
Email Subject:	Birds SA eNews April 2025
Email Sent:	April 18th, 2026 04:19 PM
Email Campaign:	eNews Subscriber List
Hi [[firstname]] Birds SA member, Anne Kirk has tipped us off that the current (March-April) edition of The Australian Geographic Magazine is a special bird issue that has some interesting articles, including one on the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary. Thanks, Anne! In Membership notes, our own Membership Officer, Sue Winwood provides some topical tips on how to avoid being scammed online. Read on... General Meeting 2026 Annual General Meeting Birds SA excursions, events and activities Fleurieu Birders National Beach-nesting Birds Conference Save Skye Ridgeland open space Membership notes Birds SA Library news The Birder magazine General Meeting The next General Meeting will be held on April 28, 2026 in Lecture Room 101/102, Charles Hawker Building, The University of Adelaide – Waite Campus, Urrbrae, from 7:30 to 10pm. Speakers: Dr. Emily Leyden, Research Fellow, Biogeochemistry Research Group, Adelaide University and Tony Flaherty, Team Leader, Coast and Seas at Green Adelaide. Topic: Shifting Salts – A Project Examining Future Opportunities for the Dry Creek SaltFields return to contents 2026 Annual General Meeting Notice is hereby given to members that the 2026 Annual General Meeting of The South Australian Ornithological Association Inc (Birds SA) will be held on Tuesday 26 May 2026 at Charles Hawker rooms 101/102, Waite Campus, commencing 7:00pm. Any business for inclusion in the agenda and any nominations to Officers of the Management Committee should be received by the Secretary in writing by Monday 27 April 2026. These should be sent by post to: The Secretary, Birds SA, c/o South Australian Museum, North Terrace, ADELAIDE 5000 or by email to: secretary@birdssa.asn.au. The meeting will be followed by the Birds SA General Meeting for May 2026. return to contents Excursions, events and activities The following excursions are subject to cancellation or change due to weather conditions or other factors outside of Birds SA’s control. It is important that you check the Birds SA website, Facebook page or the Member Jungle App for updated information. Updates will be provided 24 hours prior to the commencement of any affected excursion wherever possible. If you have any queries or require further information, please contact: Lynton Huxley: 0498 466 092 Email: fieldtrips@birdssa.asn.au Saturday 9 May: Browns Road, Monarto (Easy) (MLR) 60km. Meet at 8.30am at Browns Road, Monarto, just off the old Murray Bridge Road. Leave the SE Freeway at the Callington exit. Drive through Callington and turn right onto the old Murray Bridge Road. The junction is on the left at the top of the hill. Trip Leader: Lynton Huxley Thursday 21 May: Happy Valley Reservoir Reserve (Moderate) (MM) 20km. Meet at 8.30am in the car park opposite the roundabout at the junction of Chandlers Hill Road and Kenihans Road Happy Valley. Trip Leader: Julie Hocking return to contents Fleurieu Birders Photo -Heather Connelly The next trip for the Fleurieu Birders group is to the Langhorne Creek Cemetery on May 2. Moderate Walk. Meet at 8.30am at 109 Lees Rd. Langhorne Creek. Trip Leader, Edith St. George Contact Wendy Phillips 0414 248 648 return to contents The National Beach-nesting Birds Conference Registrations for the 2026 National Beach-nesting Birds Conference are now open. The conference will be held in Goolwa from May 22-24th. The conference runs every two years and attracts people from around Australia working either on beach-nesting birds or in the coastal environment, and representing a range of perspectives: First Nations, coastal managers, researchers and community volunteers. For more information and registration, check out this page on the Birdlife Australia website. return to contents Save Skye Ridgeland open space Skye is a Burnside suburb in the Hills Face Zone in Adelaide, South Australia. With views across to the Gulf, the area is rich in wildlife within the remnant eucalypt woodland and grassland. The ridge line is visible from much of the Adelaide Plains as a clear patch of land topped by a line of magnificent gum trees. It abuts and includes remnant bush containing native orchids amongst other plants and is habitat for native wildlife, including a critically endangered moth. It is a rare piece of open space on the Hills Face which is popular with bushwalkers and a significant place for many for its romantic, panoramic view of the Adelaide Plains. Burnside Council is standing with the community having voted to support saving this land from development. We have so little remnant bush left; we can't afford to lose more. The emphasis should be on expanding a corridor of native bushland through our hills rather than reducing it further. Please help us save this treasure for our children and generations to come. For more information, check out the Facebook group Saving Skye - Hills Face Zone, Adelaide, Australia Ray Nias return to contents Membership Notes Photo - Teresa Jack Birds SA Membership Officer, Sue Winwood, provides this short briefing on how to spot and protect yourselves from scammers. Hello everyone, I attended a workshop recently conducted by Be Connected- Every Australian Online, which is a federal