Great Gariwerd Bird Survey

1. Availability: participants must be available to attend the 10-week course and the survey dates, as well as be an active member for annual surveys in Spring and Autumn.
2. Fitness: the program is designed to offer opportunities for varied fitness abilities. The sites allocated to each volunteer group will depend on their fitness level. Moderate is defined as being able to work-alone in remote areas, walking through woodland terrain up to 4hrs per day. Various distances and terrain for each site.
3. Health: considering the remoteness of bird surveys, timely medical assistance may not be immediately available. Participants are to have no pre-existing injuries that may affect their ability to participate or health conditions that if presented during bird surveys would require a timely or specialised medical response.
4. Experience: Experience or previous participation in bird monitoring programs is desirable, however we are encouraging volunteers who wish to build on their current bird monitoring skills to apply. Volunteers who have previous experience will be paired with volunteers who wish to build on their current skills for the program. Participants will be required to use Parks Victoria’s SPOT trackers - training will be provided at the induction.
5. Equipment and self-sufficiency: volunteers who choose to camp will be required to have their own camping gear (tent,sleeping gear, torch, cooking gear, camp chair etc.), toiletries and vehicle. All volunteers are required to have clothing appropriate to weather conditions, sturdy boots with ankle support, drinking water, food, batteries and field equipment.
6. Additional equipment: volunteers are encouraged to bring along field guides and binoculars to assist with surveys. Parks Victoria will provide training in the use of the Avenza mapping app and the Birdata app during the induction. Volunteers will need to use their personal phone and may require a power bank. If volunteers would like information about the best field guides or binoculars to buy, Dr Greg Kerr can give recommendations during the course.
7. Interest in the program and prior volunteering experience: Prior experience volunteering for Parks Victoria or other organisations (eg. Landcare, citizen science programs, community groups) will be well regarded in your application.

Essential selection criteria

Full license with registered vehicle: volunteers will be required to drive to and from the survey sites each day in their own vehicle. Some of the sites are on unsealed roads, which vary from 2WD-accessible to 4WD-only.

Participant responsibilities

• Attend the 10-week Bird Identification, Ecology and Monitoring course.
• Ensure health and fitness requirements can be met outlined in the selection criteria.
• Ensuring the professional presentation of the program.
• Ensure they are ‘fit-for-volunteering’ each day.
• Collect field data as instructed (e.g. using the Birdata app to record bird species observed).

Participants in the program do not:

• enforce any park regulations.
• enter into a dangerous and/or confrontational situation with campers, visitors or staff.

Positions available

Opportunity exists for up to 20 individuals to participate in the program from the Grampians/Gariwerd area.

Operational days

Volunteers are required to attend the free 10-week bird identification, ecology and monitoring ecology course in Halls Gap each Monday evening.

Day 1 briefing location

Volunteers will begin their placement at the Parks Victoria Halls Gap office (The Brambuk building, 255-275 Grampians Road, Halls Gap) at 5pm on day one. This is mandatory for all new participants.

Free camping

Volunteers will be allocated free camping if they choose to camp.

Catering

Participants are required to be self-sufficient for the entire program including accommodation, food, cooking provisions and water.

Photography

Participants are permitted to take photos of their activities to assist with future articles and communication about the program. Parks Victoria will be taking photos of the activities. If volunteers do not wish to have their photo taken they can disclose this at the induction by signing a release form.

This project builds upon a set of studies initially undertaken in 2008 (Stevens et al. 2012) and 2009 (Vinicombe 2009), to examine the impact of a severe landscape scale fire and post fire recovery of mammalian and avian fauna after the 2006 GNP wildfire.

Since this initial surveillance period, mammal surveys have continued on an annual basis, but the avian surveys have not been repeated (M. Stevens 2019 Pers. Comm.). In July 2020, the baiting of feral cats across the National Park, using Curiosity® baits, will be undertaken for the first time. To enable effective monitoring of the outcomes of the feral cat baiting program, a citizen science monitoring program for birds will be reactivated at the 36 sites previously established.

Since 2021, annual autumn and spring surveys have been conducted with the assistance of GGBS volunteers. There is now five years’ worth of data collected, which is improving our understanding of bird populations and impacts of recent bushfires on avian diversity and abundance, and assisting with the land management of the Gariwerd landscape.

Citizen Science is a research technique that enlists the public in gathering scientific information or participating in scientific monitoring. This study of large-scale patterns in natural resources management requires a vast amount of data to be collected, across an array of locations, habitats across the landscapes, and over long spans of time. Citizen science projects have been remarkably successful in advancing scientific knowledge, and contributions from citizen scientists provide a vast quantity of data about species occurrence and distribution around the world. Citizen science projects also strive to help participants learn about the subjects they are observing and to experience the process by which scientific investigations are conducted.

Methodology

 

The GGBS will build upon the existing Birdlife Australia citizen science monitoring program that has been implemented across Australia for over 30 years.

• 20 volunteers will be trained in a free 10-week bird identification, monitoring and ecology course
• During the survey weekend, volunteers will be working in pairs to conduct standardised 2ha/20min surveys. Each pair will be allocated two sites to monitor over the course of two days.
• Volunteers will complete two 2ha/20min surveys at each of their survey sites per day, totalling 8 surveys over the two days (eg. Sat AM, Sat PM, Sun AM, Sun PM).
• Data collected will be input into Birdata for public use.