Gunning & District Historical Society

January Bird of the Month:    The Regent Honeyeater Regent Honeyeater (C)Bill Harding 2016 birdlifephotography.org.au Gladstone Weatherstone This is the first story in a projected monthly series inspired by Gladstone Weatherstone (pictured left Image courtesy Wayne Weatherstone ].  He lived on his property Lyndfield Park at Oolong near Gunning from 1941 until his death in 1996.  Between 1962 and 1981 this amateur (but very knowledgeable) naturalist and ornithologist kept a notebook.   In fine copperplate handwriting he recorded bird sightings - sometimes significant and sometimes commonplace – made on or near his property.  Although he began these records in 1962 his intimate knowledge of local birdlife goes back to 1941.   This notebook, together with Gladstone’s extensive bird egg and nest collections, has been accepted by the National Museum of Australia where they are expected to feature in an Australian Environmental Hi...

The Crested Pigeon is one of the fortunate species to have benefited from our management of the landscape in the Upper Lachlan.  (C)Ian Wilson 2019 birdlifephotography.org.au This article written by Dr Tony Saunders, President of the Crookwell Native Flora and Fauna Club (CNFFC) with additional contributions from the Gunning and District Historical Society (GDHS). Forty Years of Change:  Flora and Fauna of the Upper Lachlan History happens every day.  Its cumulative effect can be significant over a short period, particularly for birds, mammals and reptiles.  Members of the CNFFC have often remarked on the changes we have noticed over the last forty years.  We recently devoted a meeting to discussing and recording the main trends our members have seen over this period. Changes in wildlife populations can be confined to small areas - just one large farm where the vegetation has changed can show significant differences.  The distribution and popul...