One for the birds

Castlemaine Rotary's Lyndal McClure with Castlemaine Men's Shed members Phil Pengelly and Brian McCormick and some of the nesting boxes that shed members have made to help East Gippsland's surviving wildlife. Photo: Eve Lamb

Castlemaine Mens’ Shed members have turned their talents to a special project helping the state’s hard-hit wildlife recover from this season’s devastating Gippsland bushfires.
Working as part of the wider Nest Box Connections project several local shed members have got busy making about 160 specialised nesting boxes – most of which have already been delivered to fire-ravaged East Gippsland locations.
“People have been stopping me in the street and saying it’s wonderful what you’re doing,” Castlemaine Shed president Brian McCormick says.
“And the best thing about it is the community involvement.”
Shed member Phil Pengelly is one of the local shed members who has been busy turning his hand to making the nesting boxes designed especially for different sorts of native birds and animals that require trees and hollow logs to successfully breed.
With so many trees and hollow logs destroyed in the unprecedented fires that impacted East Gippsland, the ability of surviving birds and animals to breed this season is under serious threat. More in today’s Mail, Friday March 13, 2020.

Eve Lamb
Journalist and photographer Eve Lamb has a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) degree from Deakin University and a Master of Arts (Professional Writing) from Deakin University. She has worked for many regional newspapers including the Hamilton Spectator and the Warrnambool Standard, and has also worked for metro daily, The Hobart Mercury, and The Sunday Tasmanian. Eve has also contributed to various magazines including Australian Cyclist.