Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Dear Supporter,
Welcome to the October 2020 eNews. We hope you are all staying safe and well during this ongoing challenging time and enjoying some springy (and wet) weather.
Read on for the latest news and updates, test your bird knowledge with our quiz, and meet our Bird of the Month!
Birdwatching for Beginners
Connecting Country is running a free ‘Birdwatching for Beginners’ event on Saturday 17 October, with local author and bird enthusiast Damian Kelly. The event aims to attract new birdwatchers and bird survey volunteers, and get people out enjoying and exploring the natural assets we are blessed with in central Victoria.
Bird watching is a great activity that almost everyone can enjoy. The COVID-19 lockdown period has seen a ten-fold increase in the number of new birdwatchers around the country, with a similar trend here in central Victoria. People are craving nature and the outdoors, prompting them to navigate their way through the maze that is bird watching and enjoying the challenges of how to differentiate some of the trickier species.
For more details and booking, click here.
Aussie Backyard Bird Count Webinar
BirdLife Castlemaine District and Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club have arranged an online meeting on Wednesday 14 October at 7:30 pm, to be presented by Tanya Loos, BirdLife Australia.
Join Tanya on a walk through Australia’s largest annual bird count – the Aussie Backyard Bird Count. Now in its 7th year, this event is especially catered to the beginner birdwatcher. Tanya will discuss how to get involved, how the count relates to BirdLife Australia’s conservation and advocacy work, and finally some tips on bird identification and FAQ.
Held between 19–25 October, the Aussie Backyard Bird Count is a great way to connect with the birds in your backyard, no matter where your backyard happens to be. You can count in a suburban backyard, a local park, a patch of forest, down by the beach, or the main street of town. In fact, you don’t even have to leave home, making it the ultimate COVID-safe activity!
Last year’s count revealed a distinct southward trend of birds such as White-winged Triller and Crimson Chat, due to an irruption of dry country species into Vic.
To register for the webinar and receive the link, please email Peter Turner at munrodsl@iinet.net.au
For more information about the Aussie Backyard Bird Count, click here.
We’re really excited to bring you the second BirdLife Castlemaine District Know Your Birds Quiz! Test your bird knowledge with the four questions below, then check the answers at the end of this eNews. Big thanks to quizmaster Ash Vigus.
Question 1 (Beginner): Multiple Choice
We have four species of Pardelote in Australia:
1. Spotted Pardalote 2 .Forty Spotted Pardalote 3. Striated Pardalote 4. Red-browed Pardalote
Which two species of the four listed are commonly found in the Castlemaine district?
Question 2 (Intermediate): Who am I?
• I’m a seasonal Visitor to the Castlemaine district, arriving in late winter / early spring, and departing for northern climates in autumn. • I like to spend the majority of my day in the mid to upper canopy of treetops. • Often heard, I have a distinctive call, but I’m seldom seen. • I have a Citrine red bill and eyes. • I’m approximately 26 to 28 cm in length. • My colours are predominantly olive-green upper parts with a streaked cream-coloured underside.
Question 3 (Advanced): Image Puzzle
The bird photograph below has been scrambled. Using your bird identification skills, attempt to unpuzzle the image and identify the species. The unpuzzled image will be available with the solutions at the bottom of the newsletter.
Bonus Question 4 (Super-obscure)
One of our more conspicuous and widely loved birds, the Australian Magpie plays a part in most Australian lives, whether waking us in the morning as part of the dawn chorus or terrorising us in spring on our daily commute! The scientific name for the Australian Magpie is “Cracticus Tibicen”. What is the meaning of the word “Tibicen”?
Spotted!
In last month’s eNews we asked you to let us know how you have been enjoying birds in lockdown. Sue Boekel got in touch with the following story:
“When is a Grey Butcherbird a Long-billed Corella?
Being locked down in suburban Melbourne might not be all bad. At the beginning of June, I was outside in the backyard instead of in the gym, performing exercises in the weak, winter sunshine. I was accompanied by our resident Grey Butcherbird, Craciticus torquatus, such a bold boy as he perched on a nearby garden stake in the veggie garden. Plenty of insects wafted about which he often caught on the wing, with a resounding snap of his large, strong beak.
Each year there seems to be a different species dominating our area and this season, it was Grey Butcherbird. They are usually calling in the nearby wetlands, but this year, they have moved into backyards. The males are slightly larger than the females but both have the striking black and white markings. It’s the juveniles which are brown and fawn overall with similar adult patterning.
My introduction to the Grey Butcherbird was as a young child. My brother had two Budgerigar which he kept caged. At times they were placed outside on the terrace but we arrived home one day to find them at the bottom of the cage with peck marks around their necks. My Dad quickly chose the Butcherbird as the culprit possibly due to the hook at the end of its long, straight beak to skewer prey.
Although territorial, I haven’t heard them about lately so they must have moved elsewhere to nest. The backyard is being ‘patrolled’ by a pair of Little Wattlebird and I have just heard the call of an Eastern Koel….
But back to the backyard gym; I heard the familiar beautiful, melodic warbling Butcherbird call from a tall native Frangipani tree, but wait! I was mistaken as I now heard a Common Myna, now a Eurasian Blackbird, now a Noisy Miner, a Magpie-lark, Long-billed Corella, Australian Magpie, Rainbow Lorikeet and more, all flowing out of the beak of a Grey Butcherbird! How amazing!! I felt privileged to be an audience to his clever repertoire.
It was a reminder to myself to always check to see exactly what is making a call before identifying the bird. I’ve recently heard a Brown Thornbill mimicking a Fan-tailed Cuckoo but that’s another story.
So, when is a Grey Butcherbird a Long-billed Corella? When it’s mimicking its call!”
Thanks Sue; we loved hearing about this.
Striated and Spotted Pardalotes can be seen, or more often heard, in a huge variety of habitats.
It is relatively easy to find them in the bush, but they will also visit gardens and parks. They are tiny, but if you look closely, you’ll see they are quite pretty … who’d have thought they’d be tunnel nesters. Click here to read more.
Photo: Ash Vigus
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Kind regards,
The BirdLife Castlemaine Committee
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Quiz Answers
Question 1: Spotted Pardalote and Striated Pardalote.
Question 2: Olive-backed Oriole.
Question 3: Australian Pipit, a common species found in the paddocks and open country throughout the Castlemaine district (photos by Ash Vigus).
Question 4: Tibicen translates to the Latin word for flautist or Piper.
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