Bats and Birds
Celebrating a Day of Bats and Birds
On 23 September Wildlife in Sandy Point (WiSP), in collaboration with Microbats of Melbourne (with help from Bass Coast Bats) held an information session on microbats and how we can live together. Ericka, the rehabilitation specialist, gave a highly informative presentation about microbats and spent 35 minutes answering questions from the 30 strong audience. The take-aways included how to help trapped bats exit the house/structure and how hollows are roosting places for bats as well as birds (preserve hollows where it's safe). Ericka highlighted how bats are important in keeping mosquito populations down. She also offered that it is essential that specialists handle bats not only for transmittable diseases (low risk but good practice) but also because damage to their membranes may take weeks to appear so they need to be kept in care to make observations for that long. It was a very well received session and aids WiSP in the goal of developing our network of specialists and carers we support and promote. To report injured bats contact Wildlife Victoria on 03 84007 300 and they will find a specialist in your area.
During the day we held a children’s interactive animal session and had activities for kids including colouring, dream-catcher and mask making as well as a puzzle to work on. We had a Habitat display with desirable and undesirable plants as well as an update about the Coastcare funded Coastal Banksia Woodland Project. Images of the working bees were shown giving the audience a feel for what had been achieved during weeding and the social aspects of the project. Lots of food and talking after an hour or 90 minutes of hard slog at times.
WiSP delivered a briefing on the structure and focus of the group and attendees were offered a session about shorebirds and the significance of Shallow Inlet and the sand spit.
We also had a talk by Pauline, who with her partner, were two of the original migratory shorebird monitors who during the 1980s and 1990s spotted migratory shorebirds in the Shallow Inlet Marine and Coastal Park (SIMCP). Their counts, along with other Sandy Point enthusiasts’, were the basis for the SIMCP being internationally recognized whereby greater than 1%, of the total population of individual birds, visit the area. It was great to hear how they went about the counts and how they had mapped the area and had their own designated sites (as named by them) to monitor. We had great response and got seven volunteers to sign up for what will be the WiSP Migratory Shorebird Project with the goal of emulating the work that Sandy Point Community members started in 1983. WiSP intends on filling gaps in shorebird monitoring and to take the opportunity to engage and involve the community and our visitors. To volunteer for the WiSP Migratory Shorebird Project please contact us on: wildlifeinsandypoint@gmail.com
WiSP concluded the day’s activities and celebration of the 40th Anniversary since the Sandy Point community had commenced shorebird monitoring with pizzas from Fish Creek Mobile Pizza. Attendees, guests and volunteers enjoyed the refreshments and had another chance to interact with other naturalists. Always uplifting and satisfying.