Life with Birds: A collaboration with the Newstead Arts Hub and Castlemaine State Festival
Posted on 19 February, 2026 by Hadley Cole
Life with Birds is an immersive celebration of the birds and woodland ecosystems of central Victoria. A distinguished collaboration of writers, artists, photographers, sound recordists, field naturalists and scientists will enable participants to enjoy and learn on the path to a deeper appreciation of the richness of our bird life in the face of many challenges, especially that of global climate change.
There will be six events conducted in collaboration with the Newstead Arts Hub and the Castlemaine State Festival.
Carrie Tiffany by Eve Owen Jan 2025
Saturday 21 March | 11.00am – 2.00pm| Carrie Tiffany: Mateship with Birds Creative Writing Workshop
Carrie, a former park ranger, has twenty years’ experience as a researcher, writer, editor and teacher of creative writing. Her novel, Mateship with Birds, won the inaugural 2013 Stella Prize. Geoff Park will share an ‘in conversation’ with Carrie, before she leads a bird-themed Creative Writing Workshop. No writing experience is needed.
Workshop ticket: $100
Venue: Newstead Arts Hub
For more information and bookings – click here
Sunday 22 March | 11.00am – 2.00pm | Richard Weatherly: A brush with woodland birds Woskshop
Richard is an iconic Australian artist, conservationist and innovative farmer. With over fifty-five years of professional experience, Richard will draw on his acclaimed illustrated works, such as The Fairy-Wrens and A Brush with Birds, as he leads this workshop. Materials provided, though participants are welcome to bring their own.
Workshop ticket: $100
Venue: Newstead Arts Hub
For more information and bookings – click here
Monday 23 March | 7.30am- 12.30pm | Lawrie Conole: The ‘Difficult’ Bird Search
The Newstead district is an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) with sites identified as being internationally significant for the conservation of birds and other biodiversity. It is home to a suite of ‘difficult’ birds, those that are cryptic, declining and often just plain hard to find species that call our local bush home.
Lawrie will introduce you to some of these characters and their habits, including their distinctive songs. It will then be your mission, should you choose to accept it, to venture to a selection of local sites where, armed with some new skills and information, you’ll hopefully encounter some of them such as Speckled Warbler, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Painted Button-quail, Hooded Robin, Spotted Quail-thrush, or even a Crested Bellbird.
Event ticket: $20
Venue: Newstead Arts Hub
For more information and bookings – click here
Wednesday 25th March | 7.00 – 9.00pm | Andrew Skeoch: The wild bird soundscapes of our woodlands
Learn the songs and calls of some of our rarer bird species! This immersive one-hour presentation will introduce the importance of sound for species ID, monitoring, and assessing the state of our local habitat. This will be followed by a session for those interested to share their observations of local birdlife/wildlife occurrences/movements, and to introduce a future project.
Andrew Skeoch is a professional wildlife sound recordist, acoustic ecologist and author of ‘Deep Listening to Nature’. He has given presentations to audiences ranging from festivals such as WOMADelaide’s Planet Talks to local communities, written for The Conversation, and presented radio features, keynote addresses and a TEDx talk.
Event ticket: Gold Coin Donation
Venue: Newstead Community Centre
For more information – click here
Thursday 26th March | 8am – 12.00pm | Patrick Kavanagh: The art and craft of bird photography
In this workshop, Patrick, an accomplished nature photographer with a special ‘focus’ on woodland birds of the Newstead district and their habitats, will offer personal tuition on photographic techniques and field craft. The workshop starts and ends at Newstead Art Hub and will involve gentle walking in an outdoor environment. BYO Camera.
Workshop Ticket: $100
Venue: Newstead Arts Hub
For more information and bookings – click here
Thursday 26th March | Exhibition opening John Wolseley and Geoff Park | 6.00pm
A joint exhibition of works to celebrate birds and the landscapes they inhabit. Open weekends from Saturday 14 March – Sunday 29 March or by appointment.
Geoff Park
John Wolesley
Friday 27th March | 6.00pm – 7.00pm) | John Wolseley and Geoff Park in Conversation
Since moving to Australia in 1978, John Wolseley has immersed himself in the landscape, an approach which has given rise to a variety of different ways of collaborating with the land itself. His large scale works on paper, watercolours and installations are often based around scientific themes.
Geoff Park is an ecologist, wildlife photographer and field naturalist with a 60-year obsession with birds. Since 2008, with his Natural Newstead blog, Geoff has been documenting the nature of the Newstead district through writing and photography with a particular focus on birds.
Join them in conversation as they discuss their experiences of engaging with landscapes and the creatures that inhabit these places. An evening of sharing stories, ideas from their lives of observing, documenting and wondering about nature.
Event ticket: SOLD OUT (Join Waitlist)
Venue: Newstead Arts Hub
For more information and waitlist – click here
The proceeds from this diverse and rich program of events will be dedicated to a community designed, citizen science woodland bird conservation project in central Victoria, in partnership with the Wettenhall Environment Trust.
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