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BirdLife Castlemaine District eNews December 2022

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

  • Estimated reading time 10 minutes

Welcome to Castlemaine District eNews!

Dear Supporter,

Welcome to our December 2022 eNews.

In this issue we’ve got details of our upcoming December walk at Bendigo Water Reclamation Plant, end of year morning tea, and December’s nature journaling session. And don’t forget to test your bird knowledge with the quiz!

As this is our last eNews for 2022, we’d like to say a huge thank you for all your support this year. It’s been great to see our bird walks so well attended. We’d also like to thank our walk leaders for so generously sharing their time, knowledge and expertise.

We’ll be taking a little break in January, so there will be no eNews, walk or nature journaling. We’re currently working on our walks program for 2023 which will commence in February, so stay tuned for the details!

December Bird Walk – Bendigo Water Reclamation Plant, Epsom

The December BirdLife Castlemaine District Branch bird walk will be held on Saturday 3 December at the Bendigo Water Reclamation Plant, Epsom. This was an amazing walk when we did it in July.

As there is a restriction of group sizes at the Plant of 20, and we can have two groups, we will again need to limit numbers to 40 attendees. Please email your details (name and phone number) to janerusden@me.com. This information is required by Coliban Water, who are hosting the walk.

Where: From Castlemaine take the Calder Hwy to Bendigo and drive through the city centre on High Street. From the fountain in the very centre of Bendigo it is 8.3KM to Howard Street in Epsom; turn left here. Take the first right into Wallenjoe Rd, park your car just before the 90 degree left hand bend 1.3KM along Wallenjoe Rd.

GPS: -36.6936431, 144.3080783

When: Meet at the Treatment Plant at 9:00am.

Bring: Water, snacks, binoculars, sunscreen, hat, sturdy shoes. We also strongly recommend that you wear long trousers and closed-in shoes.

More info: Jane Rusden, 0448 900 896.

Please note that walks will be cancelled if severe weather warnings are in place, persistent rain is forecast, the temperature is forecast to be 35C or above during the walk period, and/or a Total Fire Ban is declared. Please check our Facebook page the day before the event in case there is a cancellation.

End of Year Morning Tea

Because we can’t have morning tea at the Treatment Plant, we will gather at the Bendigo Botanical Gardens for our Christmas breakup after the bird walk. Please bring some festive food to share, something to drink, and a chair.

Where: Garden of the Future, Bendigo Botanical Gardens, GARINGILANG Way, White Hills, Bendigo.

For more details about the Botanical Gardens click here.

Nature Journaling with BirdLife Castlemaine District

December’s nature journaling session will be held on Sunday 4 December at Tipperary Springs near Daylesford. Tipperary Springs is on a gorgeous stream, in bushland.

It’s our nature journaling Christmas breakup, so bring some food to share and something to drink, if you wish.

What to bring:

– Something to sit on, your art materials and paper, writing materials, camera and binoculars if you have them.

– Water, snacks, sun hat and sunscreen.

– Please wear long sleeves, long trousers and sturdy shoes suitable for rough terrain. Rug up well in winter, you will be sitting still and will need very warm clothes.

– Your creativity.

All welcome – experience, or lack of, is immaterial.

Contact Jane Rusden on 0448 900 896 with any questions.

When and where: Sunday 4 December  from 9:30am – 11:30am, at Tipperary Springs, Tipperary Springs Rd, Daylesford.

GPS:-37.3318091, 144.1216175

Brown Falcon watercolour, work in progress, by Jane Rusden

Call to Action – Save Toondah Harbour

Walker Corporation has released its draft Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed Toondah Harbour project that, if approved, would destroy internationally important Ramsar wetlands and critical migratory shorebird habitat in Moreton Bay, Queensland.

Please use the following link to add your comment(s) to the growing number made by Australians opposed to this inappropriate development.

https://www.actforbirds.org/savetoondah/eis

Note that submissions/comments close on 6 December.

Know Your Birds Quiz

Test your bird knowledge in this month’s quiz with the four questions below, then check the answers at the end of this eNews. Big thanks as always to quizmaster Ash Vigus.

Question 1 (Beginner): Multiple Choice

From the three species of Frogmouth listed below, which species is found in all Australian States and Territories?

1. Papuan Frogmouth.
2. Tawny Frogmouth
3. Marbled Frogmouth

Question 2 (Intermediate): Who am I?

• I’m a smaller bird, approx. 17 to 18cm in length.

• I’m found mostly in eucalypt forests and open woodlands.

• My diet consists mainly of insects, most often taken on the wing but sometimes taken from foliage.

• I’m a gregarious, highly social bird and I often nest in loose colonies. When moving I’ll form larger flocks sometimes with other closely related species.

• My colours are predominantly smoky deep brown, with dark blue grey wings, edged with white. My tail is black with a broad white tip and my underwings are silvery-white..

• I like to roost communally, and on occasion can be seen bunching up in a line on a tree branch in cooler weather.

• My nest is a loose bowl of twigs, grass and roots, lined with fine grass, often placed in a tree fork, behind bark, or in a stump hollow.

• I have have a pointed blue bill tipped with black.

Question 3 (Advanced): Spot the Feathers

All four bird species pictured below are found in the Castlemaine district; what do you think these four birds are?

Bonus Question 4 (Obscure)

From the four species of Button-quail listed below, which species is a member of the feathered five group of BirdLife Castlemaine mascots?

1. Little Button-quail.
2. Painted Button-quail.
3. Red-backed Button-quail.
4. Red-chested Button-quail

Follow us on Facebook

We have a BirdLife Castlemaine District Facebook page. Follow us for all the latest bird news and events.

Become a Member

Membership of BirdLife Australia is a great way to support a bright future for Australia’s birds – and it would also make a perfect Christmas gift for a bird-lover! Learn more about membership or other ways to get involved here.

Kind regards,

The BirdLife Castlemaine Committee

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Quiz Answers

Question 1: Tawny Frogmouth.

Question 2: Dusky Woodswallow.

Question 3: Clockwise from top left – Masked Woodswallow, White-winged Chough, Dusky Woodswallow, Superb Fairy-wren.

Question 4: The Painted Button-quail is member of the feathered five.

BirdLife Australia, BirdLife Victoria Group, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton, VIC 3053  | castlemaine@birdlife.org.au