Main Club, 16 -18 October 2026

Four club members arrived at our Yunderup Field Station on Friday 16 October and settled in.

After lunch, John Abbott and Roman Mandyczewsky carried out some much-needed repairs to the ceiling and wall corner that had been damaged during a heavy storm, whilst Lucy Mandyczewsky and Jolanda Keeble scouted the island to find the best place for the practical session of the next day’s workshop. The Splendid Fairywrens were in full breeding colour, and the Tawny Frogmouth was nesting in the same area we found her last year. The Great Egrets were busily feeding in the shallow water pools, and the White-faced Heron chicks were old enough to leave their nests when we walked past. A Sacred Kingfisher followed us around, and a Magpie was hopefully eyeing us, expecting a free feed. Scratching in the rain gutter was heard, and a young Varanus rosenbergii poked its head out to see if we were a threat.

The next morning, Sophie Xiang, our workshop convenor, and two other club members (Elizabeth Atahan and Clare Sharrett) arrived just after 9 am. We had morning tea, and then Sophie explained the basics of taking good photographs and the various options available on a mobile phone. She had brought along some flowers to practice with and prints of some of her photos to clarify what she meant when explaining the more technical details.

I must say my phone’s camera is terribly inadequate for taking great shots, but more modern phones have macrophotography options that work really well. We had fun trying out the panoramic setting and the different filters to change the background.

Sophie pointed out the differences between photo aspect ratios and zoom levels and gave us tips on how to improve our photos using the phone camera’s settings.

After the morning session, we had a quick lunch, then went outside to practice our new skills. We came almost immediately upon a bright Satin Blue Butterfly who dutifully posed for us. After walking away from the houses, we found the small ‘pin cushion’ Siloxerus humifusus, yellow-flowered Goodenia filifolia, several trigger plant species, including Stylidium utricularioides and S. calcaratum, Angianthus drummondii and the pink petticoats (Utricularia multifida), before coming to some larger flowers that are easier to photograph: Kunzea recurva, Microtis media, Senecio pinnatifolius, Samolus junceus, Brachyscome bellidioides and others.

We listed 37 bird species we sighted or heard over the two days and >33 plant species, most of which were minute because we prioritised the wetland/waterlogged areas. We were fortunate that the mosquitoes were mostly absent and we had no rain to speak of.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable workshop and a couple of days on the island.

Jolanda Keeble

See page 2 for Bird, Plant and Others lists