Birding on holiday

Lindsay Fisher | Treasurer

Going on holiday and want to connect with some local birders? If you go to the Birdlife Australia website (birdlife.org.au/groups) to find a Birdlife Group, there is a list of all the local groups, and special interest groups too. Field trips are often listed and a contact email.

1. “Local and Special Interest Groups” from birdlife.org.au/groups

Another way is in Facebook by searching Birdlife which gives numerous groups that you can join and then see lots of local information and trip reports.

2. “birdlife” [groups] from facebook.com/BirdlifeAustralia

Our own Birdlife Northern Queensland group has over 2,000 members, many of whom are people who have joined when travelling to our area on holiday.

We recently went to Tasmania and, on checking the Birdlife Tasmania Facebook page, we found they had a field trip the morning after we arrived, and only a short distance from where we were staying. It had been 16 years since we had been to Tasmania and managed to see all the endemics, but we were a little rusty, so spending the morning with local birders, ably led by Sue Wragge, was perfect.

The Truganini Track, near Hobart, was an excellent area for some pleasant birding and we managed, with the help of others, to see a number of endemics in a total of 25 species. Being Tasmania, this was an excellent tally! We enjoyed discussing Birdlife issues and challenges with Sue, Tasmania obviously having vastly different conditions and concerns to that of the Tropics!

Making connections with other birders is very enjoyable for both parties, as everyone loves talking birds and making plans for future birding trips.