Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Dear Supporter,
Welcome to our eNews for December 2023.
This month’s issue includes details of our upcoming December walk and end of year morning tea, Nature Journaling, a wrap up of November’s walk at Rise and Shine Reserve, and a request for input to our 2024 Program. And, don’t forget to test your bird knowledge with the quiz!
The eNews will be taking a little break in January. We’ll be back with the February eNews, rested and ready for lots more birding in 2024. The Committee would like to say a huge thank you for all your support this year, and wish you a happy and healthy holiday season.
December Bird Walk – Crusoe No.7 Reserve, Big Hill (Bendigo) and end of year Morning Tea
We are delighted to announce that our next BirdLife Castlemaine District Branch bird walk will be held on Saturday 2 December at the Crusoe No.7 Reserve, Big Hill (Bendigo). This is a smaller reservoir near the main Crusoe Reservoir.
The cleverly designed reservoir and water purification system was the first of its kind in Australia in supplying treated drinking water to Bendigo’s gold miners of the 1860s. The local history is of gold mining with the original reservoir set up to supply the early miners camps. The local ecology is largely box / ironbark with a variety of indigenous vegetation. Over 180 bird species have been seen at the Reserve as well as other flora and fauna. Notable species recently seen in the area include Australian Owlet-nightjar, Painted Buttonquail, Nankeen Night Heron, Collared Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon, White-winged Triller, Olive-backed Oriole, Pallid Cuckoo, Black-fronted Dotterel, Australasian Darter and Square-tailed Kite along with a variety of Honeyeaters, Thornbills, etc.
Your walk leader is David Hewett. ALL WELCOME!
Thanks again to all the people that have assisted with our walks this year, especially the walk leaders. Without you we would not continue to have such successful and enjoyable walks. To help celebrate this, the walk will be followed by our end of year morning tea, so please bring some food to share plus your preferred beverage.
Where: Crusoe No. 7 Reserve is located off Granter Street, Big Hill. From Castlemaine, take the Pyrenees Hwy (B180) to the Calder Freeway (M79) then travel toward Bendigo. As you come into Kangaroo Flat, you will pass Karinya Retirement Village (Aviva) on the left; just past that you will come to Furness Street (Harvey Norman is on the corner). Turn left, then immediately left again into Granter Street. Drive approx. 1.1KM along Granter Street and you will come to the entrance of the Reserve, which is well signed. Enter the Reserve and keep going until you reach the car park.
GPS: -36.83099, 144.23308
When: Meet at the Crusoe No. 7 Reserve at 9:00am.
Bring: Water, snacks, binoculars, sunscreen, hat, sturdy closed-in shoes. We also recommend that you wear long trousers as there may be snakes about.
More info: Jane Rusden, 0448 900 896, Judy Hopley 0425 768 559 or Bob Dawson 0419 621 691.
Please note the area has all abilities access and there are toilets available. To discover more about Crusoe Reservoir & No. 7 Park click here.
BirdLife Castlemaine acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we will walk, the Dja Dja Wurrung people, and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We recognise and are grateful for the immense contribution of Indigenous people to the knowledge and conservation of Australia’s birds.
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 or web page the day before the event in case there is a cancellation.
December’s nature journaling takes place at the Dam on South German Track, Newstead.
Sit in a picturesque spot and create, finding inspiration from nature. No experience necessary.
Please note there are no toilets at the site.
What to bring / wear:
– Wear long sleeve shirt and long trousers, sunhat, and sturdy shoes.
– A small selection of art materials such as paints, pencils, pens, coloured pencils, pastels, paper, water container if applicable, camera or phone and binoculars if you have them. A bag to put it all in.
– Something to sit on, such as a camp chair or rug.
– Your sense of curiosity.
When and where: Sunday 3 December from 9:30am – 11:30am. Meet at the Dam on the west side of South German Track, 500 meters north of Weedon Track and 400 meters south of Bells Lane Track.
GPS: -37.0691210, 144.0822843
Bits and pieces found in nature, at Golden Point Reservoir, by Jane Rusden.
