Thursday 19th February turned out to be one of 'those' days. We travelled by bus to the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens, on arrival making our way to the 9.45 am ‘high tea’ before planning to attend the 10.30 am eagle talk by the Bird Keeper.

We enjoyed a morning tea at the tables under the 150 year old trees. Unfortunately, this event ran a bit over time and we missed the talk by the Bird Keeper, but made it to see the Otter’s being fed.

To add to the excitement, on reboarding the bus for our return with its very high steps, one of our party jarred her elbow, and another slipped and took a cut to her shin leaving a trail of blood through the bus. There were also incidents involving leaking aircon on the bus and out-of-order seatbelts.

It was a day to remember, the sitcom title, Fawlty Towers, was bandied about and we kept our sense of humour and look forward go another Anything Goes next month. 

A group of around 50 people attended a talk by local bird enthusiast and expert, Allan Briggs. 

Allan covered many surprising and important details about local birds. For example 

• the Capricorn Yellow Chat is the only endemic bird in our region. It is critically endangered with just 250 individuals spread over several colonies. 

• climate change is causing several species, who had until recent years only come as far south as Mackay, to now be regular visitors to our area. Equally, other birds, once prevalent here, are now moving further south. 

• the Pacific Black Duck is now threatened by interbreeding with the Mallard causing more hybrids than the original Pacific Black Ducks. 

• some of our local birds travel around 24,000 kms annually on their migratory route from Siberia or Alaska to Capricornia. 

Allan talked about the various kinds of diets and habitats related to local birds and noted that a plant called Little Kurrajong was a great plant to attract birds that feasted on insects. 

Locals were invited to take part in the 'Birds in Capricorn Project' which involves updating the database of local birds. Participants spend 20 mins per month documenting birds in their own backyard. More information is on the website - https://birdlife.org.au/groups/birdlife-capricornia

Many thanks to Allan, to Jade at Keppel Bay Sailing Club and to our event organisers.