Activities are open to every member of Birds Australia. Some require camping, especially Rushworth and a few VWSG activities. Arrangements may change so please be sure to contact the organiser.

Should you have any ideas for an activity, especially leading one, please contact BA-Victoria’s Activities Coordinator, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , AH 03 9537 0107.

Monthly Meetings

BA-Vic meetings are held at 8.00pm on the second Thursday of each month, except January at the BA National Office. Each month there is a speaker, and an update on bird sightings and activities around Victoria.  Please join us at the Green Building, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton (Melways ref 2B 11D) in meeting rooms 1 & 2. Note that, when travelling east to west that there is no right turn at the junction of Leicester and Victoria Streets. Enjoy refreshments and a chat afterwards. Parking is easy and free & public transport is available.

Speakers

11 February 2010 Speaker: Ian Temby, DSE  'Changing cockatoo behaviour: living with cockatoos in Victoria'

11 March 2010 Speaker: Professor Andy Bennett, Deakin University Geelong Campus 'Why are Crimson Rosellas Yellow?'

8 April 2010 Speaker: Stuart Dashper, Convenor Birds Australia 'Birding in the Maluku Islands Indonesia'

13 May 2010 Speaker: Jo Oldland, Birds Australia 'Shorebirds 2020 - improving our ability to identify shorebird population trends in Australia'

Campouts in April 2010
2 - 4 April: BA-Vic Easter campout at BA’s Gluepot reserve. Join BA-Vic for some great mallee birding at Birds Australia very own property. This block of pristine mallee is known to contain Black-eared Miners, Malleefowl, Scarlet-chested Parrots and Red-lored Whistlers amongst other rarities. For further information contact James Dickson 0425 759 010 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

17-18 April: Campout in the Mt Buangor State Park with birding in the surrounding area including Mt Langi Ghiran State Park and Mt Cole SF.  The area has a variety of habitats ranging from box-ironbark to wet gullies and snow gum. Contact Euan Moore Ph 03 9827 5852 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ongoing Activities

BA-Vic Rushworth Banding Project:  Postponed until further notice.
Beach-nesting Birds project: Is recruiting volunteers for the Hooded Plover breeding season this spring/summer.  We are looking for volunteers interested in nest monitoring along the Victorian coast. In particular we are after volunteers in Gunnamatta, Portsea and St Andrews Beach (Mornington Peninsula), Breamlea and Pt Impossible (Bellarine Peninsula), Kilcunda (West Gippsland), Wild Dog Creek (Apollo Bay), Killarney (Far west Vic), and Port Fairy. We offer training to all new volunteers.  For more information on the project, visit www.birdsaustralia.com.au/beach, call Meghan Cullen on 9347 0757 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Devilbend Reservoir: Surveys on the second Tuesday of each month.  Meet at Graydens Road Picnic Ground (Mel Ref 152 J3) at 9am. Contact Roger Richards 9836 2670; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 
Fire Recovery Surveys: If you would like to participate in these surveys, please contact: Dean Ingwersen or Chris Tzaros at BANO 9347 0757; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Stuart Dashper; 9387 8734 (AH) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Friends of Royal Park bimonthly survey: 9-11am. Meet at the Trin Warren Tam-boore car park, Manningham Street, Parkville (Mel Ref 29 C12). Contact Nicole Spillane 9381 4179; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Important Bird Areas: For any questions regarding the IBA identification & designation project, please contact Scott Chambers; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For any questions regarding the IBA project contact Cheryl Gole, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Nest Record Scheme: volunteers needed to submit nest records, assist with data entry and analyse nest records, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 03 9347 0757.
NRM Bird Atlassing Project: volunteers required to survey revegetated landscapes at Glenelg Hopkins wetlands, the Mallee and North-east Vic around Chiltern. Check Birds Australia’s project website for details or contact Andrew Silcocks on 9347 0757; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Regent Honeyeater Project: Planting season at Lurg Hills near Benalla 5-6 & 19-20 September. Free Accommodation, Community dinner & BBQ. Contact Ray Thomas;  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 03 5761 1515 or view regenthoneyeater.org.au for more information.
Shorebirds 2020 Project: Shorebird Identification and Counting Workshop, Discovery Centre, Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Victoria, Saturday 14 November, 9am to 3pm. Contact Shorebirds 2020 at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 03 9347 0757 for more details or to register to attend. Ongoing counts Nov-Feb – see website for survey dates: http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/our-projects/shorebirds-2020.html.  Data-entry for shorebird 2008/2009 surveys at BANO - contact Rob Clemens; 9347 0757 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Woodland Birds for Biodiversity Project: For details on activities related to this project please contact Dean Ingwersen, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Chris Tzaros, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it on 9347 0757. For Regent Honeyeater sightings freecall 1800 621 056 and for Swift Parrot sightings 1800 665 766.
You Yangs Boneseed Control: You Yangs outings are mostly birding, but include an hour or so of serious bone-seed pulling. Participants should bring a trowel, gardening gloves, clothes for all weather, food and water, binoculars of course and anything else they might need, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 03 9889 4924.

