Gluepot Reserve

So, last weekend I went on a mini adventure to Gluepot Reserve, South Australia to do a bird banding course. Gluepot Reserve is a property owned by Birdlife Australia for the purpose of protecting its mallee scrub habitat. Its a beautiful reserve and is teeming with birds. I would definitely go back and spend a bit longer there.

Because I was headed out to Gluepot in the middle of nowhere and needed to take camping gear, food, and water all with me, I decided to hire a little campervan for the 4 days. I wasn't expecting to like driving a camper around Adelaide, but it turned out that Vinnie (what i decided to call the van) and I got along really well, despite him locking the keys inside (see previous post).

The bird banding course itself was really great. It was run by Wally Klaus who is one of Australia's most respected banders and has an OAM for his banding work. It turns out that it was also Wally's last banding course as he is retiring so I'm really glad I decided to go.

The rest of the post, I'll keep as photos rather than describing the ins and outs of bird banding as you probably don't find it as interesting as I do.

 Vinnie the Van

Gluepot Scenery

 

 

 

 

The Bird Banding

 

Two birds in a mist net - this is how you catch the birds to band them. This is a spiny cheeked honeyeater and splendid fairy wren (thats the bright blue one, obviously)