Birdwatching

Thirty members joined former Queensland Chief Scientist and lifelong birdwatcher Professor Hugh Possingham at dawn on Sunday, 30 June to watch and hear birdlife at the Club in the 3^rd annual bird walk.

The group gathered at key vantage points around the course such as between the 6^th fairway and 3^rd fairway near the lake; by Moolabin Lake near the Maintenance Shed; and in the habitat area between the 17^th fairway and 20^th fairway, to take in the birdlife.

With Hugh’s help, members identified 43 different special of birds including 2 new species. Birds spotted included the dusky moorhen, black ducks, wood ducks, pied and little cormorants, darters, pied mudlarks, breasted lorikeets, welcome swallows, and restless flycatchers. This takes the count of bird species at the Club to 101. There were two new species Golden-headed Cisticola and Collared Sparrowhawk.

The entire bird community at the Club is mapped in an app and website called eBird which is freely available to all.  Members can follow and / or enter their bird observations on the course in the following way:

Computer access

• Google “eBird” in the first instance and register an account with the “Cornell Laboratory”. This allows access to locations globally, plus on-course sitings can be logged at any time.
• Our location is “The Brisbane Golf Club (restricted access)” which gives a full list of sitings over time.

Phone access

• From the app store, search and download eBird – Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Register then select Explore and on the Nearby Hotspots map zoom in on the Club to view the list of birds identified at the Club.

Ninety-nine species have been identified around the course and another 54 possible identifications.

Birdwatching tips and more information about Professor Hugh Possingham is available online.

Thanks to Rob Hollingworth for organising such an informative and enjoyable morning.