BIGnet September Meeting

BIGnet September meeting

Saturday, 13 September – Sunday, 14 September 2025

Location: Cowra Bowling and Recreation Club, Cowra NSW

Organiser: Cowra Woodland Birds Program, a program of BirdLife Southern NSW

Website:  https://events.humanitix.com/bignet-meeting-13-14-september

Bird Interest Group Network (BIGnet) September Meeting

Birders interested in conservation and people interested in bird conservation are warmly invited to attend the September 2025 Bird Interest Group network (BIGnet) meeting, to be held at the Cowra Bowling and Recreation Club.

The day and a half meeting will include

• discussions on coordinated approaches to advocacy around national and state environment laws,
• an update on Key Biodiversity Areas including changes to the South West Slopes KBA, which includes the Cowra region,
• talks on conservation projects highlighting the contribution of volunteers,
• a discussion on the future of BIGnet, and
• dinner on Saturday at the Thai Yim Cowra followed by “Birds in the Club” with Mid Lachlan Landcare.

People are welcome to attend on Saturday only or even just the Saturday afternoon. However, participants in the full weekend or full Saturday program will be given preference for the dinner, due to a limitation on numbers at the restaurant. There are no limitations to the evening event or bird walks but participants will be asked to register for these events when providing their details.

 “Birds in the Club” with Mid Lachlan Landcare Saturday Evening

“Birds in the Club” will commence with a screening of the documentary “Night Calling”, covering research on Masked Owls and the effects of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) poisoning, followed by a Q&A session with a panel comprising a Cowra Council member, a local vet and a local pest controller (tbc). Held in conjunction with Mid Lachlan Landcare, this free event is open to the local Cowra community.

 Registration Fees:

• Saturday full day: $45
• Saturday afternoon: $5
• Saturday and Sunday: $65
• Dinner: $40 (includes BYO corkage) Numbers limited to 40.
• Birds in the Club, Saturday evening: Free
• Birdwalk Sunday morning: Free

Fees include a portion of the Humanitix admin fee.

For more information and to register, visit https://events.humanitix.com/bignet-meeting-13-14-september

Host: Cowra Woodland Bird Program

The Cowra Woodland Birds Program monitors woodland bird populations through quarterly bird surveys, as well as engaging in habitat restoration aimed at locally declining and threatened birds.

Initiated in 2001, with the assistance of BirdLife Southern NSW, to address concerns that woodland birds are declining in rural landscapes in the Cowra district, it is one of the three longest-running woodland bird monitoring programs in Australia. Until 2024 it was completely volunteer-run and has attracted competitive grants to assist with establishment and a number of revegetation projects.

The survey data are valued by researchers for the science-based methodology, the continuity, frequency and duration of the surveys, and that nearly 70% of survey sites are on private land not usually accessible by surveyors. The survey data has been used in a number of published scientific articles, and feeds into the national Threatened Species Index.