Vale Jo Wieneke
BirdLife Northern Queensland is saddened to learn of the passing of Jo Wieneke, a highly respected birder, naturalist, conservationist, and long-standing member of the North Queensland birdwatching community.
Jo made an enduring contribution to birdwatching in northern Australia through her extensive field knowledge, publications, conservation advocacy, and generosity in sharing her expertise with others. Her pioneering birdwatching guides helped generations of birders discover the remarkable birdlife of North and Far North Queensland, while her enthusiasm, friendship, and dedication left a lasting impression on those who knew her.
Our sincere condolences go to Jo’s family, friends, and the many people whose lives she enriched through her love of birds and the natural world.
In Memoriam
By Lindsay Fisher
Many Birdlife Northern Queensland members will remember Jo Wieneke who was an active member of our original R.A.O.U. group which then included the Townsville area until separating when Birds Australia was formed in 1996. Although based in Townsville, Jo had a great influence on her Northern counterparts by producing in 1992 her book “Where to Watch Birds in North-East Queensland’. This was long before we could easily search for birding locations on the internet and proved to be an immensity valuable publication and had a number of editions. It is still available as a free download as it was updated by Ian Montgomery in 2018 at birdway.com.au.
Keith and l first met Jo when she was living on Magnetic Island in1988 and, as we often visited Townsville, became firm friends with her.
Long-time friend, fellow birder and naturalist Liz Downes has written the following tribute to Jo.
A Tribute
By Liz Downes
Bird lovers around Australia and beyond, and an army of friends from many walks of life, will have been deeply saddened by the passing of Jo Wieneke.
Jo was born and spent her earliest years in Somerset, south-west England, before migrating to Australia with her family. After schooldays in Sydney, she trained and then practiced as a teacher, before meeting her husband Graham and moving to Magnetic Island off Townsville in the 1960s. Here, they acquired one of the Island’s most historic houses “Our Island Home”, situated on pristine Bright Point, overlooking the calm waters of Nelly Bay. As well as raising their three children in these idyllic surroundings, they started the Island’s first rent-a-moke business.
Jo had an absorbing interest in natural history and became an increasingly knowledgeable birdwatcher. A strong friendship developed between Jo and another former Englishwoman, (and a founding member of the Townsville WPSQ branch) Andree Griffin. Together they made a formidable team on all things bird-related in the north. It’s safe to say that, for many years, they shared the mantle of the north’s “most expert birders”.
As Jo’s observations and understanding of birds grew, she shared her knowledge through the publication of three books and by regularly leading small groups of Australian and overseas birders on camping tours to some of the best birding areas of North and Far North Queensland. The books were particularly important. Birds of Townsville and Where to Find Them, edited by Jo on behalf of the Branch, appeared in 1989. (Profits were donated to the Thorsborne Trust). This was followed by Where to Find Birds in North East Queensland (1992 with several later editions), and Birds of Magnetic Island (1996); all remain must-have guides for locals and visitors alike. For each title she consulted widely with other leading birders in the north who inevitably soon became friends.
Among these friends were the redoubtable conservationists, Arthur and Margaret Thorsborne, with whom she often stayed on her trips north. From at least the early 1990s Jo became a regular volunteer on the North Brook Island Pied Imperial Pigeon counts, started by the Thorsbornes, her presence adding value through her careful observations of the island’s other birdlife.
Jo’s love of birds undoubtedly prompted her to become an active and valued member of many conservation and natural history organisations. Birdlife Australia (then RAOU) was among the first, while locally she was an involved member of Townsville WPSQ (Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland), the North Queensland Conservation Council, Island Voice and Friends of Hinchinbrook. She was active in many conservation campaigns, especially those to protect Magnetic Island’s Florence and Nelly Bays in the 1980s, and Hinchinbrook Island and Channel in the ‘90s. While Florence Bay was saved, becoming part of the Island’s National Park, at Nelly Bay Jo witnessed the heart-breaking destruction of Bright Point and the loss of her former home.
After moving to the mainland Jo’s 10-year study of Townsville’s Great Bowerbirds, in which she monitored close to 100 bowers scattered around the suburbs, was a perfect example of citizen science. She became an ‘honorary’ at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, helping to establish a taxidermy group (using the bodies of birds that had been fatally injured or euthanased). And when she wasn’t birding she was, in the words of a friend, a “happy kayaker” enjoying many paddling trips with Museum staff and friends.
Jo travelled widely in Australia and overseas and became a regular speaker at Townsville WPSQ meetings presenting talks on her adventures in South Africa, the sub-Antarctic Islands, the Galapagos, Shackleton’s Antarctica and Western Australia’s Abrolhos Islands.
A quietly efficient organiser, Jo was a highly valued member of WPQS. As well as her many talks, Jo was the perfect guide on field trips, and a frequent contributor to our print newsletter, Brolga. She built important connections with QPWS staff and city councillors and was a source of impeccable information and advice at our annual Northern Get-Togethers and monthly executive meetings, serving for many years as our vice-president and publicity officer. (Her posters advertising our monthly meetings showed an artistic flair none of the rest of us could manage!).
As an avid reader, talented artist and musician Jo was as much engaged with Townsville’s arts community as she was with its naturalists and conservationists. For many years following her move to NSW, Jo and a beloved dog would make the long drive north in her elderly campervan to attend the festival of chamber music concerts, before heading to Cairns and the Tablelands for more encounters with birds and friends.
Jo was a wonderfully loyal, generous and entertaining friend – independent, intelligent, witty, adventurous and passionate – and while she will be hugely missed, her memory will be long-treasured by her host of friends.
Fly free with your beloved birds, Jo!
Share your memories of Jo
Did you know Jo or share a birdwatching adventure with her? We warmly invite friends, colleagues, and fellow birders to share their memories, stories, and tributes. We’d love to add your contributions to this page as a lasting celebration of Jo’s life and legacy.
