Bass Coast Flyer In this edition of the Flyer you will meet Sue Woolley, BLBC’s new secretary, read outing reports, find out the dates of BirdlIfe Bass Coast special activites and read some interesting articles - Birds On Farms, a Naidoc story, survey results from a survey at Cape Paterson and have the chance to vote to support the Corinella Wetlands project. BLBC is a member of the 3mFM community and all activities are listed on their calendar. We hope to be more active in this space this next year. Also you will find some useful websites to help with bird identification. There are opportunities for you to join the committee, to report on conservation issues in your community or to provide local news for the newsletter. Please keep in touch and keep the committee informed. Penny Manning. Editor. Convenor’s Report Well, what a big time it's been for BirdLife Bass Coast since our last newsletter. At the A.G.M. all executive positions were filled. Penny Manning was re-elected as treasurer, I retained the convenor position, Dallas Wyatt declined re-election as secretary and Sue Woolley has now filled this position. A big thank you to Dallas for all the hard work he has done in the past year. Fortunately Dallas remains on the committee as do Nola Thorpe and Gordon Barrett. A very big thank you to long time committee members John Adam and Helen Dennis who have both resigned. Their contributions to the committee meetings will be sorely missed. We still have vacancies on the committee and we would like to hear from you if you are interested. As convenor I have represented the BLBC at the P.I N.P Community and Environment Advisory Committee meetings and at their 30 Year Conservation Plan workshops. These are great to keep up with the activities and future plans of the Nature Parks.They were also great platforms for our club to express any concerns we have for the birds of Phillip Island. At a Bass Coast Council function I attended I made contact with Sharna from local community radio station 3mFM and hopefully in the near future we can use this station to exchange information about the birds in the Bass Coast area and also to better advertise our events. On the bird front, the mystery bird from the Venus Bay outing would appear to have been a Common Greenshank. The most unusual visitor we have had in our area was a Spangled Drongo in Rhyll. Also of interest has been a Darter in the Shearwater housing estate in Cowes. As always, happy birding and keep an eye out for the robins. Gil Smith. August 2018 1 birds are in our nature Bass Coast Flyer Meet Sue Woolley – BLBC Secretary Hi, my name is Sue Woolley, and I have just taken over from Dallas Wyatt as the Secretary of BirdLife Bass Coast. My husband, Neil and I moved from Melbourne to Cape Woolamai on beautiful Phillip Island about 18 months ago. We moved into our holiday house of 15 years, and have been gradually renovating it. We have an IT business together, specialising in business analysis and technical writing, which we now run out of our home office. We are gradually winding the business down, with a view to retiring soon. I have always been interested in birds, but until recently work, family and life in general always dropped birdwatching down the priority list so that it almost always fell off the bottom. When we moved down to Cape Woolamai, I was finally able to push birdwatching right up the priority list, and I joined BirdLife Bass Coast and started to attend outings. It has been a wonderful experience, meeting fellow “bird nerds”, getting out in the bush and seeing lots of the local Bass Coast area I probably wouldn’t have known about otherwise. I am also starting to merge my photography hobby with birdwatching, and am building up my library of bird images. I often just take quick photos for identification purposes, but I also want to eventually be able to get crisp, clear images of birds. It’s a very long term aim! The nice thing about birds is that they are absolutely everywhere. I can walk out of my house and do a 20 minute survey and record at least 15 different species. And there is always something new to learn. A wonderful hobby – it has been worth the long wait! “It's amazing what you can achieve when your bird is quite big and sits still for a long Southern Boobook taken by Sue Woolley on a recent Birds on time!” Sue. Farm survey. August 2018 2 birds are in our nature Bass Coast Flyer Birds on Farms Workshop More volunteers needed in the Gippsland region BirdLife Australia’s Birds on Farms project engages farmers and local communities to monitor woodland birds