By Geoff Brooks
MICROLIGHT aviator, zoologist and artist Amellia (Milly) Formby swooped into the Western Port Biosphere Reserve last week to pay homage to the more than 20,000 migratory birds that visit annually as part of their endless transition around the East Asian-Australasian Flyway – a 25,000km round trip bookended by Australia and the Arctic.
Amellia met students from Mornington Peninsula primary schools at a special presentation and bird-spotting event at Parks Victoria’s Coolart Wetlands.
MICROLIGHT aviator, zoologist and artist Amellia (Milly) Formby swooped into the Western Port Biosphere Reserve last week to pay homage to the more than 20,000 migratory birds that visit annually as part of their endless transition around the East Asian-Australasian Flyway – a 25,000km round trip bookended by Australia and the Arctic.
Amellia met students from Mornington Peninsula primary schools at a special presentation and bird-spotting event at Parks Victoria’s Coolart Wetlands.
She told them the wetlands strung out across the flyway are like a chain with links in it. “By taking care of our wetlands here at home, we help keep the flyway chain strong and have an impact on an international scale.”
Originally from Gippsland in Victoria, Amellia works as a project officer for Bird Life Australia where she uses science, art and adventure to foster nature stewardship for migratory shorebirds.
Originally from Gippsland in Victoria, Amellia works as a project officer for Bird Life Australia where she uses science, art and adventure to foster nature stewardship for migratory shorebirds.
Australian pied oystercatchers, gull-billed terns, whimbrels, eastern curlews, red-necked avocets, Caspian terns, silver gulls. Photos: Jack Airey
She’s loved birds and birdwatching since she was a kid and became fascinated by shorebirds while studying zoology at The University of Melbourne. She began volunteering with the Victorian Wader Studies Group and the Australasian Wader Study Group, banding and flagging shorebirds around the Victorian coast and Broome, WA.
Her ultimate dream is to fly a microlight and follow the shorebirds on migration to Siberia but she is testing her winds with a flight around Australia to share the amazing journeys of migratory shorebirds with Australian primary schools.
Western Port’s Ramsar-protected wetlands are an important destination for these migratory birds and are among the core areas of focus and purpose for the Western Port Biosphere Foundation, which sponsored the Tyabb-Latrobe leg of Milly’s 180-day, 20,000km round- Australia journey.
Biosphere Foundation CEO Mel Barker said the organisation supported the 19th leg of Amellia’s marathon flight to help raise awareness of the importance of Western Port within the flyway.
“Populations of migratory shorebirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are in rapid decline and protecting remaining habitat along all stages of their migratory pathway will be crucial for their stabilisation and recovery,” she said.
“Red knots and great knots are endangered and have suffered population declines of around 2.25 per cent a year. Bar-tailed godwits, eastern curlews and curlew sandpipers are all listed as critically endangered.”
The Biosphere Foundation works with local and international partners to influence programs and development that affect shorebird populations. Land reclamation and coastal development were two examples of human activity directly harming shorebird populations.
The special event was partly funded through a grant from the Mornington Shire Council’s Peninsula Climate Action project. Under the grant, the Biosphere Foundation is committed to raising awareness of the important role healthy waterways and wetlands play in mitigating against the worst effects of climate change and in protecting vulnerable species.
The Western Port Biosphere Reserve celebrated the inaugural UNESCO Day of the Biosphere on 3 November, noting that Western Port is entering its 20th year as a member of the global biosphere network.
Geoff Brooks is treasurer of the Western Port Biosphere Foundation. Follow Amellia Formby's odyssey at Wingthreads.
Her ultimate dream is to fly a microlight and follow the shorebirds on migration to Siberia but she is testing her winds with a flight around Australia to share the amazing journeys of migratory shorebirds with Australian primary schools.
Western Port’s Ramsar-protected wetlands are an important destination for these migratory birds and are among the core areas of focus and purpose for the Western Port Biosphere Foundation, which sponsored the Tyabb-Latrobe leg of Milly’s 180-day, 20,000km round- Australia journey.
Biosphere Foundation CEO Mel Barker said the organisation supported the 19th leg of Amellia’s marathon flight to help raise awareness of the importance of Western Port within the flyway.
“Populations of migratory shorebirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are in rapid decline and protecting remaining habitat along all stages of their migratory pathway will be crucial for their stabilisation and recovery,” she said.
“Red knots and great knots are endangered and have suffered population declines of around 2.25 per cent a year. Bar-tailed godwits, eastern curlews and curlew sandpipers are all listed as critically endangered.”
The Biosphere Foundation works with local and international partners to influence programs and development that affect shorebird populations. Land reclamation and coastal development were two examples of human activity directly harming shorebird populations.
The special event was partly funded through a grant from the Mornington Shire Council’s Peninsula Climate Action project. Under the grant, the Biosphere Foundation is committed to raising awareness of the important role healthy waterways and wetlands play in mitigating against the worst effects of climate change and in protecting vulnerable species.
The Western Port Biosphere Reserve celebrated the inaugural UNESCO Day of the Biosphere on 3 November, noting that Western Port is entering its 20th year as a member of the global biosphere network.
Geoff Brooks is treasurer of the Western Port Biosphere Foundation. Follow Amellia Formby's odyssey at Wingthreads.