TBN Activities

Australasian Bittern & Australian Little Bittern: Sightings, behaviour and habitat information appreciated. Contact Andrew Silcocks at BANO; 9347 0757 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Australian Painted Snipe: National surveys to be conducted 24-25 October 2009 and 30-31 Jan 2010. Contact Janelle Thomas at BANO; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Helmeted Honeyeater: Ongoing bird monitoring and database maintenance - contact Bruce Quinn; 03 5954 4010; 0412 576 646; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Nursery work at Yellingbo every Tuesday and Thursday and the first Saturday of each month – contact Michelle Faram; 5964 8341. Revegetation at Yellingbo on second Sunday of each month – contact Richard Case; 9720 4062.
Malleefowl: The Annual Malleefowl Monitoring Training Weekend will be held in Wyperfeld National Park on the 10th & 11th October 2009 – for details contact Ann Stokie; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Orange-bellied Parrot: Surveys to be held on 12-13 September – contact regional coordinators at www.birdsaustralia.com.au/our-projects/volunteer-to-help-obps.html
Port Phillip Bay Shorebird Monitoring: Ongoing surveys Jan – Feb 2010. Check website for upcoming survey dates: www.birdsaustralia.com.au/our-projects/port-phillip-bay-shorebird-monitoring.html or contact Ash Herrod at Birds Australia for further information; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For further information on Threatened Bird Network (TBN) activities contact the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at the BA National Office 03 9347 0757.

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Regent Honeyeater Project

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Surveys

BA-Victoria conduct a number of regular surveys.For Sites, Species Lists and Survey Details visit Birdline Victoria.

Devilbend

Roger Richards and a group of committed bird counters were given permission by Melbourne Water to enter the 1057ha reserve surrounding the decommissioned Devilbend and Bittern Reservoirs on the Mornington Peninsula to conduct monthly bird counts. The counts started in May 2004 and by February 2005 129 species had been recorded. Birds in the adjacent Woods Reserve are also recorded.

Waterbirds are counted using spotting scopes from set positions where the overall reservoir area can be observed. An estimate of total waterbird numbers is recorded. 45 waterbirds have been recorded including Blue-billed Duck and Great Crested Grebe. White-bellied Sea-Eagles have also been seen. Terrestrial birds are counted along a number of transects to obtain an abundance index. Incidental observations of flocks or individuals are added.

In January 2005, the Victorian Government announced that Devilbend Reserve would be transferred to Parks Victoria and  listed as a Conservation Park (Melways Ref Map 153 J3). Counts are held on the second Tuesday of each month. Anyone wishing to participate is requested to contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by email.

Eastern Treatment Plant

The Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) is usually surveyed on the fourth Sunday of the month. Surveyors drive around the entire plant in 4wds and attempt to count every bird detected. Being a working sewage plant with some designated conservation areas, but smaller than the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee, you can expect to encounter a wide range of birds, albeit in smaller numbers than at Werribee. For the beginner, this is an ideal place to start learning water birds, and how to count birds, since Mike and his associates will assist you in any way they can. Anyone can identify and count Black Swans can't they? The plant is not as actively managed for the birds as Werribee is, so from count to count we don't know what the next tank is likely to yield. Some surprising birds have turned up in the ponds: Painted Snipe, Yellow Wagtail, and all manner of waders.

