Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Dear Supporter,
Happy New Year and welcome to our first eNews for 2025!
This month’s issue includes details of our upcoming February walk and Breakfast with the Birds in Muckleford, and February nature journaling. We’ve also got a look ahead to some of the walks, nature journaling sessions and events coming up this year, a wrap-up of the December walk and 2024 overall, Bird of the Month, and as always, don’t forget to test your bird knowledge with the Quiz!
We look forward to sharing the best of birding with you during 2025.
February Bird Walk and Breakfast with the Birds – Saturday 1 February – Red, White and Blue Mine, Muckleford
Our first BirdLife Castlemaine District Branch bird walk for 2025 will be held on Saturday 1 February at the Red, White and Blue Mine, Muckleford, preceded by Breakfast with the Birds. Please bring your own food, drinks, cutlery, table, chairs, etc. Breakfast can begin from 8:00am with the walk following from around 9:00am.
The Mine site is located in the in the Muckleford Nature Conservation Reserve. The habitat is open Box / Ironbark Forest, albeit degraded largely by mining in the 1800s, but many trees have regrown since that time. Recent sightings in the area include Common and Brush Bronzewing, Peaceful Dove, Sacred Kingfisher, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, White-browed Babbler, White-browed and Dusky Woodswallow, along with several species of Honeyeater, Thornbills and other common local species. Our walk leaders are Jenny Rolland and Euan Moore.
ALL WELCOME!
Please note there are no toilets at the site.
Where: We will meet at the Red, White and Blue Mine, Muckleford. From Castlemaine take the Pyrenees Highway (B180) toward Maldon. Approx. 4KM from the Castlemaine centre, turn right onto the Castlemaine-Maldon Rd (C282). Drive approx. 1.3KM and turn left onto the Muckleford School Rd. Drive approx. 4KM and turn left onto Bells Line Track. After 1.5KM you will see the Red, White and Blue Mine on the right.
GPS: -37.059764, 144.107606. Google Maps link here.
When: Meet at the Red, White and Blue Mine from 8:00am for breakfast; walk at 9:00am.
Bring / wear: Water, snacks, binoculars, sunscreen, hat, long trousers, sturdy closed-in shoes.
More info: Jane Rusden 0448 900 896, Bob Dawson 0417 621 691
https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore-location/115/red-white-and-blue-recreation-area/
Acknowledgment of Country
BirdLife Castlemaine acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands 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.
Important Information Regarding Weather
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, a Total Fire Ban is declared, or some other safety issue is identified. Please check our Facebook page or email castlemaine@birdlife.org.au the day before the event in case there is a cancellation.
We have some merch remaining from the Feathery Festival last spring, which we’ll be selling at upcoming bird walks. The t-shirts and totes are locally designed and printed, and feature our emblem, the Brown Treecreeper.
The tees and totes are $55 each, with all proceeds going to BirdLife Australia.
PLEASE NOTE WE ARE ONLY ABLE TO ACCEPT PAYMENTS IN CASH.
Enjoy a couple of hours sitting in the bush at Forest Creek, Castlemaine, exploring nature and recording what you observe. Led by artist and bird nut, Jane Rusden. No experience is necessary and beginners are very welcome.
What to bring / wear:
– Wear long trousers, long sleeve shirt and sturdy shoes, for sun and snake protection, and a sunhat. Please note we will be on rough bush tracks, occasionally off track and will walk up to a few hundred meters, possibly carrying your art materials.
– 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.
– Water and snacks.
– Your sense of curiosity.
When and where: Sunday 2 February from 9:30am – 11:30am. Forest Creek-Moonlight Creek junction.
Park near 175-191 Happy Valley Rd, Castlemaine. Park beside the road near the Creek, and please don’t block gates.
We will walk 500m down Moonlight Creek to our drawing spot, looking at nature as we go.
GPS: -37.06624, 144.23330
Forest Creek near the junction of Moonlight Creek, watercolour and crayon, by Jane Rusden.
Nature Journaling Campout
Our 2025 Nature Journaling Weekend Campout will be held on 24 and 25 May. The location and details will be provided as soon as possible.
Rainbow Bird Walk
We are very excited to announce that we’ve teamed up with Castlemaine Pride, Connecting Country and BirdLife Australia to hold our very first Rainbow Bird Walk on Saturday 17 May.
The location is being finalised, but it will be close to Castlemaine. We’ll provide more details soon.
Rainbow Bee-eater pair, Newstead. Photo by Jane Rusden.
Some much-needed rain cleared just in time for our last bird walk for 2024. Thanks to Peter and Rosemary Turner for leading the walk at the Barkers Creek Reservoir, Harcourt.
Twenty-nine birders enjoyed a pleasant morning observing birds (the full list can be found here), and then gathered for an end-of-year morning tea where Jane Rusden, Convenor of BirdLife Castlemaine District provided the following summary of the year’s activities.
BirdLife Castlemaine District (BCD) activities this year have been well attended and 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, 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 BirdLife Australia (BLA) 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 list now has nearly 400 subscribers and our revamped webpage 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, and 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.
We are looking forward to another action-packed year!
Jane had a recent encounter with a Wedgie sailing over her head at tree top height, perhaps on its way to munch on a dead kangaroo in a neighbour’s paddock. This month we take a look at this captivating and iconic raptor.
Read more about this fascinating bird here.
Wedge-tailed Eagle. Photo by Jane Rusden.
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
From the following list of Australian honeyeaters, which three species are endemic to the state of Tasmania? Choose from the list of six below.
1. Crescent Honeyeater 2. Strong-billed Honeyeater 3. Gilbert’s Honeyeater 4. Black-headed Honeyeater 5. Yellow-throated Honeyeater 6. Black-chinned Honeyeater
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 9.5 to 11 centimetres in length. • I’m found in every mainland Australian state and territory, but not in Tasmania. • My diet consists mostly of mistletoe berries, but I will also catch insects. • I’m found mostly in woodlands and forests; anywhere mistletoe grows. • My nest is a silky, pear-shaped nest with a slit-like entrance, made from matted plant down and spider webs, which I suspend from a twig in the outer foliage of a tree. • I have a swift erratic flight; I can be seen moving singly or in pairs high in the top canopy of the treetops. • Males have a glossy blue-black head, wings and upperparts, a bright red throat and chest, a white belly with a central dark streak and a bright red undertail. Females are grey above, white below, with a grey streak on the belly, and a paler red undertail. • I am the only Australian member of the flowerpecker family.
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Kind regards,
The BirdLife Castlemaine Committee
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