Yellingbo and surrounds's Boletim

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
I don't think we could have had a better day to be out in the bush - unless the sun was out a little more perhaps! An overcast, but still day with a touch of crispness in the air saw 8 of us walking a mostly shaded track along Woori Yallock Creek this morning surveying for birds. The fungi stopped many of us in our tracks however - there were lots of species that just had to be photographed and uploaded to iNat :)
A Bassian Thrush caught our eye before heading out of the carpark, as did a pair of Common Bronzewings taking a drink. A highlight was a Powerful Owl staring down at us from its perch high in a Blackwood. By the size, we felt it was most likely a female. In all, 27 bird species today, and perhaps best of all, the company and chatter of people who don't think your a little unusual by getting excited at the fungi & animal scat finds :)

Notes from: a Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater hosted citizen science event.
Fourteen enthusiastic participants, under Karen's guidance, braved the early evening on a Twilight Walk. It was a still, mostly clear night, and a waning moon with just 5.6% illumination. We sighted 5 Common Brushtail Possums, 5 Ringtail Possums, 5 Sugar Gliders and Common Wombat scats on our approx 2km walk. Heard, but not seen, were the Common Eastern Froglet, Victorian Smooth Froglet and Southern Brown Tree Frog. Bird species heard were: 3 Masked Lapwing, 2 Common Blackbird, 4 Australian Wood Duck, 2 Purple Swamphen and 2 Superb Fairywren.
As we drove away at 8pm, the temperature gauge was showing 4 deg celsius. With our coldest months to come, it's pretty incredible to think our native animals are so well adapted to life outdoors, provided we as humans leave their critical habitat intact!
Thank you to Karen for sharing her knowledge and passion for animals with us tonight.