The records keep coming

Another bumper breeding season - new record for Helmeted Honeyeaters...

... and the season is not over yet!

In March 2015 we celebrated a record total number of Helmeted Honeyeaters at Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. The end of the breeding season saw 130 individuals recorded, including 46 fledglings, another record.

In September 2015, 18 captive bred birds were released into Yellingbo, taking this number to a potential 148. We hadn't accounted for all 148, and suspected some didn't make it through the harsh winter, but the population was still doing really, really well.  

BUT, now we are excited.

The 2015-16 breeding season is now heading into it's last month/s. Early signs were that it may be a shorter breeding season than last year due to the drier and warmer year.

At last count however, there were:

• more breeding pairs than ever before (31)
• more fledglings than ever before (55 so far - a lot of banding to do!)
• a larger total population than ever before (up to 182 individual birds).

Stay tuned for the end of season report.

Would you like to be part of the volunteer team that is making a difference to the survival of the Helmeted Honeyeater? Contact us for further details.

Breaking records - again!

In March this year we told you about the record breaking news - more birds than ever before, more breeding pairs than ever before...

Well....

In the 2013-14 breeding season (Aug'13-Feb'14), 36 Helmeted Honeyeater young were raised at Yellingbo. A bumper year!

In the 2014-15 breeding season (Aug'14-Feb'15):

• in excess of 130 individual birds - a record number of birds since the start of the recovery program in 1989
• 23 breeding territories - a record number
• 46 fledglings - beating the 1995-96 record
• 1 female had triplets for the 2nd year running (plus two additional clutches of 2 offspring each).

THIS BREEDING SEASON so far:

• more birds than ever before are being observed
• more breeding pairs and territories than ever before
• more fledglings than ever before 
• another female has just had triplets!
• ... and the season still has a couple of months to go!

How good is that?

Would you like to be part of the volunteer team that monitors the Helmeted Honeyeater populations at Yellingbo? Contact us for further details.

18 Helmeted Honeyeaters set free

A corroboree in the sun just after release: making friends

Yesterday 18 captive bred Helmeted Honeyeaters from Healesville Sanctuary were released into the wild at Yellingbo, joining the 130 birds located there.

Read more here

A team of 70+ volunteers are now springing into action to help support and monitor these birds under the direction of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning's Senior Scientist Ornithology.

How can you join this dedicated team? Email us for more information.

Image: Merryn Kelly

Breaking records

At less than 30 days this fledgling looks to its parents for food - image B.Tardif

It's a NEW RECORD, and another one, and another.... A record breaking breeding season for Yellingbo

Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve is home to the last remaining wild population of Helmeted Honeyeaters - in the world! Each bird is precious.

In the 2013-14 breeding season (Aug'13-Feb'14), 36 Helmeted Honeyeater young were raised at Yellingbo. A bumper year!

The 2014-15 breeding season has broken records! In March 2015 we know of:

• in excess of 130 individual birds - a record number of birds since the start of the recovery program in 1989
• 23 breeding territories - a record number
• 46 fledglings - beating the 1995-96 record
• 2 females still building nests - don't they know the breeding season is over?

There are a number of new pairings this year, including females who are breeding for the first time.

One female has had triplets for the 2nd year running (plus two additional clutches of 2 offspring each).

Birds from the 2013-14 breeding season have dispersed into a new breeding territory. Some of this seasons fledglings have also been sighted here. The last recorded observations of HeHos at this site was in the late 1970s. The birds are using plantings that range in age from 4 years old to 30 years old. This is a great endorsement of the generation of restoration effort made by the local community and the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Team.

How good is that?

Would you like to be part of the volunteer team that monitors the Helmeted Honeyeater populations at Yellingbo? Contact us for further details.

Breeding update

The last 2014-15 breeding season update was mid November. At the end of November we now know of:

• 20 breeding territories (16 last season)
• 27 fledglings (36 last season)
• 5 females on nestling/s
• 8 females on egg/s
• 3 females building nests

There are more Helmeted Honeyeaters at Yellingbo than at any time in the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Programs history (the Recovery Program began in 1989). How good is that?

Do you live in Melbourne, Victoria? Would you like to be part of the volunteer team that monitors the Helmeted Honeyeater populations at Yellingbo? Most volunteers contribute a minimum of 4-5 hrs one day a month. Our rosters operate 7 days p/wk, 365 days p/yr. Contact us for further details.

Where are the birds? Where could we release Helmeteds in the future?

These are just two of the aims for the upcoming Helmeted Honeyeater survey at Yellingbo NCR.

When? Sunday 30 November 2014

Can you help?

No prior experience required. Training provided on the day.

Click here for more details

2014-15 breeding season update

Helmeted Honeyeater collecting nesting material - image B.Tardif

It's looking positive for the 2014-15 breeding season
Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve is home to the last remaining wild population of Helmeted Honeyeaters - in the world! Each bird is precious.

In the 2013-14 breeding season (Aug'13-Feb'14), 36 Helmeted Honeyeater young were raised at Yellingbo. A bumper year!

