42 Good News Stories
About this episode
Conservation work can be hard, but there are still good stories to tell. Darren Grover from WWF-Australia shares bird conservation stories, including Grey Fantails and the people working together to help birds.
Episode illustration: Grey Fantail
Darren Grover is the Head of Healthy Land and Seascapes at WWF-Australia. He is an ecologist by trade and has nearly 20 years' experience in species conservation, environmental impact assessment, land management, and policy development. Darren and his team work with universities, government, other organisations, community and First Nations people to improve the conservation status of animals like the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, Gouldian Finch and Shy Albatross. Darren is most at home in the bush and he's an avid birdwatcher and bushwalker.
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Kirsty: This episode was recorded on Wurundjeri Country. The Wurundjeri people take their name from the Woiwurrung word "wurun", which means the Manna Gum, and "djiri" the grub, which is found in or near the tree. Wurundjeri are the 'witchetty grub people' and their ancestors have lived on this land for millennia. I would like to pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders living around Australia.
Kirsty: Welcome to Weekend Birder podcast. I'm your host, Kirsty Costa. We have reached the end of season one and we are finishing on a high. Darren Grover is the head of Healthy Land and Seascapes at WWF-Australia. He and his team deliver projects that seek to improve the conservation status of species like the Carnaby's Black Cockatoo in south west Australia and the Gouldian Finch in the Kimberley, along with other animals and birds around Australia. Darren is most at home in the bush and he's an avid birdwatcher. When he was a child he started noticing the birds that lived in his suburb.
Darren: When I was young I probably didn't have the knowledge or I wasn't dashing off to find the field guide to find out what that bird was. But I was certainly very aware of the birds and that as I got older and older and then went to university and I suppose formalised a lot of that, I don't see myself as as a mad twitcher. I'm not like some people I know who at the drop of a hat get on a plane to Broome because something different has turned up at the Sewage Treatment Works there. But wherever I go, I'm interested to see what are the birds in this area and if there happens to be one that I haven't seen before, then that's always a bonus.
Kirsty: Darren is an ecologist and his career has taken him all around Australia. His work, along with a few great holidays, has enabled him to experience some powerful bird watching moments.
Darren: I was fortunate to work at O'Reilly's Guesthouse in Lamington National Park, which is I'd even go so far as to say an international hotspot for birds. And many of those species, those rainforest species, aren't found in too many other places. And O'Reilly's is such a great base to go out into the rainforest and see some of the things things like Albert's Lyrebird and Regent Bowerbirds and Noisy Pittas. I also spent a year working out on Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, which was amazing to see seabirds and share an island with hundreds of thousands of nesting seabirds. So that was a great experience. Being on Albatross Island in Bass Strait, which is a large nesting colony of Shy Albatross, to spend a week up close with a really big animal. And I don't think you really realise how big albatross are until you're up close to them and just how incredible they are. It's amazing species to spend some time with. I've been to the Kimberley, north Queensland rainforests, south Western Australia as well, so I've been lucky. There's still some places I need to go. There's a few spots around Australia that haven't been to before, which means there's a few blanks in my in my field guide that I haven't been able to catch up with. But yeah, that means there's still some holidays to have.
Kirsty: What Darren likes about birdwatching and being around birds is feeling connected to nature and at the same time feeling insignificant.
Darren: You know, once they figure out that you're not a threat, that you're not something to be afraid of, then just to watch them go about their business and live their lives with absolutely no input from you. And in those sorts of places, we are quite insignificant - that the world goes on and nature does its thing. And if we're not interfering with it, that it all gets along quite fine. I think we do get to go to some incredible places and see some great things, but you can't do that all the time and there's always something to look forward to. But it's where you are from day to day. You need to be mindful and present and see what's around you. And often there's lots of wonderful things around us. But if you don't take the time to really appreciate them, you can miss them and just take your time and be patient and you will see some great things.
Kirsty: This has been a shared sentiment by other Season One Weekend Birder guests. You don't have to go far to enjoy birdwatching. There are birds all around you no matter where you live. This is one of the things that I really love about birds - they're everywhere. One of the birds that always puts a smile on Darren's face is the Grey Fantail.
Darren: That group of birds, the fantails, which includes the Willie Wagtail. I think everyone likes Willie Wagtails and I love their fearlessness and they're so resolute, "This is my territory and I'll keep an eye on you while you pass through. And if I have to, I will chase you off!" And Grey Fantails - they are closely related to Willie Wagtails and they try to do that. But I think that they're easily distracted. And if you ever watched them fly, they'd never fly in a straight line. They're obviously chasing winged insects, so. So they try to be as fearless and as resolute as Willie Wagtails, but they get distracted and fly off and chase a fly or a bee or a butterfly or something like that. So I quite quite like that approach to life - that nothing's ever too important to chase after. They do look pretty plain until you take the time and it's not always easy because they're constantly moving. But take the time and you can get pretty close to them. So (they are) predominantly grey but really grey, black and white. When you really get that chance to have a look at them, that non-stop movement is another thing that gives them away. They have a tail that is quite prominent, sort of cocked on an angle and it does fan out and it does wag from from side to side as well. So they're probably the place where you'd start when you have a chance to have a good look at them. They have a little thin white eyebrow, a little patch of white behind the eye, another white patch beneath the chin. And they do have spots or streaks of white in their wings. And also on the end of their tail, underneath on the belly, they can be quite pale, whitish grey, or even sometimes almost sort of a buff colour through there as well. There is a little bit of regional differences, so there can be a little bit different depending on where you are. Butparticularly with that colour on the belly and the chest, but in the main mostly grey. But as I said, take the time to have a look a little bit closer and there's a bit more to see.
