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(SOLD OUT) Invisible Connections Tour: Shorebirds of Boat Harbour
18 February, 2022 @ 9:30 am – 1:00 pm AEDT
The amazing journeys which take migratory shorebirds from one end of the earth to the other and back every year is one of nature’s greatest stories. This talk and tour is all about shorebirds, their migration, phenotypic change, feeding ecology and how they bring together the ecologies of the Earth.
Spend the morning meeting some of these fabulous feathered travellers up close at beautiful Boat Harbour in Kurnell.
More information including the tour start time and precise meeting location will be provided upon ticket purchase.
Bookings are essential and tour numbers are limited.
Cost: $5 per ticket, plus $1.36 booking fee
Walk Difficulty: Easily accessible, but there will be some walking on sand, rocky reefs (sometimes slippery) and wading through water.
2022 Sutherland Shire Birdlife Tours
Invisible Connections: Shorebirds of Boat Harbour – Friday, 18 February
A morning talk and tour about shorebirds, their migration, phenotypic change, feeding ecology and how they bring together the ecologies of the Earth. As well as a chance to encounter these beautiful and fascinating birds in our local landscape at Boat Harbour, it’s a celebration of the majesty of this magnificent biosphere of which are all so privileged to be a part.
Little Brown Birds – Friday, 8 April
Although often overlooked or a source of confusion for bird watchers, the tiny insectivorous birds of the thornbill, gerygone, scrubwren, heathwren and fairy-wren clades are major players in forest, heath and woodland ecologies. This tour in the Royal National Park begins with a talk about the ecology of and identification of these birds, followed by a tour where we meet them.
Song and Dance – Friday, 3 June
A celebration of Lyrebird breeding season and the amazing forces of sexual selection. This tour begins with a talk on lyrebirds, their song, dance, ecology and biology. This is an opportunity see the Superb Lyrebird at its finest and to witness some of the most iconic scenes in the world of nature in the Royal National Park.
Birds and the Bees – Friday, 16 September
Explore the birds of our coastal heath amid one of the finest flowering events on Earth. The beauty and diversity of early spring flowers on Curra Moors is intoxicating. Our walk will begin through a dry sclerophyll ridge-top woodland with heathy understorey before entering the vast expanse of complex heath on Curra Moors in the Royal National Park. Our target birds are Southern Emu-wren, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Variegated Fairy-wren, Beautiful Firetail and Tawny-crowned Honeyeater. On the way we’ll meet many other favourites and make new friends too!
Festival of the Fairy-wren – Friday, 7 October
The dune ecology of Greenhills Reserve though somewhat degraded by weeds is nonetheless one of the great environmental gems of Cronulla. Join us to explore and be astounded by the fascinating bird life, plants and reptiles which thrive in this scrubby heath right on our doorstep. We’ll meet many stunning Superb and Variegated Fairy-wrens in their finest breeding plumage but also lesser known White-browed Scrubwrens, Red-browed Finches, Black-shouldered Kites, Nankeen/Australian Kestrels, Welcome Swallows, Tree Martins to name just a few. Nobody’s friend, the stunning Fan-tailed Cuckoo will be calling! It will be wildflower season so expect encounters with many New Holland Honeyeaters, Eastern Spinebills and Little Wattlebirds.
A Rainforest Calendar – Friday, 18 November
Come on a deep dive into nature’s year, or the seasons of the rainforest. We’ll meet the beautiful and fascinating butterflies and birds which express the changing of the seasons in our local rainforests and ponder the relevance of the seasonal calendar based on astronomical observations made by humans in Europe. This tour will be timed with the courtship of Satin Bowerbirds and nesting of the migratory Black-faced Monarch and sedentary Brown Gerygones, Yellow-throated Scrubwrens and Green Catbirds along with the fruiting of the forest and emergence of the beautiful male Wonder Brown butterflies.
For more information please visit:
https://www.ssec.org.au/sutherland-shire-shorebirds/