government initiative. Scammers are becoming very sophisticated in their attempts to get your money or your personal details. They are people who have a fake profile or business, or they pretend they are from a well-known organisation. So BE ALERT and protect yourself online from being scammed. To Protect your personal Information Scammers pretend to be from organisations that you know and trust, even government agencies or a fraud service to get you to reveal personal and financial information. It could be an email, a phone call, a text or through social media. They may ask you to verify your details, click on a link or give them access to your computer, maybe pay for a debt, or buy a voucher to pay a fine. If you are unsure of them, hang up, delete or remove the contact. Signs that it may be a scam • Emails or messages or calls that are unexpected or from someone you DON'T know. (Check the business separately online) • Promises of financial benefit • A threat of a fine of debt • Threats to close your account • Unusual links don't look genuine, such as an unusual website URL. Delete them. • Look at the email addresses. They are often unusual and not normal. Be aware that scams exist and if you are unsure about the contact, don't click on any of the details sent, but do a separate search on the internet to find out if it's real. There are scammers trying to make friends online, some offering you a special investment for a guaranteed return, and some who offer you early access to your super fund and posing as a financial adviser. Don't open any texts or pop-up windows or attachments that come in email or texts. Delete them. Any phone calls asking for remote access to your computer, hang up even if it's a company like Telstra, they won't ring you. Rules to protect yourself STOP: Take time to look at the details and check the source separately, don't rush! THINK: Is this a scam? Could it be fake? Check the email address and information online. If you are suspicious, delete. PROTECT: Have strong passwords. If you have been scammed, work quickly. Inform your bank and report the online crime to ReportCyberonline or cyber.gov.au To keep up to date on the latest scams online via Scam watch.email.alerts. For more information, visit beconnected.esafety.gov.au Birds SA Membership system is called Members Jungle and is a secure method to protect your personal information. Payments of fees with a credit card uses a coding system which protects your card details in Birds SA and are not reached by scammers. Take care online and on your mobile phones. Any questions, please email. Sue Winwood - Membership Officer membership@birdssa.asn.au return to contents Birds SA Library news Due to building works in the Old Stock Exchange Building, we are not able to open the Library on Friday 24th of April, so there will be no Birds SA library access in April. The normal opening on the last Friday of the month will resume in May, with the same dates as previously advised: May 29, June 26, July 31, August 28, September 25, October 30 and November 27 The Library is a members-only service. Access the Library catalogue at https://www.libib.com/u/birdssa return to contents *The Birder* magazine Please send all contributions and address all correspondence to the editorial team at magazineeditor@birdssa.asn.au. We are always particularly interested in hearing stories from our members. Your firsthand bird-watching experiences not only give life to the magazine, but also increase our knowledge of birds’ behaviour, and reading them encourages other members to participate. Include photos where you can, for sharing with our readers. Good-sized and good quality photographs labelled with the name of the photographer, date and location of each image are welcome. People on Birds SA field trips can send photos directly to the magazine address if they wish, rather than via excursion leaders, to save double handling. We like to include people in the photos – just make sure you have their consent for publication. Correction in the Autumn Birder The Autumn Birder was posted out in March. Can readers please note the following correction to the ‘Duck and Quail Seasons for 2026 Announced” item on page 15 of the 2026 Autumn Birder (No. 277). In the left-hand column, second paragraph from the bottom of the page under the heading “Stubble Quail Open Season” – Bag limit is incorrectly listed as 5 quail/hunter/day instead of 15 quail/hunter/day. The updated version is now on the website. Call for Australian Birdsong Recordings ends on 30 May You still have time to contribute to this project. Award-winning composers Hollis Taylor and Jon Rose are collaborating with a music ensemble and the birding community to “bring Australian birdsong to the stage.” The public is being invited to contribute to a citizen science component “by submitting audio recordings of Australian birdsong, spoken stories of bird encounters, or historical and archival material connected to birds they may wish to share with the project.” Submissions are open until 30 May 2026, and full guidelines and upload details are available at: https://decibelnewmusic.com/biofonika/ The Birder Editorial team return to contents Designed and edited by Malcolm Downes and Trish Aukett for Birds SA Contact: malcolm.downes@birdssa.asn.au