Wet season! Restless binoculars: going troppo?
- Ceri Pearce
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
Ceri Pearce | Birds With Altitude Project Leader & Cassowary Coast Area Coordinator
It’s hot, the air and clouds are thick, and the rain seems to arrive without warning. The wet season has well and truly arrived. If your binoculars are gathering dust and you are starting to feel a little stir crazy, fear not, there are plenty of bird-related activities you can enjoy without battling mud, mozzies, or a sudden tropical downpour. Consider this a short list of wet-season remedies to stop you going troppo.
Birds in Backyards: birding without leaving home
Birds in Backyards (BIBY) is a BirdLife Australia program focused on improving bird habitat in our towns and cities, while also keeping track of how urban and suburban birds are faring. It is citizen science with a cup of tea or ice cold drink nearby.
Why not take part in the Summer 2026 Birds in Backyards survey right where you live? Each survey takes just 20 minutes and there is a clear, easy-to-follow instruction video on the BIBY website to get you started.
If you subscribe to the Birds in Backyards newsletter (using the form on the website), you will receive regular quarterly email updates full of interesting snippets, seasonal tips, and ideas for getting more involved if the mood strikes. There is also a Birds in Backyards YouTube channel, packed with bird-focused content and practical gardening-for-birds videos. Perfect viewing while the rain beats on the roof.
Plan a bird-friendly garden (without breaking a sweat)
Realistically, gardening outside right now might feel like an endurance sport. But the wet season is an excellent time to plan.
You could start sketching out changes to your garden for the cooler months, thinking about which plants provide food, shelter, and nesting opportunities for birds.
There is a helpful series of videos available online, or you could take things a step further by enrolling in BirdLife Australia’s free Habitat Gardening for Birds online course. It is designed to help you move from good intentions to a genuinely bird-friendly habitat.
Birdata: a fresh look at a familiar tool
If you use Birdata to record your surveys, sightings, and lists, you may have noticed it has changed. The platform is now much easier to use and includes far more useful features than it once did.
There is also an excellent new online Birdata eLearning course, supported by high-quality explanatory videos and downloadable fact sheets. The course is well structured, logical, engaging, and easy to follow. It is ideal whether you are new to Birdata, returning after a break, or keen to get more out of the app and website, including planning future birding trips. Highly recommended.
Learn more about birds (from the couch)
If your curiosity about birds extends beyond identification, there is a world of learning waiting online.
The Science of Birds podcast is a light-hearted American exploration of bird biology, with more than 130 episodes already available. Topics range from bird evolution, and anatomy, to behaviour, ecology, diversity, and conservation. There is almost certainly an episode that will catch your interest. You can learn more at:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Youtube channel is another treasure trove. Content ranges from gentle, relaxing bird videos to in-depth presentations for the more hardcore learner. You might find yourself watching a session on bird illustration with Liz Clayton Fuller; learning about the Northern Cassowary; discovering how to prevent bird collisions with windows; or disappearing down a delightful rabbit hole of hummingbirds, woodpeckers; or bird migration; or hybridisation.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. No doubt there are many more ways to keep your birding curiosity happily occupied while the wet season does its thing outside. If nothing else, you will emerge on the other side well informed, inspired, and more than ready to get back out birding when the weather cools and the skies clear.
