian Hobby hunting martins, 200km west of Cunnamulla, Qld, 30.6.19
Rhonda Holdsworth
2 Spotted Pardalote, with the male ending up in the car, Duncans Rd, Cavendish, 03.07.19
40 Black Swans on Wannon River flood plain, North
Cavendish, 10.07.19 Marie Greiner
Juvenile Collared Sparrowhawk with House Sparrow
breakfast, sat on back veranda to eat which scared the pants of the two indoor house birds, Church Hill,
Hamilton, 06.07.19 Samantha Greiner
Arborline Nursery, Hamilton
2 White-necked Heron out in back paddock, 12.06.19
1 Grey Goshawk (white morph) being seen off by local Australian Magpie, Little Raven & Masked Lapwings,
13.06.19 2 Peregrine Falcon circling over park beside Lake
Hamilton, 28.06.19
Southern Boobook, roosting in garden tree, old Anglican Church Manse, Hamilton, 30/06/19
Wendy & Peter McDonald
White-bellied Sea Eagle overhead at 2.45pm on a day of extreme weather with wind, rain and hail, Yulecart, 18.06.19
Dave Nichols
Flame Robin Victoria Point, Southern Grampians,
22.05.19
Jackie Winter & Scarlet Robin, Victoria Point, Southern Grampians, 28.05.19
Wendy Radley
Grey Shrike-thrush, a pair of lovers who visit every year from May on wards. The male is very bold and hops along the windowsill all day, while his wife has much better manners and waits patiently for him, Kenny St,
Hamilton, July
10 Cattle Egret, congregating around about ½ dozen
steers, Branxholme, 09.07.19
Whistling Kites have returned, there were 4 in the paddock next door, possible 2 may have been almost fully grown juveniles, but I can’t be positive. They were all enjoying a feast of dead lamb carcass, Kenny St,
Hamilton, July Simone Stevenson
2 Red-capped Robin, Beveridges Rd, Hamilton, 24.06.19
Lots of Flame Robins, Clearys Rd, Hamilton, 24.06.19
Jo Tully
Gang Gang Cockatoo, when last sighted the 50 strong Subpar-crested Cockatoo mob were emphatically chasing the Gang Gangs from the safety of the native forest reserve to the roadside trees, Mt. Dundas, June
Kay & Kevin Williams
Tawny-crowned and White-fronted Honeyeater, Little Desert NP, 26.06.19
Members Report
June 2019 5
NOTES FROM VISIT TO BANK AUSTRALIA/GREENING AUSTRALIA PLANTING SITE MINIMAY
Bank Australia has about 1,000ha of conservation
reserve across 3 properties in the West Wimmera
area. They have identified 227 native plant species
and 270 native animal species that call these
reserves home. Bank Australia bought their first
property 10 years ago and has added more parcels
over 6 years. The three properties are: Minimay
525ha, Booroopki 166ha and Ozenkadnook 236ha,
we visited the Minimay site off the Kaniva Nhill
road.
They have been working for last 9 years to restore
the properties and learn about their unique ecology
so they can find the best ways to protect these
unique habitats. Working with partners Greening
Australia and Trust for Nature, Bank Australia wants
to see the reserve become a good example of
science-based conservation in action. With an
overall plan to create a corridor from the south
coast to the Murray River. The Minimay site is an
important stepping stone in this plan.
Unique to the reserves was the phenomenal natural
restoration of Bulokes. After the property was
purchased in 2009 and the sheep were removed the
weather patterns produced a flood in 2010. This
resulted in some fantastic Buloke recruitment.
Initial plantings were not as diverse as more recent
ones as initial focus was on carbon capture not
environmentally diversity. The focus is now on
habitat protection for species such as Red-tailed
Black Cockatoo. This is also the main focus for any
marketing. Trust for Nature hold covenants to
protect all the properties from development for all
time.
They are keen to see groups like us, BirdLife
Hamilton, keep visiting to help monitor bird species.
Recording any threatened species in any surveys
we take would provide ammunition against mining.
Initial biological habitat surveys have been done for
all sites but ongoing data is always needed and
welcomed.
Greening Australia won the tender to manage the
sites 4 years ago. They have written a 20 year
strategy for the reserve. Focal species include
Diamond Firetail, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo,
Bearded Dragon, Brown Treecreeper and Hooded
Robin. Rare plants that are being protected include
Buloke and Buloke Mistletoe.
Brown Treecreeper © Kevin Williams
The new calisivirus, the most recently released, has
kept rabbit numbers low. There are also foxes and
cats however Greening Australia is unsure how hard
to go on foxes as it might increase the numbers of
cats. But if there is no cat control there still needs
to be foxes control for neighbouring sheep farmers
at least. Nhill Sporting Shooters has been engaged
to do fox shots recently. There are not too many
weeds, although some weeds of note are Bridal
Creeper and Cape Tulip.
The next focus is on working with local aboriginal
groups to help them reconnect with their country.
This includes a cultural burn in a couple of week's
time; everyone is very interested to see their
approach. The area has possibly not been burnt
since settlement. Greening Australia is excited to
reintroduce this practice and monitor the results.
