Convenor's Report – February 2025

Denis Walls | Convenor

Hello to you all. Since the end of January, the Convenorship baton has been passed from Sanne Boland to me with the full support of the BirdLife Northern Queensland (BLNQ) Committee.

I’d like to join with everyone on the Committee in thanking Sanne for the excellent job that she did over the past couple of years, especially considering all of her other commitments during that period. Sanne is staying on the Committee as an ordinary member so we will continue to receive her excellent input, and we wish her well as she completes her studies.

Many of you know me from other roles I have had in Far North Queensland, perhaps more as an environmentalist than a birdwatcher. For your interest, I grew up in a birding family and my father was well-known in the Scottish birding community. We had a huge aviary in our back garden although, nowadays, they tend to be frowned upon. My father, brother and I also had big bird egg collections before those, understandably, became infra dig.

I was privileged to go on many bird outings with my father to the Western Isles and the Scottish moors before university, wine, women and song took on a higher priority. My major interest in birding returned many years later in Malaysia where Stella and I met. She had the seminal Ben King ‘Birds of South-east Asia’ bird book, so I had to marry her to get a look at it!

In Cairns for the last 30+ years I have tried to marry my love of birding and the natural world with a political impetus to change things for the better on the environmental front. As Convenor of BLNQ I think that is where my strength will lie.

I was the spokesperson for the local chapter of the Places You Love initiative when the first review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) took place in 2018. We are still waiting for stronger nature laws to be passed as, once again, nature bats last when dealing with fossil fuel vested interests in the lead up to an election.

I have just contacted Liberal, Labor and Greens candidates in the seat of Leichhardt inviting them to join the Cairns Botanic Gardens Tuesday bird tour, as well as visit the Esplanade, to demonstrate and explain the importance of the natural world on their doorstep. I will also be emphasising the hundreds of thousands of dollars that birding brings to the local economy. It is heartening that a very recent election poll put biodiversity protection in the top five of important public priorities.

I have also pushed for the reconvening of the Cairns Regional Council quarterly bird/environment forums to discuss pressing matters like Cairns Esplanade protection, Council use of rat poison, and significant tree protection. The first get together for this year will be on Wednesday 26 February with Mikey Kudo, Paul Fisk, Shane Kennedy, and I attending on behalf Cairns Birders and BLNQ.

I went up to the Tablelands for the monthly Hasties Swamp Bird Count recently and to introduce myself to those who don’t know me. I have, also, now joined two BirdLife Australia Teams meetings (end January and February) where the priority has been the upcoming Federal election, and what local branches can do to approach candidates and get the importance of birding (and its economic benefits) across to them. As mentioned, I have already started that process and will also speak to Logan Costa, BirdLife’s campaign rep, shortly about other ways that BirdLife can help us in the electorates of Leichhardt and Kennedy.

Things have been understandably quiet in the more remote outdoors space due to the Wet Season, although it is definitely worth mentioning the Pond-heron’s arrival near Mareeba which caused great excitement (read more here). I understand that the jury is still determining whether it is a Chinese or Javan Pond-heron although the hot money is on the former. Yours truly was one of the unlucky ones to miss out on seeing it! Nordy (Nordmann’s Greenshank) is still gracing the Esplanade, usually around Muddy’s Playground or at the northern end when the tide is right.

We are still awaiting news from Cairns Airport (CA) regarding having a meeting to discuss access to Ellie Point to carry out wader surveys. Mikey Kudo has organised the Wave the Waders Goodbye date for Sunday, 23 March. Check details on our Events page.

Lastly, I cannot sign off without mentioning the heart-wrenching loss of Tom Collis after a long battle with cancer. He was, for a long time, a member of BLNQ and Area Coordinator for the Cairns region. I have already written a short tribute to Tom which is published in Contact Call’s In Memoriam page. Suffice to say, that our hearts go out to Maureen and the entire family in their time of grief.

Until the next time, may your birds always be beautiful.

Denis Walls