The

Golden Whistler

Volume 8 Number 6 June 2019

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

The president is experiencing technical difficulties

with her wifi while travelling in NSW but has left

instructions for the inaugural:

Golden Bird Photo Competition

Pictures should to be of recognisable Australian

bird species

Pictures need be submitted on 10cm × 10cm

sized photo paper

Completion is open to all members, experts and

beginners all

Entry is limited two pictures per photographer

Each entrant will be allocated a number, for

unbiased judging

Photos to be ready and handed in at November

meeting Saturday 23rd

Results will be announced at Christmas Lunch

21st December and published in Newsletter in

the New Year

The prize will be unlimited bragging and small

golden bird statue

NEXT OUTING

DATE: Saturday 27th July

TOPIC: Panyyabyr Landcare Woodland Bird

Surveys, followed by excursion to & opening of

Walker Swamp Bird Hide

MET: Off The Rails Dunkeld, Skene St corner with

Stirling St, Dunkeld

TALK TIME: 9am

WALKERS SWAMP: 11 - 11:30am met at Walker

Swamp beside Lynches Crossing Rd

BRING: Morning tea to share, lunch and suitable

clothing for trip out to possible wet conditions at

Walkers Swamp

CONTACT: Dave Nichols 0407 321 747 or Greg

Kerr 0418 846 993 for Walker Swamp

Outings will be cancelled on days of

Total Fire Ban, Extreme Heat and

other Hazadous Weather condition

CONTENTS:

2. & 3 Camp Report & Bird List

4. Sightings

5. Members Report

6. Local activities & Quiz

7. Up Coming Events & Letter from CEO

8. UNESCO Report

BirdLife Hamilton monthly newsletter, Editor Samantha Greiner 0428 395 773

Minimay Camp Report

2 June 2019

Most members had arrived at camp during the early

afternoon of Friday; some then ventured into the

woodland around Ben's Swamp, a short walk across

a paddock at Langley Lodge. Although the swamp

area was dry the Buloke and Grey Box Woodland

had some northern Victorian bird species making

use of the habitat. Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters

made a nice change from their more common

cousins the White-plumed Honeyeater, a flock of

Yellow-rumped Thornbills foraging in trees had us a

little confused about their identification and to finish

a very active female Red-capped Robin lead us

around one section of the woodland.

After our evening meal members enjoyed some

friendly competition with Birdy Bingo, brilliantly

hosted by Sue Mason. The object of the game was

to get two lines of bird pictures covered on your

bingo card, with bird species from all over the

world. This made it both educational and

entertaining; I think we all learned some new

species that night. With a small chocolate prize on

offer for the winner members could have played

onto the night but stopped after four games.

Langley Lodge © Kevin Williams

On Saturday morning members awoke to a crisp

white scene at on the Wimmera Plains of Victoria.

We started our day with a visit to the Bank Australia

conservation property just off the Kaniva Edenhope

Road. Jess Gardner, from Greening Australia, met

us at the gate and then lead us into camp, where

the team who where planting Buloke, Allocasuarina

luehmannii, had a welcome camp fire going. Jess

explained that the Minimay property was Purchased

in 2008 and covers 525 hectares. Wendy

McDonald's report, on page 5, has more details

about this property and organisation.

After listening to Jess and warming ourselves beside

the camp fire we walked through some of the

Buloke & Yellow Gum Woodland areas to investigate

the bird life within them. As usual our group soon

split up into smaller collections of people trying to

identify and take pictures of the bird life we where

hearing or seeing. Members had success with

correctly identifying Hooded Robin, Diamond

Firetail, Yellow Thornbills, Golden Whistler White-

fronted Honeyeaters and many Spotted Pardalotes.

After rounding up the tail end bird watchers, we

enjoyed a hot cup of tea and chat with the

volunteer tree planters back at the camp fire. The

planting crew then went off to plant a couple of 100

trees and we went bird searching for another hour.

This time we found a family of White-browed

Babblers to play hide and seek with amongst the

shrubs which had grown from a direct seeding

project. Other people reported finding Variegated

Fairy-wren, Eastern Yellow Robin and Southern

White-faces to add to the site list, which reached 47

species.

