Albury-Wodonga residents will be encouraged to 'go for gold' in their gardens during a presentation on creating habitat highways for birds' safe passage through urban areas.
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Gardens for Wildlife Albury-Wodonga is hosting 'Habitat Havens - Attracting Birds To Your Garden' presentation in September, to teach interested community members the best ways to make their gardens wildlife friendly.
Project manager Lizette Salmon said the Olympics analogy showed people what plants they should have in their backyard.
"For every indigenous plant you have in your garden, you get a gold medal," she said.
"For every native plant, you get a silver medal and for every introduced plant or the exotics, you get a bronze medal.
"You're aiming to have as many gold and silver medals in your garden as possible."
Ms Salmon said people should also aim for biodiversity to attract a variety of native animals.
"You have things at ground level, like native grasses, and groundcovers, through to shrubs through to trees," she said.
'Those different layers, that's really important."
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The presentation will feature bird pictures taken by Border based wildlife photographer Neville Bartlett.
Mr Bartlett's photos have featured in various publications including local bird guides for North East Victoria and Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, helping thousands of people identify local native birds.
Mr Bartlett said he had been photographing birds for more than 30 years.
"The main challenge is getting close and not getting inside the zone where a bird gets uncomfortable," he said.
"It's sort of a negotiation you conduct."
Mr Bartlett said his years of photography had taught him to be an observer of bird body language.
"You need to be patient and very observant," he said.
"You start to look at body language and when a bird starts to be uncomfortable with my presence I need to back off a bit or try a different approach."
Mr Bartlett said he had a never ending fascination with birds.
"There's endless varieties, different habitats, they're indicators of what's happening in the world and environment," he said.
"It's one of those journeys you never get to the end of."
He said having his photos displayed in the presentation gave his photography purpose.
"Although that's not the reason you go out and do it, but it keeps you going," he said.
"Having somewhere that will use a very good photograph just encourages you to get out and enjoy the pursuit."
He said he hoped the presentation would help bring more birds to Border gardens.
"Having a garden that the birds like to come to just adds interest to life in general," he said.
Beechworth ecologist Dr Nicki Munro will lead the presentation. If COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, the live presentation will become a webinar.
The Habitat Haven presentation will be held at 5pm and repeated 6.15pm at the Robert Brown Room at Albury Council.
Bookings can be made here.
The event is presented by Wodonga Urban Landcare Network with support from Albury Council.
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