BirdLife Castlemaine District 2024 End of Year Report

2024 End of Year Report

Jane Rusden, BirdLife Castlemaine District Convenor,reported that BCD activities this year have been well attended and that mid-week walks and Nature Journaling sessions are also gaining momentum with new people attending as the year progressed.  The Nature Journaling camp in the Mallee in May and the birding weekend at Chiltern in October were enjoyed by all those who attended.  The joint BCD/CFNC presentation by Euan Moore on Island Birds: The highs and the lows, with an emphasis on the New Zealand Bioregion was well attended and very interesting. The Feathery Festival held in September was hugely successful.  Jane and Ash Vigus spent many voluntary hours designing feathered five bird motifs for t-shirts and tote bags and following the process through to the end product.  Designs for all of the feathered five birds were developed with our local emblem, the Brown treecreeper being chosen for the merchandise. All three events were fully booked and participant feedback was excellent.  It is hoped to make this festival a biennial event.

Jane has represented BCD at the monthly BirdLifeAustralia Network Forums and has done several presentations to BLA and at other forums on Nature Journaling.  In addition, BCD volunteers have led bird walks for CHIRP (Community Health Centre in Castlemaine) and the Castlemaine Joey Scouts bird walks.  Recently Jane was a guest on the local radio station MAIN FM where her talk on local birds created interest amongst listeners.  Various queries that are sent to BCD via BLA and Facebook are answered throughout the year, including bird identification.  

Our eNews subscriber list now has nearly 400 subscribers.  BCD’s revamped webpage, https://birdlife.org.au/groups/birdlife-castlemaine-district/, was the first to become live via BLA and we are building an impressive photo gallery on the BLA shared drive. Our FaceBook page has 977 followers! Volunteer hours for our group are significant with 777 hours recorded for the 2023/2024 period!

Jane advised that Tanya Loos has been appointed as H5N1 Avian Influenza Media Officer at BLA.

Best wishes to all our followers for a happy festive season. We look forward to seeing you at our 2025 activities (eNews will be sent at the end of January with details of our first bird walk and nature journaling events on Saturday/Sunday 1&2 February, 2025).

Jane Rusden, Convenor, BirdLife Castlemaine District

Artwork by Jane Rusden