After lunch, back at the lodge, we then went west

to visit Morea State Forest off Peter Mulraney's Rd.

While creeping along looking for an entry point into

the reserve, we spotted a single Scarlet Robin on

the fence of a paddock. After everyone got some

lovely shots of the robin we shifted the cars off the

road because we had also found a track into the

forest.

Sally observed that the forest seemed to be alive

with yellow birds; mostly they were a large group

of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters with a couple of

Yellow-plumed Honeyeater thrown in to keep

people on their toes. But by far the most exciting

find was three Painted Button-quail, which kept

quietly moving ahead of us giving us a glimpse

every now and then.

Painted Button-quail © Kevin Williams

With another frosty morning waiting for us on

Sunday we decided to start the day at 9:30am. The

gathered members were given instructions for the

day and we headed out the gate right on time.

However we did not arrive at our destination a

mere 7min down the road but instead found

ourselves in Frances across the South Australia

boarder! With Sunday's paper and a full tank of

petrol on board, the lead car was soon back in

control. Getting everyone safely to Tallageira

Nature Conservation Reserve on Apsley Road, back

in Victoria.

Continued on pg 3

Minimay Camp Report Continued

June 2019 3

At this stop the reserve was predominantly Brown

Stringybark with an understory of flowering Desert

Banksia, consequently it was dominated by lots of

noisy New Holland Honeyeaters. In some of the

quite areas people did get to see Rufous Whistler,

Striated Thornbill and Eastern Yellow Robin.

It was then off to very late morning tea and early

lunch beside Lake Bringalbert or Bring-a-bert as

some kept saying. We enjoyed sitting beside the

lake, the sun on our backs, watching the antics of

the resident Australian Shelduck which were trying

to deffend their patch of water. Eurasian Coots

grazing on the shoreline looked like a flock of

domestic black chooks, until they raced back into

the water when disturbed!

Golden Whistler © Robyn Logan

With a very short club meeting after lunch,

reminding members of upcoming activities, the

camp contingent waved good bye to the nine

members that left that afternoon. We then had a

short walk around the northern edge of the lake to

find a lovely stand of Silver Banksia on a sand dune.

Little and Red Wattlebirds where making use of the

prolific flowing of this mini forest of Banksia.

The Masons, Williams and I then made our way

back to Langley Lodge via Lake Charlegrark which

was very quiet both for campers and bird life. We

finished our day with a couple of rounds of Birdy

Bingo after tea, eating more chocolate prizes and

knowing we did not have to be ready to leave until

10am.

Thank you to all the participants for braving the

frosty winter condition on camp. I hope you all

enjoyed this northern setting as much as I did. On

my way home I found another camp spot for a

future camp weekend but during May or October!

Lake Ratzcaste.

Samantha Greiner

CAMP WEEKEND BIRD LIST

Spotted Pardalote © Charlotte Davis

Musk Duck Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Black Swan Buff-rumped Thornbill

Australian Shelduck Brown Thornbill

Australian Wood Duck Southern Whiteface

Australasian Shoveler Spotted Pardalote

Pacific Black Duck Striated Pardalote

Hardhead Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Australasian Grebe White-eared Honeyeater

Common Bronzewing Yellow-plumed Honeyeater

Crested Pigeon White-plumed Honeyeater

White-faced Heron White-fronted Honeyeater

Straw-necked Ibis Noisy Miner

Yellow-billed Spoonbill Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Black-shouldered Kite Little Wattlebird