Kirsty: There are five fantail species in Australia and the Grey Fantail is the most common. It can be found across the country and most of the population in south eastern and south Western Australia tends to migrate inland or north for the winter. Their unique tail helps them to fly and is also used as a visual signal to attract prey and communicate with other Grey Fantails. Very cool! Darren also likes watching the Rufous Fantail, which tends to be a little bit bigger and is found from the tip of Queensland along the coast down to South Australia.
Darren: Typically found in wetter forests or rain rainforests and wet eucalypt forests. They are often an altitudinal migrant, so they'll come down into coastal forests and woodlands during the winter and then in the summer back up into those higher those higher forests. Beautiful colours. Rich, rich rufous, rusty reddish orange color. A lot of similar sorts of attributes. Again, always on the move, chasing winged insects and the like. But yeah, normally how you'll see them is that flash of of orangey-red first and then once you once your eyes can focus you'll get a chance to have a good look at them. Yeah really beautiful bird and what the fantails and the Willie Wagtail will always do, they've got to come and see you. They are fiercely territorial, so they've got to come and check you out to make sure you're not a threat, that there's nothing to worry about. So often they'll find you rather than you finding them.
Kirsty: Darren has over twenty years experience working in conservation, environmental impact assessment, Indigenous education, land management and the development of policy. Some of the best bird experiences that he's had have been with WWF-Australia and he's here to share some of his good news stories. WWF has been a leading voice for nature for more than half a century, working in one hundred countries on six continents, with the help of over five million supporters. This not-for-profit organisation, partners with governments, businesses, communities and individuals to address a range of pressing environmental issues. Its mission is to create a world where people live and prosper in harmony with nature.
Darren: Some of the great experiences I've had with birds in Australia have been through my work with WWF. Gouldian Finches in the Kimberley, which was a real treat to to see them for the first time. And that's a bird that is instantly recognisable, go to a lot of pet shops and they'll have have guardians. They've been a common cage bird for a long time, but to first see them in the wild is incredible and quite such an improbable species. I mean, how can something be so colourful, so brightly coloured and do quite well in the wild? And they are a good story from a conservation perspective. They were struggling there for probably a couple of decades ago, were never really quite sure what the problem was. But what we're starting to see now with Gouldian Finches, essentially the big problem they had was regular intense fires across northern Australia, particularly for beef production. It was about bringing on Green Pick each year. While fire is a regular part of the northern Australian landscape, large scale fires over very large areas are not. And what it meant is the grass seed that Gouldian Finches and the other finch species feed on, grow on grasses that live more than one year. If you get big fires every year, less and less of those grasses are able to survive and set seed. So it was basically they were running out of food. Well, what we've seen in the last ten years or so, an incredible movement across northern Australia of Aboriginal people getting back on Country and re-instituting their traditional burning practices - which is a mosaic, a patchwork of small, small, cool fires. They're called typically burning straight after the wet season so it's still damp. The fires, they don't get away, they're easy to control. They clear out the undergrowth. But because there's patchy, there's always older areas that that won't get burnt this year, maybe some areas that haven't been burnt for three or four or five years. So there's always areas of grasses that are seeding each year. So we're starting to see those traditional practices being re-established. And with that, the Gouldian Finches have really responded strongly, which is great. And we've worked with Indigenous ranger groups across the Kimberley and they use the Gouldian Finch as an indicator of if we've got healthy Country, we've got Gouldian Finches. If we don't, we've got still got some work to do. A great thing for a species, strangely, that isn't particularly culturally significant. It has become because it's a good way of those communities to show that we're doing a good job. When our Country is healthy, we've got our fire practices right and we've got Gouldian Finches to tell us that we're doing a good job. So, yeah, a great story. And also a reminder of what can happen when we get away from those traditional burning practices, traditional land management practices that have been in place for tens of thousands of years. So good that we've been able to recognise that and basically saved the species by doing so. Some of the other species I've worked on on Kangaroo Island were the Glossy Black Cockatoos. The Glossy Black Cockatoo is extinct in South Australia, except for on Kangaroo Island and was down to very low numbers - around about 120 of them left on the island about 20 years ago. Some incredible local community efforts have seen that population increase to over 400 to 450 birds. Sadly, the big fires on Kangaroo Island in 2019 and 2020 was a bit of a setback. Not in the first instance - they are big mobile bird, they don't get caught up in fires. They can fly away from them. Year One and Year Two, because they only feed on one species of casuarina, that do not like fire at all. So their numbers did plummet for a year or two post fires, but they're starting to rebuild again now. So back up again to around about that 450 number, which is great. And getting to the point now where birds are starting to look at recolonising parts of mainland South Australia again. So some exciting things starting to happen in that space. So one to keep an eye on. I mentioned the Shy Albatross before. That was a project that was involved in where we were working in partnership to put artificial nests in place. What they'd found is birds who have the best nests, have the highest breeding success and it can take quite a few years for them to to be able to be good nest builders. So the thinking was, "Well, if we gave them a good nest then they could use that for straight away". And so it showed that in that year that we put the artificial nest in, there was 50% higher breeding success in the artificial nest than in natural nest. So that was about just testing that idea. And so there was some really positive signs that that is a tool that we could use in the future if we feel that we need to. They're doing okay but like a lot of marine species, it's getting harder and harder for them to find enough food. Especially in breeding season, as our oceans warm the oceans aren't productive. And when you rely on catching fish and squid and cuttlefish and the other things that albatross like to feed on, it means it's harder for them to find enough food. If we can increase their give them better nests so their breeding success is higher, we may be able to to balance that that food issue. So that's a a great opportunity on this really wild, barren island in the middle of Bass Strait to spend a week with Shy Albatross.
