Powerful owl, Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve. Photo: Dave Newman
By Catherine Watson
WHEN the pandemic clipped their wings, a couple of Lang Lang birdoes turned their binoculars closer to home. Jackie and Dave Newman discovered the Adams Creek Nature Conservation Reserve was just within their five-kilometre bubble, and found a treasure trove of birds almost on their doorstep.
Their stunning photographs have since become the face of the Western Port Woodlands and the campaign to protect them. Now they are collected in Birds of the Western Port Woodlands, a pocket guide that captures the richness and magic of this rare habitat and the animals that call it home.
WHEN the pandemic clipped their wings, a couple of Lang Lang birdoes turned their binoculars closer to home. Jackie and Dave Newman discovered the Adams Creek Nature Conservation Reserve was just within their five-kilometre bubble, and found a treasure trove of birds almost on their doorstep.
Their stunning photographs have since become the face of the Western Port Woodlands and the campaign to protect them. Now they are collected in Birds of the Western Port Woodlands, a pocket guide that captures the richness and magic of this rare habitat and the animals that call it home.
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It’s designed not for seasoned birders but for those just starting their journey into nature, with tips on birdwatching and using binoculars, and clear descriptions to make identification easy.
The book features some of Dave and Jackie's best-known images – from the striking gang-gang cockatoo and powerful owl to the gorgeous spotted pardalote and scarlet honeyeater, along with the humbler “little brown birds” that call these woodlands home. |
Birds of the Western Port Woodlands will be launched at the Gurdies Winery on Sunday, November 2, at 2pm. Please come and join us. The 100-page guidebooks are $15. They will be on sale at the Bunurong Environment Centre in Inverloch and other venues. |
Dave’s personal favourite? One of those plain brown birds. “We saw an olive whistler in Adams Creek. That really blew me away. We went all the way to Port Fairy to see an olive whistler! And here they were just down the road!”
Each photograph is crisp, intimate and full of character. It’s the next best thing to walking through the forest with Dave and Jackie themselves, hearing the call of the eastern whipbird (“Whip-crack!” … “choo, choo!”), spotting a scarlet honeyeater, or glimpsing a rufous fantail sitting on a nest.
Each photograph is crisp, intimate and full of character. It’s the next best thing to walking through the forest with Dave and Jackie themselves, hearing the call of the eastern whipbird (“Whip-crack!” … “choo, choo!”), spotting a scarlet honeyeater, or glimpsing a rufous fantail sitting on a nest.
We’re indebted to the Friends of Drouin Trees, who inspired us with their beautiful series of guidebooks. Special thanks to the legendary birdo Peter Ware for his generosity and support.
And to our editor, Camilla Myers, a former editor with CSIRO and another birdo, who pulled the book together while she was in England. We trust she was cheered by the thought of laughing kookaburras as she worked on it.
A Bass Coast Shire Council community grant paid for the design and printing. Birds of the Western Port Woodlands is the first in a planned series of pocket nature guides by Save Western Port Woodlands. Sales of each book will help fund the next.
Catherine Watson is a member of Save Western Port Woodlands.
And to our editor, Camilla Myers, a former editor with CSIRO and another birdo, who pulled the book together while she was in England. We trust she was cheered by the thought of laughing kookaburras as she worked on it.
A Bass Coast Shire Council community grant paid for the design and printing. Birds of the Western Port Woodlands is the first in a planned series of pocket nature guides by Save Western Port Woodlands. Sales of each book will help fund the next.
Catherine Watson is a member of Save Western Port Woodlands.