By Matthew Sims
Cranbourne North birdwatcher Brad White and his son Hunter’s newest discovery has attracted significant attention to the River Gum Creek Reserve in Hampton Park, with a rare sighting of a Brown Honeyeater.
The first spotting in Melbourne occurred at about 4pm on Sunday 20 August.
Mr White said he was excited to bring more birdwatching activity to his home area of Casey.
“It was added to a few social media groups and hundreds of birders are flocking to the location,” he said.
“I think there has only been a handful of sightings in Victoria ever, but this is the first ever in the Melbourne Metro area.”
Between 11 and 15 centimetres in length, the Brown Honeyeater has a long curved bill, a yellowish white spot behind the eye and yellowish tail feathers.
Mr White has been birdwatching for about 10 years.
“I started in 2014 when I hiked the Overland Track in Tasmania with a group of great mates, spending the first handful of my young years in the country I have always been interested in nature and the outdoors, but after seeing a Pink Robin for the first time in real life, birds were definitely added to the life list of creatures to find and photograph,” he said.
“I’ve always liked photography, way back to my 35mm film SLR camera days but when I was asked to photograph a bird and miserably failed, I learned the lesson and caught the bug.
“Thanks to so many amazing birding friends I’m now up to over 600 species seen worldwide and most of them photographed, but still have a lot of Australia to explore.”
Mr White said he has enjoyed having his son join him on his birdwatching outings.
“Hunter is 12 and loves getting out and about on any adventure, birds, ants, rockpools, camping, the list goes on,” he said.
“He finds immense joy in seeing other people happy and loves giving praise and living in the moment.
“I think an outdoors hobby is super important in a kids life, the environment and our flora and fauna is so important.”
Mr White said there were a number of benefits for people of all ages to get outdoors and enjoy birdwatching.
“I believe it’s great for mental and physical health, getting outside, testing the body and the eyes, meeting like-minded people and opening your eyes to what is actually out there,” he said.
“I think being aware of your surroundings helps you to grow and appreciate what we have right in front of us, best of all, it’s free.”
Mr White said he was looking forward to his next new or rare discovery in Casey.
“The huge increase in housing and clearing land in Casey is hurting the environment, but we have to work with what we have,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be super tough in the future beating the newly found Brown Honeyeater, but we’ll keep trying.”
