Coronavirus and bird watching

Looking for something to do while socially isolating?

Given that we are allowed to exercise close to home, this might be the opportunity to take your binoculars and give bird watching a try.

“You can leave your home to exercise, provided it’s possible to maintain physical distancing of at least 1.5 metres from others at all times. You can exercise outdoors with any of the people who normally live at the same address as you. Alternatively, you can also do outdoor exercise with one other friend or family member who doesn’t normally live at the same address as you, provided you maintain physical distancing by keeping at least 1.5 metres between you and the other person.” - Victorian Government advice

Our streets, parks and gardens are some of the favourite habitats for many bird species. Bellbird Park, McNeilly Wetlands, Alex Goudie Reserve and Crystal Waters, if you live nearby, can have as many as twenty plus species of birds that can be seen in a short walk. Can you name them all?

Most families will have a bird field guide on the bookshelf to aid identification and there are plenty of online resources that can help (Bird Finder). It helps online if you can start with a knowing a family of species – ducks, waterhens, cormorants, parrots, finches, thornbills, etc.

The Friends of Drouin’s Trees bird list for Drouin, see sidebar, contains more than 100 bird species. Not bad for pretty much an urban area. Testament to the some of the natural environment, parkland and wetland spaces that we still have in our town.

Bird watching – fascinating, absorbing, sharpening the mind, cheap, relaxing, connecting with nature, available almost anywhere anytime, … and HEALTHY!