Whistling Kite Red Wattlebird

Black Kite White-fronted Chat

Brown Goshawk New Holland Honeyeater

Wedge-tailed Eagle Brown-headed Honeyeater

Nankeen Kestrel White-naped Honeyeater

Brown Falcon White-browed Babbler

Black Falcon Golden Whistler

Eurasian Coot Rufous Whistler

Black-fronted Dotterel Grey Shrike-thrush

Masked Lapwing Australian Magpie

Painted Button-quail Grey Currawong

Silver Gull Grey Fantail

Galah Willie Wagtail

Long-billed Corella Australian Raven

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Forest Raven

Rainbow Lorikeet Little Raven

Musk Lorikeet Magpie-lark

Purple-crowned Lorikeet White-winged Chough

Crimson Rosella Jacky Winter

Eastern Rosella Scarlet Robin

Red-rumped Parrot Red-capped Robin

Laughing Kookaburra Hooded Robin

White-throated Treecreeper Eastern Yellow Robin

Brown Treecreeper Silvereye

Superb Fairy-wren Welcome Swallow

Variegated Fairy-wren Common Blackbird

White-browed Scrubwren Common Starling

Weebill Mistletoebird

Striated Thornbill Diamond Firetail

Yellow Thornbill Total 87 Species

Sightings

4 June 2019

Annie Carmichael

Burkes Parrot & Banded Lapwing, Alroy Station, Cunnamulla, 27.06.19

Tree Martins & Australian Hobby hunting martins, 200km west of Cunnamulla, Qld, 30.6.19

Rhonda Holdsworth

2 Spotted Pardalote, with the male ending up in the car, Duncans Rd, Cavendish, 03.07.19

40 Black Swans on Wannon River flood plain, North

Cavendish, 10.07.19 Marie Greiner

Juvenile Collared Sparrowhawk with House Sparrow

breakfast, sat on back veranda to eat which scared the pants of the two indoor house birds, Church Hill,

Hamilton, 06.07.19 Samantha Greiner

Arborline Nursery, Hamilton

2 White-necked Heron out in back paddock, 12.06.19

1 Grey Goshawk (white morph) being seen off by local Australian Magpie, Little Raven & Masked Lapwings,

13.06.19 2 Peregrine Falcon circling over park beside Lake

Hamilton, 28.06.19

Southern Boobook, roosting in garden tree, old Anglican Church Manse, Hamilton, 30/06/19

Wendy & Peter McDonald

White-bellied Sea Eagle overhead at 2.45pm on a day of extreme weather with wind, rain and hail, Yulecart, 18.06.19

Dave Nichols

Flame Robin Victoria Point, Southern Grampians,

22.05.19

Jackie Winter & Scarlet Robin, Victoria Point, Southern Grampians, 28.05.19

Wendy Radley

Grey Shrike-thrush, a pair of lovers who visit every year from May on wards. The male is very bold and hops along the windowsill all day, while his wife has much better manners and waits patiently for him, Kenny St,

Hamilton, July

10 Cattle Egret, congregating around about ½ dozen

steers, Branxholme, 09.07.19

Whistling Kites have returned, there were 4 in the paddock next door, possible 2 may have been almost fully grown juveniles, but I can’t be positive. They were all enjoying a feast of dead lamb carcass, Kenny St,

Hamilton, July Simone Stevenson

2 Red-capped Robin, Beveridges Rd, Hamilton, 24.06.19

Lots of Flame Robins, Clearys Rd, Hamilton, 24.06.19

Jo Tully

Gang Gang Cockatoo, when last sighted the 50 strong Subpar-crested Cockatoo mob were emphatically chasing the Gang Gangs from the safety of the native forest reserve to the roadside trees, Mt. Dundas, June

Kay & Kevin Williams

Tawny-crowned and White-fronted Honeyeater, Little Desert NP, 26.06.19

Members Report

June 2019 5

NOTES FROM VISIT TO BANK AUSTRALIA/GREENING AUSTRALIA PLANTING SITE MINIMAY

Bank Australia has about 1,000ha of conservation

reserve across 3 properties in the West Wimmera

area. They have identified 227 native plant species

and 270 native animal species that call these

reserves home. Bank Australia bought their first

property 10 years ago and has added more parcels

over 6 years. The three properties are: Minimay

525ha, Booroopki 166ha and Ozenkadnook 236ha,

we visited the Minimay site off the Kaniva Nhill

road.

