Wings were aflutter at the Shorebird workshop held at the Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre on March 6 and 7, 2014.

The workshop hosted over 30 participants and 40 students from Eden Marine High School for two days of talks and outings to showcase the amazing diversity of shore birds on the Sapphire Coast.

Birdlife Australia hosted a number of interesting and insightful presentations on our local shorebirds and how to recognise them. Amy Harris from NSW National Parks and Wildlife discussed the need for ongoing monitoring of our local shorebirds and the importance of volunteers to keep these surveys going. The Shorebird Recovery Program was established to reduce the rate of decline of threatened shorebirds and recover populations by enhancing breeding success. If you are interested in volunteering you can find out more at http://www.southcoastshorebirds.com.au/.

The local marine studies students from Eden Marine High School were lucky enough to come along and hear from experts in the field and discover more about the life on their coast.

We have a multitude of shorebirds right on our doorstep and participants were lucky enough to get out and spot some of them on the second day of the workshop. Led by Dan Weller and Grainne  Maguire from Birdlife Australia participants visited Lake Curalo in Eden and Top Lake in Merimbula to go bird spotting and the weather was just perfect. The birds were definitely out and about and we spotted a number of species, including Sea Eagles, Pelicans, Banded Godwits, Egrets (both lesser and greater), Whimbrels, Curlews, Oyster Catchers and many, many more.

This project is supported by Caring for our Country, through funding from the Australian Government.