The 2014-15 breeding season is heading the same way. At the beginning of November 2014 we know of:

• 26 fledglings
• 3 females on egg/s
• 1 female building nest
• 1 female on nestling/s

There are a number of new pairings this year, including females who are breeding for the first time. How good is that?

Do you live in Melbourne, Victoria? Would you like to be part of the volunteer team that monitors the Helmeted Honeyeater populations at Yellingbo? Most volunteers contribute a minimum of 4-5 hrs one day a month. Our rosters operate 7 days p/wk, 365 days p/yr. Contact us for further details.

2013-14 breeding season update

36 fledglings are currently being observed at Yellingbo NCR. A bumper season.

Are you looking for volunteer involvement in a threatened species program?

We currently have gaps in the 365 day p/yr supplementary feeding and monitoring roster.

Training and support provided. Would you like to find out more about what's involved? Contact Sue

Not everyone can contribute time. Members are our life blood. Download our membership/donation form here. 

A Christmas day breeding update

Feeding volunteers monitoring the birds - image S.Tardif

29 fledglings at Yellingbo NCR to date

PLUS

4 birds known to be either on eggs, or feeding nestlings

PLUS

65 regular volunteers assisting with the supplementary feeding program.
We currently have 2 gaps in the feeding roster - 1st Sunday and 2nd Saturday of the month. Would you like to find out more about what's involved? Contact Sue

A bumper year

History tells us a wet year is likely to mean a  good breeding season for Helmeted Honeyeaters, and this year is proving that assumption to be correct.




At Yellingbo this year:

Twenty-five known fledglings, to date for the 2013-14 breeding season.

PLUS

Females sitting on four more known nests, including one female from the October 2013 captive bred release group.

This is all good news for the Recovery Program. Stay tuned for updates - the breeding season extends from August-February.

Find out more about Helmeted Honeyeaters here

Many thanks to all the volunteers who are making a difference to the survival of this bird through planting, supplementary feeding, collecting seed, propagating plants, contributing to planning…

Photographer: Bruce Tardif
Image: light blue/dark blue collecting nesting material

With a little help from our friends...

It's so nice to get some feedback isn't it?! This email arrived today:

Dear Sue and Bruce, Michelle and the friends group

Now it's coming to the end of the year we just wanted to say a big thanks for having us at the reserve and giving us the opportunity to get some experience with the planting days and in the nursery.

We have had an amazing time and have thoroughly enjoyed coming up to the reserve.

Our work at the reserve was a real advantage with our job interviews at Parks Victoria and Parks were really keen to hear about our involvement with the friends group.

Now that we have our Summer Rangers positions we are going to miss coming up to the reserve every week but we're really keen to continue volunteering in the new year.

Big thanks and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Tina, Jayne and Rachael

Looking for a great way to help your local community and yourself at the same time? Check out how you can get involved?

Vale Harold Johnson 2-1-1921 to 22-5-2011

REG Johnson, who returned from flying duties in World War II to become the Victorian

government's chief cartographer and draughtsman and then played a leading role as a

conservationist and environmentalist, died at the age of 90, still sharing his vast

knowledge with students.



He gave his time unstintingly to community work, and obstacles were minor hiccups.

Victoria's bird emblem, the helmeted honeyeater, owes its official status to Johnson,

who was the convener and blistered-hands shovel man of a group dedicated to restoring

degraded creek land at Silvan in what was a remnant of the bird's original habitat.



For years, Johnson and his wife, Kathleen, and co-members of the Bird Observers Club

of Australia lobbied governments to halt private clearings on public land, and coaxed

politicians to see this elusive bird, with its erectile helmet, still nesting in the

area. Eventually, government funding meant additional land could be bought along

creeks, leading to the establishment of Yellingbo Conservation Reserve. Many of the

indigenous eucalypts there today are

Johnson's plantings.



The helmeted honeyeater's existence and status remain precarious, but no one did more

for its chance of survival than Johnson. For him, the protection of public land was a

moral obligation. On one well-known occasion in 1969, when Henry Bolte's government

announced its intention to subdivide the Little Desert into farms, Johnson was

instrumental in forming a coalition of concerned groups to save its fragile

environment with its vulnerable species.



It was Johnson's encyclopaedic knowledge of the environment and his vision of

enhancing natural habitats that led to Land for Wildlife. The initial response from

officialdom was tepid, but he persistently trod on toes in a gentlemanly fashion

until politicians and bureaucrats agreed that wildlife habitat on private land would

diversify gene pools. Johnson and the nature writer and amateur ornithologist Ellen

McCulloch, OAM, jointly ensured the launch of Land for Wildlife, which is now a

national undertaking with thousands of participating properties.



Excerpt taken from: The Age. Date: 02/09/2011. Page: 18

Sunday 5 June: World Environment Day

What are you doing on World Environment Day or anytime after that...?

For a few ideas on how to get involved in the conservation of Victoria's threatened species, take a look here or here

International Day of Biodiversityhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

What did you do for International Day of Biodiversity - 22 May?

If you missed it, don't despair. Any time is a good time to take action for biodiversity. Check out a whole range of ideas here

Or if you're looking for a planting day on various Fridays during May-September 2011, look here

Be part of the solution

For endangered species we are both their greatest enemy and their only hope.

