Phil Marley
Another year down, another occasion to share stories, another suite of bird photos to enjoy.
The Terminus Hotel did its regular excellent job of hosting our annual dinner. The outside marquee was perfect and the food and drink great – as usual. Hard to drag ourselves away to Fitzroy High School for show-and-tell. But we did. No regrets.
There was much to celebrate. Although we cancelled trips to the Western Treatment Plant twice during the year (is this our most cancelled destination?) and the weekend campout at Wedderburn was postponed for 12 months to allow it to dry out after floods, we had nine excellent outings. And a bonus on-line slide show in July.
Outing conditions varied from sunny to tropical to windy to downright wet (is Cranbourne Botanic Gardens our wettest destination?). Through it all, great times were had, good company shared and many fabulous photos captured. And we discovered some new beautiful places (Tahbilk Wetlands and Ocean Grove Nature Reserve and Blue Lake spring to mind).
The show-and tell was all about the stories behind the pictures – the places people had been, the lifers spotted, the birds that attacked cars – the blurred shots, the artistic shots, the precious shots and the grab shots and never-to-be-repeated shots.
So another year finishes. And our happy group goes home with more pleasant memories of our shared feathered interest.
With thanks to Peter and John for yet another year coordinating and curating the group and the outings and for all the careful planning and preparation that goes in to making them so successful and enjoyable.
Here’s to more in 2023.
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