Trust For Nature

Victorian Wader Studies Group

For Victorian Wader Studies Group (VWSG) activities make contact several days before the fieldwork date. Clive Minton 9589 4901 or Roz Jessop 03 5952 1857. For further details of field work dates see www.vicnet.net.au/~vwsg

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Portland Pelagics

Mike Carter, Rohan Clarke and Chris Lester have been organising pelagic trips from Port Fairy since 2001. Earlier in the year these trips had to be discontinued as our boat was unavailable due to the unfortunate illness of Gary, the owner. Gary is still ill and has had to sell his boat during this period.

We have found two boats that we can use out of Portland. The first, Game On Charters, is a smaller catamaran that takes 8 people.  It is a fast and comfortable boat but quite a bit more expensive than the Port Fairy one. Trips on this boat will cost at least $200 depending on whether the boat is full. We recently trialled this boat and found it very good.

The second boat, Southern Pride, is similar to Gary's boat and takes 12 people. It will not be as expensive - around $150 if the boat is full. This boat is only available from March to November because it is used for cray-fishing in the season.  We have not been able to trial this boat yet and will be attempting to do that from next March.

We have booked the boats and are now prepared to take bookings for these trips.  However, because we do not know how the second boat will perform, I will be taking bookings on a first-come, first-served basis but I will not specifically allocate people to particular trips yet. I will do that much closer to each trip.

Normally, boat trips are organised for the first Sunday of each month (with some exceptions). Because of the fickle nature of the weather in the Southern Ocean resulting in conditions that are too rough or dangerous, many trips are postponed to the second Sunday of the month (again with some exceptions). If that second trip does not go, the trip for that month is then cancelled.

If you want to be part of our trial year in Portland, send me an e-mail to this address, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and nominate when you might be available. I will advise of the possibility of you getting on a trip a month or so before each trip by e-mail. Also, advise if you wish to be an emergency at short notice. Please include a contact telephone number.

Trip Dates for 2010
(If the trip is postponed because of bad weather, then the second attempt will occur on the reserve date in brackets)

Game On Charters boat
10 January  (No reserve day)
07 February (Reserve day - 14)
07 November (Reserve day - 14)
12 December (Reserve day - 19)
09 January 2011 (Reserve day - 16)

Southern Pride boat
14 March (Reserve day - 21)
11 April (Reserve day - 18)
02 May (Reserve day - 09)
06 June (Reserve day - 20)
04 July (Reserve day - 11)
01 August (Reserve day - 08)
05 September (Reserve day - 12)
03 October (Reserve day - 10)

Melbourne people usually travel down to Portland on the Saturday afternoon and return on Sunday evening after the boat trip. I try to arrange rides for those that need them (especially from Melbourne), although there are no guarantees. These is plenty of accommodation in Portland but we do not have the same permanent booking there as we had at Port Fairy, so you will need to arrange your own accommodation. I will continue to organise a Saturday evening meal at a local eatery for those that want to join us.

For the boat trip, we leave early (between 6 - 7.30am, depending on the season) and return in the afternoon (at about 4 or 5pm). As well as the obvious binoculars and cameras, you need to take warm clothes, protection from wet weather, food and drink and some sort of seasickness prevention medication. (Many people have decided not to bother with the latter and have found that it is a very long day if they are sick.)

What will we see? That depends on many factors, including the season, the weather just before the trip and on the day, el Nino / la Nina, whether the birds are hungry or not, and luck. But, Portland is also an excellent place for albatrosses, storm-petrels, giant-petrels, several shearwaters and some terns and skuas. And, over the years, a good number of rarities. You can check out what has been seen previously by looking at our trip reports under "Port Fairy" on the Birding-Aus archive.

If you have any other queries, please contact me, Chris Lester, at home on 03 9370 7418 or e-mail, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Please note my new e-mail address for boat trip correspondence.  (I will not be able to respond to e-mails on this topic at my former e-mail
address.)

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