on farms and other rural properties across Victoria (new properties, as well as farms surveyed previously as part of the original Birds on Farms project back in the 1990s). The findings will help us evaluate the ecological condition of farms, inform management and identify priority sites for wildlife conservation, and produce guidelines for increasing woodland bird diversity in rural areas. It also supports landholders to obtain a better knowledge and appreciation of the birds and their habitats within their properties. Currently there are five properties where Birdlife Bass Coast (BLBC) members are assisting landholders with surveys but there are more landholders in the Gippsland region interested in being involved than we have birdwatchers to assist them. We are therefore seeking experienced birdwatching volunteers to help with surveys on participating properties. The monitoring program involves systematic bird surveys on participating farms, which are carried out at up to four 20 minute/2 hectare survey plots every three months. I would love to hear from you if you are interested in assisting with surveys at one or more properties. I can provide you with some more information about what is involved. We can provide materials such as bird identification booklets for you and the landholder to help with surveys. It’s an opportunity to contribute to this important conservation project, and to also watch birds within areas that are inaccessible to the general public. Who knows what you’ll find? If you’re interested, contact email Chris Timewell at [email protected] or phone him on (03) 9347 0757 ext 234) or contact BLBC via email at [email protected] Outing Report Dalyston Rail Trail Outing. On what had be one of the few wet places in the Bass Coast, 12 very dedicated birdos braved the horrible conditions to walk the rail trail from Wonthaggi to Dalyston. There were 4 first timers and 2 regular visitors from Melbourne / Tenby Point. A big thank you to Rod and Gordon who left their cars at Dalyston, so we only had to walk one way. Despite the inclement weather 38 species were recorded. The highlights were approximately 200 Pink-eared Ducks at the water treatment plant, a beautiful male and 3 female Flame Robins, and a Barn Owl which was flushed out from under one of the old rail bridges. It was easily watched as it was harassed by a family of magpies. Probably the highlight of the day was jumping into Rod’s warm, dry car to be driven back to our own cars. Gil Smith. August 2018 3 birds are in our nature Bass Coast Flyer Date Location Leader Saturday May 12. 10 am. AGM. Chisholm Room, Koala Conservation Contact: [email protected] Following is a story by John Peter BLA Senior Writer for the recent Centre. Phillip Island Tourist Rd. Phillip Island. Naidoc week … Friday May 25. 2.00pm. Fishers Wetland, Samuel Amess Drive, Contact: Gil 0416 118 393 Churchill Island. Parking area on left hand [email protected] side of road. Saturday June 9. 10.00am. Wonthaggi-Dalyston Rail Trail. Park at Guide Contact: Gil 0416 118 393 Why the Grey Shrike-thrush whistles Park, South Dudley Road, Wonthaggi. [email protected] Friday June 29. 2.00pm. Oswin Roberts Reserve, Harbison Road, Contact: Helen 0428 169 280 Phillip Island. [email protected] Saturday July 14. 10.00am Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria – Cranbourne Contact: John 5956 6903 The Grey Shrike-thrush is one of the best songsters of the Australian bush, and its far- Gardens. Ballarto Road Cranbourne. Meet at [email protected] reaching whistling call is a familiar part of the birdsong of many places. The Wotjobaluk people the Stringybark Picnic Area car park. of the Wimmera and Mallee districts of western and north-western Victoria know why it Friday July 27. 2.00pm. Summerlands Peninsula. Meet in the Flynns Contact: Penny 0400 591 915 Beach car park, 1019 Ventnor Rd., [email protected] whistles. Summerlands, Phillip Island. The Grey Shrike-thrush had two reliable hunting dogs. He would send them out to catch some Saturday August 11. Desalination Plant Wetlands, Wonthaggi. Contact: Gil 0416 118 393 10.00am Meet in the Desalination Plant car park off [email protected] food, then, at the end of the day, he’d climb a tree and whistle loudly to retrieve them. Being Lower Powlett Road, Wonthaggi. reliable, the dogs would always return quickly, usually with some possums or a wallaby or Friday August 31. 2.00pm Corinella Foreshore. Meet at the Rotunda, Contact: Jenny 0408 037 275 cnr Peters St. and The Esplanade, Corinella. [email protected] some other food for him to eat.