Tonight’s An Evening with the Birds is for two-legged lookers trying to spy two-legged flyers along a stretch of the riverbank and in the parkland grounds. 

It’s being run by Tamworth Birdwatchers and is aimed at introducing locals to the local birds we find in our neck of the woods.

Locals can spend up to two hours with some of the most expert birdwatchers from Tamworth, making forays into the green spaces around the park and up and down the Peel to spot native inhabitants.

The club has been around for nearly 16 years and has up to 100 members.

It takes morning birdwalks twice a month during the more pleasant months of the year and also treks further afield to find birds in places like the Pilliga, coastal stretches and tablelands haunts.

The birdwatchers have compiled a list of the birds of the Peel River from the Paradise end to Swan St near Oxley Vale and up to two years ago had identified some 158 species, among them 22 breeding species in that area. 

A birdwatchers’ spokeswoman, Annabel Ashworth, says tonight’s bird walks could find ducks, egrets, cormorants and kingfishers.

“And magpies and magpie larks are likely as well as swallows, 

honeyeaters, fairy wrens, finches, butcherbirds and maybe a few surprises too,” Mrs Ashworth said.

The event is being run as part of this month’s Namoi Sustainable Living Expo. There’s a free sausage sizzle, a display of bird bits and plenty of info on local birdlife. Binoculars aren’t mandatory but they might help you spot your targets more successfully.

The birdwatchers will be near the wisteria walk between the toilet block and the pond from 5pm to 7pm. If you can’t get there and you want to become friends, visit their website www.tamworthbirdwatchers.com