These wonderful creatures will not argue their case.
They will not put up a fight.
They will not beg for reprieve.
They will not say goodbye.
They will not cry out.
They will just vanish.

And after they have gone, there will be silence.
There will be stillness.
And there will be empty places.
And nothing you can say will change this.
Nothing you can do will bring them back.

Source: Bradley Trevor Greive, Priceless: The Vanishing Beauty of A Fragile Planet

Habitat loss is the major reason species become endangered. We are gearing up for our revegetation and plant propagation activities now. Find out more about how you can take action with us today. You'll be warmly welcomed.

Seeking Volunteers - Supplementary Feeding Program

The Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Program has been running since 1989. It is one of the longest running recovery programs for a critically endangered species, the Helmeted Honeyeater - Victoria's avifaunal emblem.

We are currently seeking interest from new volunteers able to assist with the important role of supplementary feeding a colony of Helmeted

Honeyeaters at either Yellingbo NCR (near Woori Yallock) or Bunyip SP (near Gembrook or Tonimbuk). Feeding occurs daily (weekdays and weekends) and each feeding activity takes roughly between 2 - 4 hours, but many volunteers often take longer if they are enjoying their visit into the forest.

Volunteers tasks will include:

• preparing supplementary feed

• walking into forested areas to supply feed at designated feeding stations

• recording birds observed and adding to data sheets

• cleaning up feeding equipment

These tasks can be undertaken as an individual or in pairs/small group.

As a small amount of training is required it is hoped that volunteers will be able to participate for a minimum of at least 5 sessions over a year with a preference for being willing to take on a more permanent feeding shift either weekly, fortnightly or monthly. As our current group of more permanent volunteers often have to take a day off here or there; being on a volunteer "on call/backup" list is also very useful if this suits your situation better.

Joining the Friends of Helmeted Honeyeater group would also be beneficial but is not a requirement. For more information visit

Note: a 4WD is required to access the parks and supplementary feeding areas.

For more information or to register your interest please contact Bruce Quin, the Senior Ornithologist for the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Program. E-mail: bruce.quin@dse.vic.gov.au
Mobile: 0412 576 646

Image: Supplementary feeding at Yellingbo
Photographer: S Tardif

Yellingbo State Emblems Park: Minister speaks for its establishment

Good news! Read James Merlino MP's full statement in the 1/3/11 Hansard (the record of parliamentary debates).

In part it reads...

State emblems park: establishment
Mr MERLINO (Monbulk) — I raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for
Environment and Climate Change. The action I seek is that the minister proceed with the
creation of a new state emblems park in the Dandenong Ranges. I represent a very special part
of Victoria. .... This is the sole remaining natural habitat of the helmeted
honeyeater... As representatives of this region we need to ensure that our state emblems survive and flourish. ... The issue is that at the moment the management of the land in which these special animals live is divergent — the land is fragmented.... A new state emblems park would create a coordinated series of nature reserves under one park management system with a total area of approximately 5000 hectares. Other benefits would include the ability of volunteer and friends-of groups, such as the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater, to coordinate their
activities and to secure grants from the three levels of government and philanthropic
organisations, and then those resources could be distributed right along the corridor. .... I commend this issue to the minister and request that he proceed with plans to create this new park. It is the single best thing that we can do to ensure the survival of our state emblem endangered species.

Food, plants & people. A healthy combination

We have a great life at the Friends! Take 23 Sept 2009 for example. A day in the outdoors with a group of interesting people that you've never met before but you know really well after a couple of hours, planting over 3,000 habitat plants for threatened species. What could be better? Well, add in lunch delivered to the reveg site and morning & afternoon tea before and after the event, and... I'd say pretty confidently... life couldn't get much better!

A number of groups, individuals and organisations got together to make it all happen. Check out the details here

Image: Habitat planting day at Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve
Photographer: Yarra4Life program

2011 - International Year of Forests

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.

We look forward to doing our bit through our education programs and volunteering efforts to celebrate people’s action to sustainably manage the world’s forests.

We'd love you to join us! The best way to start is to drop in to our community nursery at 1217 Macclesfield Road, Yellingbo (Melways reference 305 G11) on any Tuesday or Thursday throughout the year. Our nursery volunteers are on deck from 10am-1pm and would love to talk to you about the volunteer roles the Friends are involved with including plant propagation, planting, school talks & bird surveys to name just a few. BYO lunch to enjoy together at 1pm. We provide morning tea. See you there!

NB. We are closed on days of High Fire Danger.

Thank you

Without our volunteers Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater would not be able to achieve what we do. Our sincere thanks go to the many people who have helped us this year in our community nursery, our school planting days, our community talks, as committee representatives, as Helmeted Honeyeater supplementary feeders and the myriad of other activities Friends are involved in. Thank you.

Images: Over 5,800 habitat plants were planted at 2 recent corporate planting days in September 2010. Thanks to Zoos Victoria staff & volunteers, NAB staff, Swinburne TAFE CLM students, Deakin University Environment Group and RACV staff for their time & enthusiasm.
Photographers: Sue Tardif & Mark Krause