Gunning & District Historical Society

  Image courtesy Duade Paton https://www.photos.duadepaton.com From Gladstone's Notebook:  Sometimes Poisonous, yet a Culinary Delight and the Explorer’s Saviour – the Common Bronzewing   This is number 9 of a 12 part series in which we take a bird recorded in Gladstone Weatherstone’s notebook between 1962 and 1981, see if anything is different today and, if so, try to explain why.   Gladstone was a dedicated and knowledgeable amateur naturalist who lived on Lyndfield Park near Gunning from 1941 until 1996 Image of Gladstone Weatherstone courtesy Wayne Weatherstone. The Common Bronzewing   On 3 September 1967, Gladstone wrote “ Several Bronzewing Pigeons seen near Jerrawa and possibly nesting near Catherine’s Creek ”.  This bird makes only a few appearances over the 19 years covered by his notebook.  In June 1973 he wrote “ Bronze-winged Pigeon observed feeding around the house today, also two days later.  First time seen in close ....

The Mundoonen Spotted Quail-thrush Above:  The Mt Lofty sub-species of the Spotted Quail-thrush - now declared locally extinct.  What does it tell us about the bird we have in the Mundoonen district and the wider Upper Lachlan Shire?  This article has a go at explaining the lessons we might draw from its story.     Image courtesy Australian Geographic. Image courtesy Wayne Weatherstone This is number 5 in a twelve part series inspired by Gladstone Weatherstone, a dedicated and knowledgeable amateur naturalist who lived at  Lyndfield Park near Gunning from 1941 until his death in 1996. From 1962 until 1981 he recorded bird sightings on his farm and its near surrounds.  Each month we look at one of the birds Gladstone noted, try to place it in context and see if we can draw any lessons about the recent natural history of our district. Gladstone's note book entry for 14 May 1974 records " Two Quail Thrushes (which are ve...