Wendy McDonald
Activities & Quiz
6 June 2019
BIRDLIFE HAMILTON
AUGUST
Saturday 24th Dunkeld
Sally Purnell 0407 865 545
SEPTEMBER
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATES
Saturday 28nd NOW 21st NORTHERN GRAMPIANS
Chris & Neil Scott
Saturday 28th changed to week of 16th
PFO BIRDS IN PLANTATION SURVEYS
Samantha Greiner plus interested volunteers
BIRDLIFE WARRNAMBOOL
AUGUST
Saturday 3rd
KELLY SWAMP/MERRI RIVER
Levy’s Beach car park at 9.00am
Werner Sinclair 0473 588 127
SEPTEMBER
Saturday 7th
MOUNT ECCLES (BUDJ BIM) NATIONAL PARK
National Park car park at 10.00am
Lynn Brown 0407 844 485
BIRDLIFE HORSHAM
AUGUST
Sunday 4th
LAKE FYANS & LAKE LONSDALE
SEPTEMBER
Sunday 1st
BLACK RANGE, MT TALBOT, RED ROCK RESERVE
Contact Deidre Andrews M 0402 317 142
Please meet at the Horsham Library, 28 McLachlan
St, at 8:30am unless otherwise informed; bring
morning tea and lunch, binoculars and wear
appropriate outdoor gear. Please note subject to
change due to seasonal variability.
Diamond Fire-tail, Minimay © Peter McDonald
BRAIN TEASER OF THE MONTH
THIS MONTH’S QUESTION: which three bird
groups evolved in Australia? one small clue is that
all three names start with the letter 'P'
THIS MONTH’S ANSWER: I think the nesting
Falcon at Muckleford, Vic sent in by Sally Purnell, is
a Ford XM Falcon Futura sedan. If you know better
please let me know.
BIRDSWING BIRDING & WILDLIFE TOURS
PORT FAIRY PELAGIC TOURS 2019
Pelagic Dates for 2019 are:
September 8th
October 20th
November 17th
December 15th
Cost is $180-00 if the boat is full it is $170-00
MERIMBULA & INTO VICTORIAN WATERS
PELAGIC
Sunday 24 November 2019 Taking bookings
Tour Cost: $260AUD per person
Number of Passengers: 40
Facilities: Tea/Coffee available on board. Proper
toilet fitted.
Accommodation: Additional to cost of tour.
Merimbula has plenty of accommodation please
contact the local visitor information centre for more
details on 1800 150 457.
Meals: All meals on boat provided as part of the
cost of the tour – dietary requirements to be
advised at time of paying deposit.
Up Coming Event & News From BirdLife Australia
June 2019 7
RED GUM FESTIVAL
Dear Vendors and Environmental exhibitors,
Thank you for your attendance and support at our
1st Red Gum Festival. Despite the weather
conditions endured that weekend, we were
overwhelmed with the support and success we
believed we achieved under trying conditions.
We estimate around 800 people attended and are
currently working hard to ensure the next festival
will be everything and more on the last one.
We have set our date for the 2nd Festival for
Saturday April 4th, 2020. Stalls will be $40 once
again, and can be entered online at the
cavendishredgumfestival.com website.
The closing date for vendor applications is February
8th, 2020, and an email with an attached invoice
will be sent after this.
Please Note: Your site will not be booked until
payment has been made.
Thank you for your ongoing support, we hope to see
you on April 4th.
You can visit our Facebook page for regular
updates, and queries can be sent via email.
Kind Regards,
Cavendish Red Gum Festival
Development Group Inc.
Please mark this date in your diaries.
As the Development Group has stated even with the
trying conditions they had good numbers of people
attending with some positive feedback. As stall
holders we also enjoyed some very positive
responses and many visitors to our corner of the
Uniting Church Hall.
In 2020 we hope to join up with Hamilton Field
Naturalist to share one site. We will also plan to
have birding walks along the Wannon, making sure
they are factored into the Festival program so they
don't clash with other activities along the river.
BirdLife Hamilton
Committee of Management
Hello everyone,
Today, 05.07.19, the World Heritage Committee
inscribed phase 1 of China’s nomination for the Yellow
Sea/Bohai Bay ecosystem in Baku, Azerbaijan. It’s
terrific game-changing news for Australia’s
endangered migratory shorebirds and all the
passionate conservationists who have been working
for their survival for many years.
BirdLife released a media statement today
congratulating the Australian Government for moving
amendments which saved the nomination from being
deferred, or lost forever, while maintaining its
technical integrity. Thank you Erin for all your efforts
today on what was supposed to be your day off.
But there is so much more to say.
I remember when I first started at BirdLife, Alison
Russell-French took me to one side and explained the
crash in migratory shorebird populations and the
bottleneck in the Yellow Sea mudflats, which were
being reclaimed for industry. Even as a newbie I could
see these birds were in big trouble and I must admit
to holding a real soft spot for these wonders of
nature.