They have been working for last 9 years to restore

the properties and learn about their unique ecology

so they can find the best ways to protect these

unique habitats. Working with partners Greening

Australia and Trust for Nature, Bank Australia wants

to see the reserve become a good example of

science-based conservation in action. With an

overall plan to create a corridor from the south

coast to the Murray River. The Minimay site is an

important stepping stone in this plan.

Unique to the reserves was the phenomenal natural

restoration of Bulokes. After the property was

purchased in 2009 and the sheep were removed the

weather patterns produced a flood in 2010. This

resulted in some fantastic Buloke recruitment.

Initial plantings were not as diverse as more recent

ones as initial focus was on carbon capture not

environmentally diversity. The focus is now on

habitat protection for species such as Red-tailed

Black Cockatoo. This is also the main focus for any

marketing. Trust for Nature hold covenants to

protect all the properties from development for all

time.

They are keen to see groups like us, BirdLife

Hamilton, keep visiting to help monitor bird species.

Recording any threatened species in any surveys

we take would provide ammunition against mining.

Initial biological habitat surveys have been done for

all sites but ongoing data is always needed and

welcomed.

Greening Australia won the tender to manage the

sites 4 years ago. They have written a 20 year

strategy for the reserve. Focal species include

Diamond Firetail, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo,

Bearded Dragon, Brown Treecreeper and Hooded

Robin. Rare plants that are being protected include

Buloke and Buloke Mistletoe.

Brown Treecreeper © Kevin Williams

The new calisivirus, the most recently released, has

kept rabbit numbers low. There are also foxes and

cats however Greening Australia is unsure how hard

to go on foxes as it might increase the numbers of

cats. But if there is no cat control there still needs

to be foxes control for neighbouring sheep farmers

at least. Nhill Sporting Shooters has been engaged

to do fox shots recently. There are not too many

weeds, although some weeds of note are Bridal

Creeper and Cape Tulip.

The next focus is on working with local aboriginal

groups to help them reconnect with their country.

This includes a cultural burn in a couple of week's

time; everyone is very interested to see their

approach. The area has possibly not been burnt

since settlement. Greening Australia is excited to

reintroduce this practice and monitor the results.

Wendy McDonald

Activities & Quiz

6 June 2019

BIRDLIFE HAMILTON

AUGUST

Saturday 24th Dunkeld

Sally Purnell 0407 865 545

SEPTEMBER

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATES

Saturday 28nd NOW 21st NORTHERN GRAMPIANS

Chris & Neil Scott

Saturday 28th changed to week of 16th

PFO BIRDS IN PLANTATION SURVEYS

Samantha Greiner plus interested volunteers

BIRDLIFE WARRNAMBOOL

AUGUST

Saturday 3rd

KELLY SWAMP/MERRI RIVER

Levy’s Beach car park at 9.00am

Werner Sinclair 0473 588 127

SEPTEMBER

Saturday 7th

MOUNT ECCLES (BUDJ BIM) NATIONAL PARK

National Park car park at 10.00am

Lynn Brown 0407 844 485

BIRDLIFE HORSHAM

AUGUST

Sunday 4th

LAKE FYANS & LAKE LONSDALE

SEPTEMBER

Sunday 1st

BLACK RANGE, MT TALBOT, RED ROCK RESERVE

Contact Deidre Andrews M 0402 317 142

Please meet at the Horsham Library, 28 McLachlan

St, at 8:30am unless otherwise informed; bring

morning tea and lunch, binoculars and wear

appropriate outdoor gear. Please note subject to

change due to seasonal variability.

Diamond Fire-tail, Minimay © Peter McDonald

BRAIN TEASER OF THE MONTH

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION: which three bird

groups evolved in Australia? one small clue is that

all three names start with the letter 'P'

THIS MONTH’S ANSWER: I think the nesting

Falcon at Muckleford, Vic sent in by Sally Purnell, is

a Ford XM Falcon Futura sedan. If you know better

please let me know.

BIRDSWING BIRDING & WILDLIFE TOURS

PORT FAIRY PELAGIC TOURS 2019

Pelagic Dates for 2019 are:

September 8th

October 20th

November 17th

December 15th

Cost is $180-00 if the boat is full it is $170-00

MERIMBULA & INTO VICTORIAN WATERS

PELAGIC

Sunday 24 November 2019 Taking bookings

Tour Cost: $260AUD per person

Number of Passengers: 40

Facilities: Tea/Coffee available on board. Proper

toilet fitted.

