By KATH GANNAWAY
THE sighting of Helmeted Honeyeaters outside their reserve at Yellingbo has supporters feeling a little self-congratulatory.
A number of the critically endangered birds have been observed in habitat near Yellingbo township, an area in which Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater president Robert Anderson says they were last recorded in the late 1970s.
“This is clear evidence the Helmeted Honeyeater population is now growing and expanding,” Mr Anderson said.
The Friends have double cause to celebrate, as the birds have occupied a revegetation site comprising trees and shrubs planted between four and 30 years ago.
It is the first historical record of Helmeted Honeyeaters occupying revegetation according to Mr Anderson and has prompted new confidence in the saying “The best time to plan a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now”.
Mr Anderson said the sightings were a great endorsement of a generation of effort by the local community and the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery team.
“We have long held that revegetation is important for linking and expanding habitat, and now we are beginning to see the results,” he said.
“The Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater extend our gratitude to the Healesville-based Judith Eardley Save Wildlife Association and the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority for their generous funding of recent land purchase and revegetation works conducted at the site,” Mr Anderson added.
