Birdman flying to town for talk

FRIENDS of Canadian Corridor will host a public talk by ‘birdman’ Sean Dooley next week.

Mr Dooley is the former Australian Big Year twitching record-holder, author of The Big Twitch, and national public affairs manager of bird advocacy organisation BirdLife Australia.

The Friends invited him to speak after a growth in community interest in Woowookarung Regional Park and the broader Canadian Corridor’s native birds.

“During the pandemic, so many of us were restricted in our movement. Our lives were quieter, and a lot of people noticed birds for the first time, and became really enchanted by them,” Mr Dooley said.

“That connection with nature is something that might have been missing from peoples’ lives, but people have begun to appreciate their local patches; bush, wetlands, and open grasslands where you can get out and breathe.

“Birds are a big part of that. We saw a huge upswing in enquiries at BirdLife Australia. It’s had a really profound, and hopefully lasting, impact on people.”

Mr Dooley said having a constant connection to nature is important, and groups including FOCC represent the best of that.

“Local people connecting with their local habitats and wildlife… ensures those green spaces continue to be green and healthy, so that’s what I will focus on in my presentation.”

Ballarat borders several different types of habitat and Mr Dooley said it’s a bird-rich area, great for spotting species.

“You’ve got wetter, taller forests, grasslands to the south and west, wetlands dotted around, and dryer woodland to the north, so there’s no one dominant or iconic species for the area,” he said.

“It’s a fabulous mix of birds, so I’m looking forward to getting there and seeing if I can get out and do a bit of birding myself.”

His favourite suite of birds are those that can be found in eastern Australia’s inland woodlands.

Although rare birds like the regent honeyeater and swift parrot are declining in their numbers, populations of formerly common birds are also less prevalent, including brown tree creepers.

“It’s really important that people connect with those birds because the basic reason for the decline overall is the historic clearing of habitat, and the connectivity of that habitat.

“We need connection between patches of habitat for certain species or else they’ll die out, even in good patches,” he said.

Mr Dooley will present at the Eureka Centre next Wednesday, 17 August at 7pm. Tickets are available at trybooking.com/BRTBM.