A VERY BRIEF GUIDE TO BIRDING (FOR BEGINNERS)

Here are some tips (from twenty-five or so years of experience) for novices on how to be a better birder...

I'm not a twitcher (that obsessive birder who jumps on a plane as soon as, say, a Grey Nightjar or House Swift turns up at the limits of Australia's territories, then busts a gut hoping to 'tick' it), but I'm a keen birder who spends every hour of every day with part of him in tune with what our birds are up to. So, here are some things to contemplate when in the field (from an east coast of Australia perspective).

1. Listen, listen, listen. Most of birding is actually being alert to the various calls birds make. Familiarise yourself with a Noisy Miner's repertoire. NMs are particularly adept at emitting loud, piping, high-pitched raptor warning calls. This alarm call has helped me spot many birds of prey over the years: Pacific Bazas, Grey Goshawks, Collared Sparrowhawks, Australian Hobbies, Peregrine Falcons etc. They also make a different, more drawn out (read whiney) call which tells you there's a perched predatory bird close by (good for finding Boobook Owls). Birds make a racket for a reason, often. If cockatoos, currawongs and magpies are all carrying on, I'd bet a raptor is responsible. Try to understand the language of birds as much as you can.

2. Buy every Australian bird field guide on the market. Make sure you purchase the latest editions. They all have their benefits; they are not exactly the same. I love Pizzey & Knight for the textual detail, Simpson & Day for the clear illustrations, Slater for the info on vagrant birds, Morecombe for close detail on distinctive plumage. Debus has two great guides out, one on birds of prey, the other, recently published, on owls and frogmouths.

3. Go birding at any time of the day, not just after dawn and before dusk. Go out in light rain and mist - many birds are still active then.

4. Revisit local spots. One or two visits will not give you a true indication of what birds frequent the area. A case in point is my local swamp. I've been there many, many times. Only recently did I see my first Latham's Snipe there (a summer migrant that's flown from Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan).

5. Buy binoculars that suit you. I've never bought expensive 'bins' in case I damage them. Know how to use them. Rely on the naked eye as much as possible, then lift the bins when a bird is in a particular position. Know how to quickly focus/adjust your bins. If you lose a bird in a tree, don't try to locate it again with your bins, use your naked eye.

6. Imitate calls. This works well for Powerful Owls! Whistlers, thornbills, flycatchers, pardalotes, scrubwrens, misteletoebirds etc. may come closer to you if you call them in.

7. Predict or read up on what birds are expected to be in a habitat before you visit it. This will avoid identification confusion in the field.

8. Do a hell of a lot of birding by yourself so you can immerse yourself in the world that surrounds you. Only then will you really understand what birds are doing, why they're acting the way they do, what calls they're making etc. Birding with others, though terrific, can be distracting (saying that, I've been guilty of being too loud/enthusiastic in groups before and had certain folks tssk tssk me!).

8. Look at everything around you when you're out and about - the sky might contain needletails/swifts or eagles, the understorey may produce logrunners or quails, there could be a flock of sitellas and monarchs in the midstorey, as well as thornbills and lorikeets in the canopy.

9. Visit the websites 'Eremaea' and 'Birds in Backyards' regularly. Document any interesting sightings on the birdlines Eremaea offers. BIB is a great sight for bird calls; I often use it when trying to distinguish certain honeyeater's calls.

10. You don't have to dress like a rebel or soldier when birding. I guess camouflaged clothing helps, but I've never been fussed. Wearing bright colours from head to toe may not work in the bush, but if you're looking at waders on a beach, a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper isn't going to care too much.

11. Have fun. Laugh a bit. Birding shouldn't be a serious business. Let's celebrate the exquisite bird life we have by our sides. Humour and enthusiasm can only draw more people in.

I hope this is beneficial. May your next bird be a lifer.

LJ, February 4 2012.

AN INTERVIEW WITH PETER LACH-NEWINSKY

I thought I'd begin 2012 with something different - an interview with poet, activist, ecologist, Bundanoon local and mate, Peter Lach-Newinsky. Here Peter talks about many things including coal seam gas extraction, Peak Oil, the origins of apples, an out-of-control fire on his property and his dog, Billy.

What's kept you in Bundanoon for so long?

Bundanoon itself. Bundy is a biodiversity hotspot and still pleasant small village. Perhaps the question can also be read to imply moving often is a natural thing to do. It's not popular to say so but I think hyper-mobility and mass tourism will just be a historical blip due to the historically short era of cheap oil. Although I've had to move about a fair bit in my life, I don't like or believe in the wisdom of frequent moving. Too stressful for self and planet. Maybe it's time we all stuck around long enough somewhere to really care for it - ie. grow some roots in a place, know its ecology and culture intimately rather than just be temporary visitors passing through - 'permanent transients' in Edward Albee's phrase. Peak Oil will do that for us anyway.

A nature lover from overseas arrives on your property for the first time. What do you show them straight away and why?

First, the five over 200 year-old messmates for a sense of perspective. Then, for an even wider perspective, the 120 heirloom varieties of apple tree in the orchard, including the weird and tough-as-boots Court Pendu Plat brought to Northern Europe by the Romans. Because apple trees are propagated not from seed but by grafting, our tree will have come directly from that original Roman(?) tree from two thousand years ago, passed on like a flaming torch through the centuries by apple tree grafters and growers. This fact still amazes me.

Tell me something else I don't know about apples.

