Bird Life

For the bird watchers and those who may just have a passing interest in this fascinating section of the animal world, a list of birds that have visited Violet Town and surrounding areas.

Some residents have compiled lists of birds observed in their area of residence or in a particular bushland area close to Violet Town. These areas are Koonda, 12km north of Violet Town, Upotipotpon and Koornong at Long Gully.

The HREP Group has also carried out formal surveys of the bird life along the Honeysuckle Creek within the Violet Town Recreation Reserve since 2013. An article about these surveys has been included below and also a link to the colourful brochure Birds of the Honeysuckle Creek which was produced by the HREP Group in 2015.

There are over 80 bird species that inhabit or visit the Violet Town region. An excellent brochure has been produced by the HREP group called Birds of the Honeysuckle Creek and is available to the public from businesses in  Cowslip Street.

The monthly detailed survey reports are available in issues of the Village Voice on this website.

Nov 2016, p 11, Dec 2016, p8, Feb 2017, p13, Mar 2017 p7, Apr 2017 p6, May 2017 p21, Jun 2017 p22

Jul 2017 p6, Aug 2017 p16, Sep 2017 p9, Oct 2017 p7, Nov 2017 p19, Dec 2017 p18

Grey Crowned Babbler rescue project.

Bird species of the Bushland Reserve near Koonda

The Bushland Reserve is located about twelve kilometres to the north of Violet Town on the Nalinga-Dookie Road.

Bird species of "pootong pootong" / Upotipotpon

The bird list was created by Lance Williams of Trust for Nature.

Birds seen at 'Koornong' in Long Gully near Violet Town

Honeysuckle Creek Wildlife, Part 1: The birds

Honeysuckle Creek begins its life as a small trickle somewhere in the vicinity of Boho South up on the Strathbogie plateau, then heads to the north-west and north down the slopes of the Strathbogie Ranges, widening out onto the plains towards the Goulburn River. 

In Violet Town it runs right through our town from the base of the hills on to the plains; we can feel particularly blessed that we have this wonderful natural feature wending its way through an otherwise human-constructed setting. The Honeysuckle brings water – in the form of flowing stretches and still pools - and wildlife that find a place in the creek and the fringing plants and the broader width of vegetation. It gives us a wonderful opportunity to observe and appreciate a real slice of nature occurring on our town’s doorstep. We are fortunate that there is still a good - albeit narrow - cover of eucalypts, and other trees, fringing the creek (with, very notably, a number of large, very old, hollow-bearing individuals). Many of us appreciate the leafy environment, the water, the large eucalypts, the birds and the frogs. 

As part of Stage 2 of the Honeysuckle Recreational Environment Project (HREP) we are undertaking surveys to observe and record the fauna that occurs along the creek.

There are several reasons why we want to do this. We’d like to determine which species of bird, mammal, frog and reptile live here, and where exactly.  We also wish to learn just what effect our restoration and revegetation efforts are having on the fauna of the creek and its immediate environs, and what we can do better, in terms of our works, to improve their lot.

We are carrying out day time surveys (anything that can be detected, including frogs and reptiles, but mainly birds) and night time spotlighting surveys (mainly for arboreal mammals, but, again includes birds and frogs, and anything else we can detect).

So far, 44 species of birds (including three non-natives), at least 8 species of mammal (including three non-natives), and five species of frog (all indigenous), have been recorded in the surveys. (Regarding the mammal numbers, there are unknown numbers of small insectivorous bat species that are occurring along the creek, but we can’t determine the identification of these purely by spotlighting surveys.) 

The surveys have already shown that a higher diversity and numbers of birds occur where HREP volunteers have put in indigenous ground and shrub layer plants, such as the area behind the Bowls Club. It’s in places like here that we are particularly finding concentrations of mixed feeding flocks of small insectivorous birds that include Striated Thornbill, Weebill, Spotted Pardalote, Striated Pardalote, as well as the odd one or two Grey Fantail (this one not ordinarily being a flocking bird). The improved condition, and increased complexity, of vegetation has made this area more attractive for these birds.

It is extremely pleasing to see that all the work that has been undertaken on the creek is actually providing increased habitat for these small birds. These species add so much to improve the ecological workings and health of the creek environment. Maybe the presence of such birds also adds to our own well-being. They are quite remarkable to watch through a pair of binoculars, and, as they work at gleaning insects from the branches and leaves, they are helping to ensure that experiencing our creek environment can remain an integral part of being a Violet Town resident and visitor.

Lance Williams  2014