By Tyler Wright
A Selby grandmother is helping to spread the word on local bird life, releasing not one, but two books dedicated to local species.
Dandenong Ranges residents can purchase the educational picture books, photographed and written by Kathie Thomas.
The works titled ‘Words on Birds Book 1 and 2’ respectively were created by Ms Thomas, with the first being released in March 2020 followed by the second early last year.
It was her grandchildren’s curiosity for the bird life in surrounding areas that inspired Ms Thomas.
“My grandkids would be saying, ‘which bird’s this one, Nan?’ or ‘what’s this nan?’… So I started just to put together all the information and my photos,” she said.
“I got the first print copy a week before our first lockdown, not knowing what we were heading for or anything like that.
“Once a few other people became aware of the book a lot of people got quite interested in it because they were able to share it with their kids or grandkids in their own backyards and look at the local birdlife.”
Book one features written information and photographs on at least 40 birds, while the second features an additional 35.
Local schools, kindergarten and playgroups have copies of the books and they are available for purchase online, helping to spread further Ms Thomas’ love and knowledge of bird species.
“It was written with children in mind but a lot of adults have found the book quite useful as well,” she said.
“I often get people commenting and asking questions and thanking me for sharing a bit of information.”
While the Selby resident enjoys bringing awareness to the beauty of nature, she also absorbs knowledge from social groups and runs a Facebook page called Birds of Australia.
“I’ve recently started going to BirdLife Melbourne outings as well; so it’s just mixing and mingling with others who have an interest in birds – you tend to learn from each other.”
Ms Thomas’ photographs may be familiar as she often shares them on social media pages, often to the reply of viewers asking whether they will be in future reading material.
Despite her sought after knowledge, she said there’s still birds in her area that remain “elusive” to her, including the Powerful Owl.
“One day I’ll get them, and I’ll be able to put them in a children’s book too,” she said.
“Once people start looking at the pictures in the book and reading the information, they’re then becoming more aware of the birds in their own region, even their own backyard. “