Wild apple forests originated five million years ago in the Tan Shan mountains on the borders of Kazakhstan and China, where they still exist. Each neighbouring tree a different variety. The sweetness we like about apples was first selected by our mammal cousins like bears and pigs. Then we added about 10,000 varieties over the centuries. Now, due to industrial food growing, we have very few left.

What creature living on your property appeals to you most and why?

Our border collie, Billy, because he has a large and gentle soul.

How does your property enhance your poetic voice?

Perhaps a poem written on site might be an answer to that question...

Summer Dam

The way reeds succumb to gravity's wind,
sky force propelling them water-wards,
soul-wards till all is grace & light

or a water lily open-handed
to the sun, flat paddle-leaved,
still as an emblem

over the brown murk of water
flicked, tensing like the dun ripple
on a stallion's silk rump

marsh frogs clicking their pebbles
of territorial air, a cabbage white
jinking & reeling low, drunk

with shimmer, two dragonflies
reed-locked & pumping
their violent U, distant screeching

cockatoos planning their next blitz
on wattle seeds, apples, equanimity,
nature romantic to the urban mind.

Has global warming affected your property in any way?

The effects of global warming are of course regional and becoming apparent over time. We are already experiencing decreased average rainfall, more and longer droughts, milder winters. All this impacts on our property in terms of planning for changes in water availability, soil moisture retention and growing different plant species and varieties more adapted to the changed conditions.

What's your position on coal seam gas/fracking (I think I can guess!)?

In my view it's a criminal, last ditch attempt by the energy corporations and governments to extract the harder-to-get fossil fuels that have now become more economically viable because of rising energy prices due to diminishing supplies in the age of Peak Oil. To poison or deplete aquifers, especially in the age of increasing water scarcity and thus food insecurity - both due to climate chaos - should be a capital crime.

What part of Morton National Park do you most love?

The walk to Erith Coal Mine for its rich and shifting biodiversity and altitudinal changes in vegetation and vibe. Good for the cardiovascular system.

Share with me a story from life on your property.

Mid-nineties, I was trying to reduce some blackberry patches by burning off. The fire became a grass fire that very quickly got out of control. There was no house on the property then. This was also before mobiles. I had to drive to a neighbour's to phone the bush fire brigade. When I drove back, I could see huge billowing clouds of smoke rising from our property and my heart sank through my boots as I thought that the fire might now have spread to the big trees and our neighbour's property. Luckily, it hadn't, although it had spread up the grass slope and was licking the big trees. After a long and nervous wait, the bush fire brigade finally arrived in totally laid-back fashion, and to my surprise considered it an insignificant kind of fire, even complimenting me on trying to burn off blackberry. They put it out in no time and even politely declined my offer of money or at least a couple of beers. Long live our bush fire fighters.

Will you stay in Bundanoon for many years to come?

If possible, I'd like to only leave this place inside a coffin.

LJ, January 16 2012.

XMAS EVE

A pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles, a Crescent Honeyeater (summer visitors to our high country), Pilotbirds, a Superb Lyrebird, a Black-faced Monarch, several Copper-tailed Skinks (I've never seen them in Bundanoon), a Sword-grass Brown, a Snail Parasite Blowfly, a few Red Eye Cicadas (I think), a lone Green-headed Ant (maybe - the ant was iridescent green, with red legs, and was close to two centimetres long) & a few Golden-tailed Spiny Ants were some of the species that came out of an hour or so at Bonnie View, late morning, for my son and I. The weather - shock, horror - was warm and still. Clouds were lethargic.

My son was entranced by everything. We sat for a while, eating biscuits and drinking water, and immersed ourselves in the sandstone cradle and hypnotic view. Bonnie View is my favourite spot in Bundanoon. I could gaze at the seemingly immeasurable gullies/valleys below it, forever. I'm surprised more folks don't get down there. And glad.

LJ, December 24 2011.

HERE WE ARE IN THE COLDEST DECEMBER IN FIFTY YEARS

I donned a beanie, jumper and jacket to walk my Cocker Spaniel earlier this week. So, is this chill a symptom of a sick planet?

LJ, December 9 2011

A GREY GOSHAWK LIKE A FALLEN FRAGMENT OF STORM SKIES

The local Pied Currawongs, Australian Magpie-larks and Australian Magpies were less than impressed with a Grey Goshawk darting from tree to tree late yesterday afternoon, close to home. They all took turns harassing the raptor, which probably posed no threat. The Goshawk's plumage perfectly matched the storm-wrapped sky.

LJ, November 30 2011.

MONDAY

What tremendous weather at 6:30 this morning. Not a cloud, anywhere, as I hung out the weekend's washing. Just stillness, punctuated by the odd burble and fluting of Pied Currawongs and Australian Magpies. Mild, tranquil mornings like these are uncommon in Bundanoon. They are a tonic when they come.

I wanted to take a day off (even though I treasure my teaching job in south-west Sydney) and wander down to Bonnie View and chill there all day. To just sit or lie down and watch the sky and valley. To see what the land wants from me. To learn from it. To return home, restored.

LJ, november 28 2011

YOUNG TAWNY (PART 2)

A week later. The young Tawny Frogmouth is fine. Its parents have been looking after it at night. No cat has had a go at it.

My neighbour called the Kangaroo Valley branch of WIRES about the bird. They said they couldn't take it due to lack of money. How sad. To one day live in a world where not-for-profit animal charities received more money from governments than they do.

LJ, November 21 2011.