Accommodation: Additional to cost of tour.

Merimbula has plenty of accommodation please

contact the local visitor information centre for more

details on 1800 150 457.

Meals: All meals on boat provided as part of the

cost of the tour – dietary requirements to be

advised at time of paying deposit.

Up Coming Event & News From BirdLife Australia

June 2019 7

RED GUM FESTIVAL

Dear Vendors and Environmental exhibitors,

Thank you for your attendance and support at our

1st Red Gum Festival. Despite the weather

conditions endured that weekend, we were

overwhelmed with the support and success we

believed we achieved under trying conditions.

We estimate around 800 people attended and are

currently working hard to ensure the next festival

will be everything and more on the last one.

We have set our date for the 2nd Festival for

Saturday April 4th, 2020. Stalls will be $40 once

again, and can be entered online at the

cavendishredgumfestival.com website.

The closing date for vendor applications is February

8th, 2020, and an email with an attached invoice

will be sent after this.

Please Note: Your site will not be booked until

payment has been made.

Thank you for your ongoing support, we hope to see

you on April 4th.

You can visit our Facebook page for regular

updates, and queries can be sent via email.

Kind Regards,

Cavendish Red Gum Festival

Development Group Inc.

Please mark this date in your diaries.

As the Development Group has stated even with the

trying conditions they had good numbers of people

attending with some positive feedback. As stall

holders we also enjoyed some very positive

responses and many visitors to our corner of the

Uniting Church Hall.

In 2020 we hope to join up with Hamilton Field

Naturalist to share one site. We will also plan to

have birding walks along the Wannon, making sure

they are factored into the Festival program so they

don't clash with other activities along the river.

BirdLife Hamilton

Committee of Management

Hello everyone,

Today, 05.07.19, the World Heritage Committee

inscribed phase 1 of China’s nomination for the Yellow

Sea/Bohai Bay ecosystem in Baku, Azerbaijan. It’s

terrific game-changing news for Australia’s

endangered migratory shorebirds and all the

passionate conservationists who have been working

for their survival for many years.

BirdLife released a media statement today

congratulating the Australian Government for moving

amendments which saved the nomination from being

deferred, or lost forever, while maintaining its

technical integrity. Thank you Erin for all your efforts

today on what was supposed to be your day off.

But there is so much more to say.

I remember when I first started at BirdLife, Alison

Russell-French took me to one side and explained the

crash in migratory shorebird populations and the

bottleneck in the Yellow Sea mudflats, which were

being reclaimed for industry. Even as a newbie I could

see these birds were in big trouble and I must admit

to holding a real soft spot for these wonders of

nature.

China’s moratorium on coastal reclamation and

today’s inscription didn’t happen by accident. It is the

culmination of research, advocacy and diplomacy in

the East Asian Australasian Flyway over many decades

led by BirdLife’s Australasian Wader Study Group

(AWSG). Thank you Doug and all our AWSG members.

Protection of the Yellow Sea is a top priority in

BirdLife’s migratory shorebirds program. Grainne and

the growing Coastal Birds team, AWSG and many

hundreds of volunteers work relentlessly to survey

shorebirds, improve site management, provide advice

at bilateral meetings and fight the destruction of

important wetlands.

Today’s decision also reflects the strength of BirdLife’s

global partnership. BirdLife International mobilised 62

NGOs (including BirdLife Australia) and experts from

around the world, to co-sign a letter to the World

Heritage Committee members, and speak to the

delegations in Baku, urging a decision, today, for

inscription under criterion (x) with conditions.

BirdLife Australia hopes this decision will help to

expedite the inscription of other important sites in

South Korea next year, China in 2022 and, hopefully,

North Korea.

It shows what governments can do when they work

with NGOs and lead.

I hope you join us celebrating this achievement.

