Bird watchers flock together in Emerald

Megan Williams with Sean Dooley. 407747 Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS

In the world of bird watching, one of the most significant challenge is the ’big year’ – a challenge to identify as many species as possible within a geographical area in a calendar year.

In 2002, Melbourne’s Sean Dooley set out to break the Australian record and accomplished his mission with a total of 720 birds, a record held until 2012.

The editor of the Australian Birdlife magazine visited Emerald library on Friday 17 May to share tales of his bird watching escapades.

He has also written for a number of Australian television comedies including Full Frontal, Hamish and Andy and Spicks and Specks.