China’s moratorium on coastal reclamation and
today’s inscription didn’t happen by accident. It is the
culmination of research, advocacy and diplomacy in
the East Asian Australasian Flyway over many decades
led by BirdLife’s Australasian Wader Study Group
(AWSG). Thank you Doug and all our AWSG members.
Protection of the Yellow Sea is a top priority in
BirdLife’s migratory shorebirds program. Grainne and
the growing Coastal Birds team, AWSG and many
hundreds of volunteers work relentlessly to survey
shorebirds, improve site management, provide advice
at bilateral meetings and fight the destruction of
important wetlands.
Today’s decision also reflects the strength of BirdLife’s
global partnership. BirdLife International mobilised 62
NGOs (including BirdLife Australia) and experts from
around the world, to co-sign a letter to the World
Heritage Committee members, and speak to the
delegations in Baku, urging a decision, today, for
inscription under criterion (x) with conditions.
BirdLife Australia hopes this decision will help to
expedite the inscription of other important sites in
South Korea next year, China in 2022 and, hopefully,
North Korea.
It shows what governments can do when they work
with NGOs and lead.
I hope you join us celebrating this achievement.
Paul Sullivan
CEO BirdLife Australia
News From UNESCO
8 June 2019
HOW WAS THE MAZE AT YELLOW SEA LISTED AS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE?
By Zhao Ying 06-Jul-2019
news.cgtn.com/news/2019-07-06/How-was-the-maze-at-Yellow-Sea-listed-as-a-UNESCO-World-Heritage--I5wHOqOXLy/index.html
The silt brought by the Yangtze and Yellow rivers
has accumulated in the Yellow Sea wetland in
Yancheng City, a prefecture-level city in east
China's Jiangsu Province for thousands of years.
The treacherous ocean currents and tides together
shape a distinctive landform — the radial sand
ridge.
Known as the maze at sea, the radial sand ridge in
Yancheng, occupying an area of around 20,000
square kilometers, remains a land of mystery to
fishermen. The unpredictable waters have deterred
people from developing it, becoming, with time, a
natural wonderland for millions of migratory birds to
rest and forage.
Joy after twists and turns
China's Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast
of the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf (Phase I) were added
to the UNESCO's World Heritage List as a natural
site on Friday. The Yellow Sea wetland in Yancheng
is where the first phase of the project is located.
"Among the 16 nominated components in the
project, the two components in Yancheng account
for 42 percent of the total area of all nominated
property. The greater protection of Yellow Sea
wetland in Yancheng would mobilize the
surrounding cities to follow suit," said Cao Lubao,
the mayor of Yancheng City, who is attending the
43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage
Committee in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Looking back, the process of application was full of
twists and turns, recalled Cao. Although the current
conservation efforts in the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf
were appreciated by specialists from the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), the organization recommended that the
World Heritage Committee defers the nomination in
May following evaluation.
But 18 members of the committee, led by Australia,
joined hands to propose an amendment, insisting to
inscribe the first phase of the project on the World
Heritage List. Sixty-two International organizations
also opposed the IUCN's evaluations and considered
the delay detrimental to the protection of the Yellow
Sea-Bohai Gulf.
Thanks to international support, the decision to add
the Chinese natural site to the List was unanimously
supported by all members of the World Heritage
Committee.
A well-preserved wetland ecosystem
Every year, millions of migratory birds on the East
Asian-Australian flyway make a stopover in the
Yellow Sea wetland. The mudflat in Yancheng, with
an area of 0.77 million hectares, is a paradise for
endangered birds, such as spoon-billed sandpipers
and red-crowned cranes.
The establishment of the Yancheng Wetland Rare
Birds National Nature Reserve and Dafeng Milu
Deer National Nature Reserve in the early 1980s
has prevented the wetlands from being exploited
for economic gains, said professor Lei Guangchun,
the dean of the School of Nature Conservation at
Beijing Forestry University and vice chairman of the
National Wetland Science Committee.
According to his research on coastal wetland,
although reclaiming wetland is an expensive job,
the huge economic benefits out of such an
operation leads people to heavily invest in this
area.
In the past 50 years, around 66 percent of
intertidal wetlands in the Yellow Sea have
disappeared, causing significant losses to
biodiversity in the region. The urgency to protect
China's coast of Bohai Gulf (Bay) and Yellow Sea
has guided the World Heritage application.
The Yellow Sea wetland in Yancheng is considered
the best preserved wetland along the coast. Every
December, 40 to 80 percent of the world's red-
crowned cranes land in the region in preparation to
spend the winter here. The Tiaozini area later
added to the Phase I project is a critical habitat for
the spoon-billed sandpiper, whose global population
is estimated to be between 240 and 456.
Besides, the world's largest group of wild milu deer
with a population of 1,350 roams in the region.
They tread and feed on the annoying smooth
cordgrass, which is an invasive plant that
encroaches on the living space of local plants like
Suaeda salsa. Such local plants, in which birds find
shelter, are protected by the milu deer.
Now, the free-ranging area of Dafeng Milu Deer
National Nature Reserve welcomes the largest flock
of migratory birds, according to professor Lei. The
well-preserved wetland ecosystem in the region
makes it the wonderland for wildlife.