Five Mile Radius!

So I too am joining the 5MR revolution. It involves birds, lists and maps - a combination I could only resist for so long. Unfortunately it doesn't involve the metric system. But that's ok, I'm just going to stick with miles. That's what all the cool birders are doing. And also, I like consistency.

Jen of I Used to Hate Birds came up with the concept, and basically, you just keep a record of all the birds you see within a five-mile radius of your home. It encourages local birding, patch birding, green birding and all things good.

When I worked out my 5MR I found I already had 84 birds on my list. I also found that the last new species added were all the way back in 2016 - eep!

the billabong at Wilson's Reserve

There are a few places that I have birded quite regularly, like Wilson Reserve, which is where I got those last new birds - a Fairy Martin and an Australasian Darter. This spot has also gifted me some nice 5MR birds including Powerful Owl, Rufous Fantail, Bassian Thrush and Sacred and Azure Kingfishers.

Another nice little go-to spot has been Glen Iris Park with its small wetlands, and adjoining Dorothy Laver Reserve. This is where I saw my lifer Nankeen Night Heron when I started birding, as well as what I am pretty sure is my lone 5MR White-necked Heron. It's not bad for small park right next to the freeway.

a more recent young Nankeen Night Heron at Glen Iris Park wetlands

I also now have new-found motivation for some overdue local exploring. Looking at my 5MR on the map there are a few places I hadn't realised were so close to home, that I hadn't thought to visit before, or just hadn't gotten round to checking out. And a few I should probably go back to more often, like Wattle Park, where last time I saw this nice kookaburra.

I'm in your 5MR, eating your skinks.

Luckily there are also some pretty active local birders within my 5MR who report interesting sightings. It was thanks to one of these birders that I saw my first new species since I officially started my list.


I had seen David Eades' reports of a Pink Robin in St Kilda Botanic Gardens which seemed to be hanging around in the same spot so I decided to go on a little 5MR quest. I'd never been there before, but thanks to David's detailed notes on eBird I was onto the robin within about 2 minutes of arriving! It was a really sweet little bird that even let me take a picture, yay!

welcome to the 5MR, little robin

I'm always interested birding new places so of course I also had a look round the rest of the gardens. I saw a few other things and I found a statue in a pond holding some swallows.

also with bonus PBD

*resisting the temptation to make bird-in-the-hand reference*

That same week Leigh reported a Rose Robin at Darebin Parklands. This would be another new 5MR bird, and another new place to explore.

a gloomy prospect at Darebin Parklands

I went out the following Saturday morning before some serious weather hit and there was a lot of bird action. There wasn't however any sign of a Rose Robin. Instead I was super excited to see a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater - a bird I wouldn't have expected to see there, or anywhere locally really. It was also the first eBird record for the site. It seems Autumn movement was being kind to me.

some of the locals hoping for a handout

As clouds were gathering and I was heading back to the car, alarm calls alerted me to a raptor - a Nankeen Kestrel! Another new bird for the 5MR and the eBird site list! Darebin Parklands FTW!

So that was all pretty good, but that same day I was passing one of the more fancy private schools and I noticed a large flock of Straw-necked Ibis on one of their sports grounds. Straw-necked Ibis was a gap I had noticed on my 5MR list and a species I had thought I could possibly run into at a park or oval somewhere, or see flying over.

phone pic only - look for the black dots

I stopped to do a count like a good little eBirder and found there was a whole 65 of them. And turns out I stopped just in time as while I was watching the birds some guy walking past detoured onto the oval to scare them all away. Um, okay? (The ibis have been back though, I've seen them reported again since.)

So that was a pretty encouraging start to 5MR birding and brought my list 88.

With a bit more local birding will it reach 90? Quite possibly. 100? We'll see!