Paul Sullivan

CEO BirdLife Australia

News From UNESCO

8 June 2019

HOW WAS THE MAZE AT YELLOW SEA LISTED AS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE?

By Zhao Ying 06-Jul-2019

news.cgtn.com/news/2019-07-06/How-was-the-maze-at-Yellow-Sea-listed-as-a-UNESCO-World-Heritage--I5wHOqOXLy/index.html

The silt brought by the Yangtze and Yellow rivers

has accumulated in the Yellow Sea wetland in

Yancheng City, a prefecture-level city in east

China's Jiangsu Province for thousands of years.

The treacherous ocean currents and tides together

shape a distinctive landform — the radial sand

ridge.

Known as the maze at sea, the radial sand ridge in

Yancheng, occupying an area of around 20,000

square kilometers, remains a land of mystery to

fishermen. The unpredictable waters have deterred

people from developing it, becoming, with time, a

natural wonderland for millions of migratory birds to

rest and forage.

Joy after twists and turns

China's Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast

of the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf (Phase I) were added

to the UNESCO's World Heritage List as a natural

site on Friday. The Yellow Sea wetland in Yancheng

is where the first phase of the project is located.

"Among the 16 nominated components in the

project, the two components in Yancheng account

for 42 percent of the total area of all nominated

property. The greater protection of Yellow Sea

wetland in Yancheng would mobilize the

surrounding cities to follow suit," said Cao Lubao,

the mayor of Yancheng City, who is attending the

43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage

Committee in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Looking back, the process of application was full of

twists and turns, recalled Cao. Although the current

conservation efforts in the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf

were appreciated by specialists from the

International Union for Conservation of Nature

(IUCN), the organization recommended that the

World Heritage Committee defers the nomination in

May following evaluation.

But 18 members of the committee, led by Australia,

joined hands to propose an amendment, insisting to

inscribe the first phase of the project on the World

Heritage List. Sixty-two International organizations

also opposed the IUCN's evaluations and considered

the delay detrimental to the protection of the Yellow

Sea-Bohai Gulf.

Thanks to international support, the decision to add

the Chinese natural site to the List was unanimously

supported by all members of the World Heritage

Committee.

A well-preserved wetland ecosystem

Every year, millions of migratory birds on the East

Asian-Australian flyway make a stopover in the

Yellow Sea wetland. The mudflat in Yancheng, with

an area of 0.77 million hectares, is a paradise for

endangered birds, such as spoon-billed sandpipers

and red-crowned cranes.

The establishment of the Yancheng Wetland Rare

Birds National Nature Reserve and Dafeng Milu

Deer National Nature Reserve in the early 1980s

has prevented the wetlands from being exploited

for economic gains, said professor Lei Guangchun,

the dean of the School of Nature Conservation at

Beijing Forestry University and vice chairman of the

National Wetland Science Committee.

According to his research on coastal wetland,

although reclaiming wetland is an expensive job,

the huge economic benefits out of such an

operation leads people to heavily invest in this

area.

In the past 50 years, around 66 percent of

intertidal wetlands in the Yellow Sea have

disappeared, causing significant losses to

biodiversity in the region. The urgency to protect

China's coast of Bohai Gulf (Bay) and Yellow Sea

has guided the World Heritage application.

The Yellow Sea wetland in Yancheng is considered

the best preserved wetland along the coast. Every

December, 40 to 80 percent of the world's red-

crowned cranes land in the region in preparation to

spend the winter here. The Tiaozini area later

added to the Phase I project is a critical habitat for

the spoon-billed sandpiper, whose global population

is estimated to be between 240 and 456.

Besides, the world's largest group of wild milu deer

with a population of 1,350 roams in the region.

They tread and feed on the annoying smooth

cordgrass, which is an invasive plant that

encroaches on the living space of local plants like

Suaeda salsa. Such local plants, in which birds find

shelter, are protected by the milu deer.

Now, the free-ranging area of Dafeng Milu Deer

National Nature Reserve welcomes the largest flock

of migratory birds, according to professor Lei. The

well-preserved wetland ecosystem in the region

makes it the wonderland for wildlife.