Kirsty: I'm going to hold on real tight to those good news stories that Darren just shared. And I'm also curious to know how he maintains his hope and optimism whilst working at the forefront of wildlife conservation.
Darren: It is actually has been diagnosed as a thing now - 'eco grief'. And it's certainly in the conservation sector. It's something that I'm very mindful of because on a day to day basis, we're here and see some some pretty grim things. So it does make it all all that much better when when you do have good results and you see and hear of things that are going right. And what gives me the greatest comfort is local communities. Science and scientists are important, conservation organisations are important, governments - they're all important players. But if you don't have local communities on board, you can't win in conservation. And when you have an engaged local community, you've got every chance to have success. What I really like is when you see a local community who may begin as not terribly knowledgeable or aware, but when they realise that they can play an important role and the actions that they take can have such benefit, it's really powerful and it's great to see. With birds, I think we've got probably more so than most other animals. We've got a great opportunity there because so many people love birds. And I think it's because we probably pretty much everywhere you will see some birds during the day, you're not always going to see a mammal or a reptile or a frog but you'll definitely see birds. And we have a really rich avian fauna in Australia with a lot of charismatic birds and a lot of birds that people love. And love to have them around and to know that often through quite simple things that they can not only continue to have those birds around but they can help them to to flourish.
Kirsty: Darren is a keen birder and he has some recommendations for those who are just starting out or who are thinking about improving their skills.
Darren: I had this small pair of binoculars and they were handy because I could put them around my neck and I could walk and they would always be handy. But I've been finding that as I'm getting older and my eyesight is not so good, they're not quite as effective anymore. So I've switched on to a new pair of binoculars. I'm still sort of breaking them in because they are a bigger, heavier pair. But it also means I can see things a lot further away than than I could. So it's still a work in progress but I still use those old ones every now and then, especially if I'm walking. So I was very big on Slaters - the blue light blue book - as a field guide because you could put it in a pocket. Now we've got phones which has all that information in it and which is probably a bit cheating, but you should still have a good field guide. There's a few of them around. Quite a good field guide that I don't take out with me because it's a bit too big, but it's always something to go and check on. When I when I get home after I've been out and I'm not quite sure what that bird, "Oh, that one looks a little bit different". So it's good to have that reference material just to make sure you're looking at what you think you're looking at. Get out there and enjoy your birds. We are incredibly lucky that there are still birds around where we live and in much of Australia. Some pretty special birds too. So get out there and check them out and take the time to really experience them.
Kirsty: Many thanks to Darren for sharing his love of birdwatching, his love of fantails and his good news stories. Big shout out to the WWF-Australia team for everything that they are doing for wildlife conservation. Well, that concludes Weekend Birder Season One. What a wonderful ride it's been. I'm so glad I got to share it with you. Don't worry, Season Two will kick off in the Australian Spring and there are some amazing people for you to meet. Feel free to send me an email at hello@weekendbirder.com or complete the form on the Weekend Birder website to make your request for Season Two. There are 41 other Weekend Birder episodes for you to enjoy, and you also might like to check out other podcasts such as the Bird Emergency with Grant Williams and Death by Birding with Cesar Puechmarin. These two legends keep me entertained and informed on a weekly basis. A huge thank you to all Season One guests for volunteering your time to share your big hearts and your big smarts. And thank you to you, my friend. You are one of the thousands of people who are listening to this podcast each week. It still blows my mind that you're here. Thank you for sending me messages, for leaving reviews on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and for telling your bird loving mates about this podcast. I actually independently create this podcast while working a full time job, and your support means the world to me. During the season break, come and join me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Instagram is also a great place to score yourself a Weekend Birder giveaway. You can find me @birderpod. I can't wait to share Season Two with you. And in the meantime, I hope you have some fun birding adventures and some fantastic time in nature. Happy birding!
