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FIRST BIRD BANDINGBOC MINUTES MARCH 21, 1912"Mr A.H. Mattingley thought it would be a good idea to put rings on the legs of mutton-birds. We could thereby ascertain date of arrival in each year and determine many other valuable points. Mr Nicholls seconded the idea. He mentioned that he had tried an experiment along similar lines with ribbon. On the motion of Mr Mattingley, seconded by Mr Le Souëf, an offer of rings by Mr Dwyer, for the purpose of the experiment, was accepted with thanks. Mr Chas Ryan offered a donation of one pound towards the expense of buying rings. It was finally decided to have a trip to Phillip Island during the eight hours holiday weekend, and the matter was left in the hands of the Hon. Sect."
ALTONA SURVEYSDuring the late 1940s and early fifties surveys formed a significant part of club activities. Alma Mitchell comments on trips to Altona in the April, 1992 Bird Observer. “...at least once every month members travelled by suburban train to Altona and then WALKED along the beach to the Altona Saltworks, to Point Cook and then back to Altona Station (exhausted usually) to fill in a Sunday birding. When I look back on those feats of endurance, and the ease of transport these days in the family car, I wonder how many people today would even dream of tackling those sorts of birding activities.
FIELD GUIDES PUBLISHEDIn 1949 the B.O.C. published the first of its Field Guide to Hawks booklets. This was so successful that it led to the publication of Field Guide to Waders, then Australian Honeyeaters, Australian Flycatchers, and Australian Warblers.
SILVER GULL SURVEYIn 1952 members of B.O.C. and the R.A.O.U. carried out a survey of the life history of the Silver Gull at Laverton, near Melbourne. A full survey such as this had never been undertaken before in Australia. It was reported in the Australian Woman’s Weekly August 6th 1952.
1959The Australian Bird Watcher is announced to members"During the past ten years the increase in membership of the Bird Observers’ Club has been phenomenal. The new members have not only come from Victoria but from all the States of Australia. The Club is privileged to include in its ranks most of the leading ornithologists in Australia today.Because many of our members do not belong to any other society or club, they have not had mediums available to them for publishing their observations. For some years, therefore, the Committee of the Bird Observers’ Club considered ways and means of recording these observations, and finally decided to commence publication of a new magazine. Its main purpose would be to enable members to record their field-notes on Australian birds; to publish the results of the various surveys that are being undertaken by members, either alone or as a group; and, finally, to publish the more extensive papers dealing with the distribution, nesting, and general behaviour of groups of' birds or individual species. "
Egg collecting“Egg collecting was a popular study of some of the early naturalists and from this emerged the collecting of study skins, bird photography following the introduction of dry plates in the 1880s, and the beginning of modern bird study with compilation of records and check-lists.” (Ref:McEvey, A.R. 1975. Victorian ornithology; a chronology showing its historical characteristics. National Museum.)
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