Thanks to Damian Kelly for leading a great November bird walk at Rise and Shine Reserve and for this lovely photo of a White-browed Woodswallow. Here is the link to the list of birds recorded.
We’re working on our Program for next year and are keen for supporter input to the process.
Saturday Bird Walks As usual, in 2024 we intend on doing a bird walk on the first Saturday of each month except January. We will look at a mix of some tried and true locations, and some new venues. If you have any suggestions for a venue, and / or would like to help out by leading a walk, please let us know.
Midweek Bird Walks We are also looking at doing some midweek walks next year, probably on Wednesdays. We prefer to have them at venues of low physical demand that are in or close to Castlemaine, e.g., the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens.
Apart from just increasing our number of walks, we want to give people an opportunity to attend that find our Saturday walks difficult to get to for whatever reason, or find our them a bit too physically demanding. We also hope to even hold some wheelchair friendly walks if possible.
Please let us know if you would be interested in participating in something like this and we will see about running one early next year to see how it goes. As with the Saturday walks, let us know if you are interested in leading a walk and / or have suggestions for venues.
Campout Following our second successful campout held recently at the Lower Glenelg NP, we plan on again doing one next year.
This time we may look at going to a venue in the wet forest areas of eastern Victoria, although anywhere will be considered and no decision will be made until into the new year. Venues would need to be a maximum of about 4.5 hours drive from Castlemaine, have camping facilities and other accommodation options nearby. If you have a venue you think might be suitable, please let us know.
How to contact us – via email to: castlemaine@birdlife.org.au.
No Bird of the Month in this eNews. Instead, we’ve teamed up with Connecting Country to promote their blog posts focusing on our region’s beloved Feathered Five, three of which are now listed as threatened.
Want to help out the rare Hooded Robin? Our friends at Connecting Country tell us how, here.
Photo by Jane Rusden.
Annual Challenge Bird Count 2023 is a BirdLife Australia sanctioned event. For our region, the aim is to count birds from different habitats and locations up to a distance of 25KM from the Castlemaine Post Office (in conjunction with the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club). Ideally undertaken on a day within the first weekend of December, there is some flexibility during the week either side.
If you’d like to be involved, or find out more details, please contact Chris Timewell via email.
Test your bird knowledge in this month’s quiz with the questions below, then check the answers at the end of this eNews. Big thanks as always to quizmaster Ash Vigus.
Question 1 (Easy): Multiple Choice
The Australian men’s field hockey team is named after which prominent Australian bird species? Choose from the list of six below.
1. Wedge-tailed Eagle 2. Australian Magpie 3. Brolga 4. Black Swan 5. Laughing Kookaburra 6. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Question 2 (Intermediate): Spot the Feathers
All four bird species pictured below are found in the Castlemaine district; what do you think these four birds are?
Question 3 (Advanced): Who Am I?
• I’m a small bird approximately 18 to 21 centimetres in length with an approximate wingspan of 12 to 13 centimetres. • I’m a seasonal migrant to the Castlemaine area, arriving in the warmer months to breed. • I’m found in a wide variety of habitats, from Eucalypt forests to dry heathlands as well as farmland and towns. • I’m an insectivore, often taking my prey while on the wing. I can sometimes be seen in huge flocks of hundreds of birds, often in mixed flocks with closely related species. • The tips of my feathers disintegrate forming a powder down, giving me a soft, well-groomed appearance. This characteristic is also found in other members of my genus. • I’m a highly social bird, often found roosting together in tight groups at night, or during storms or cold weather. • My face and chin are black, with deep blue-grey upperparts, and my lower breast to undertail is a rich chestnut brown. My underwings and undertail are a pale grey. • I have a very distinctive white eyebrow, and a slightly downward curved blue-grey bill.
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Kind regards,
The BirdLife Castlemaine Committee
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Quiz Answers
Question 1: The Australian men’s hockey team is named the Kookaburras.
Question 2: Clockwise from top left – Flame Robin, Grey Fantail, Rufous Whistler, White-browed Woodswallow.
Question 3: White-browed Woodswallow.
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