In development · Content subject to change without notice
L1Level One

Making Landfall

Reading the site. Understanding what the birds are doing, why the tide matters, and what a Steward sees that a casual visitor does not.

We know all we need to protect them. We just need to Act.

● Steward Access
After Level 1, a Steward can:

Includes a two-day field camp at Jacobs Well EEC — research vessel, field site, and JWEEC staff included. Catering contribution required.

Making Landfall — Level 1

Before you can read a beach, you need to know who's on it. Level 1 introduces the birds, the tide, and the one rule that matters most in the field — distance is respect.

Work through the five modules below in order. Each takes 15–20 minutes. You don't need to memorise anything — just get the picture in your head before your first session on the ground.

Course modules

What L1 covers

Adding Pixels to the Picture, visit by visit.

Level 1 establishes the scientific and ethical foundation of the program. By the end of L1, a Steward can identify the key species at Moreton Bay, understand the flyway they are part of, and know what makes this bay critical habitat for birds flying to and from the Arctic. They can interpret the site to whoever is there — the family on the foreshore, the photographer, the dog walker — in language that connects without lecturing.

1.1 — The East Asian–Australasian Flyway

50 million birds. 22 countries. One of the world's great migratory routes. Covers flyway geography, key staging areas, the Yellow Sea bottleneck, and the population pressures bearing down on migratory shorebirds.

Flyway geographyYellow SeaPopulation data

1.2 — Moreton Bay as flyway habitat

Why Moreton Bay matters to the EAAF. Tidal flat ecology, intertidal productivity, and the bay's role as a non-breeding staging site for species flying 11,000 km from Alaska to Australia. Quandamooka Country and the 25,000+ year Indigenous history of relationship with Country.

Tidal ecologyIntertidal productivityCountry

1.3 — Reading the waterline

Field identification of the key migratory and resident species at Moreton Bay. Bar-tailed Godwit, Far Eastern Curlew, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Great Knot, Red Knot, Whimbrel, Grey-tailed Tattler, Pied Oystercatcher and others. Behaviour, habitat use, and conservation status.

Species IDBehaviourEPBC status
Field reference note — Booklet vs. current listing The BirdLife Australia Shorebird Identification Booklet (3rd ed., 2020) is the standard reference for this program. Conservation statuses in the booklet reflect EPBC Act listings as of May 2019. The most important discrepancy: Bar-tailed Godwit (baueri) is listed as Vulnerable in the booklet — but was upgraded to Critically Endangered in 2021. When you use the booklet in the field, note this gap. It matters when interpreting the species to the public and when completing tool assessments.

1.4 — Roost ecology and the tidal cycle

How shorebirds use roost sites in relation to the tidal cycle. High tide roost dynamics. Why the two hours either side of high tide are the critical disturbance window. Introduction to roost site types: constructed, natural, and ad hoc.

Roost dynamicsTidal cycleSite types

1.5 — The Shorebird Steward's role

What a Steward is. The for/about distinction. The Shorebird Steward’s Creed. The interpretive role — every Steward is at a public site where people arrive, and interpreting the site and its significance to whoever is there begins at L1. Introduction to the field tools and their contribution to Mapping the Mudflats. Ethics, limitations, and the relationship between the Steward and the site.

Role and ethicsInterpretation at L1Field tools intro
L1 — Making Landfall L2 — Field Practice →
Conversations With Birds