CIRCUMNAVIGATING Australia’s shoreline in her tiny microlight aircraft, bird-lover Milly Formby is on a mission to bring awareness to the plight of our continent’s migrating shorebirds.

Flying solo around Australia, Milly’s 20,000km adventure-with-a-purpose glided into the Mid North Coast this week.

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News Of The Area caught up with Milly before her talk on Thursday, 30 March at Woolgoolga Regional Community Gardens.

“This is the closest I can get to experiencing the epic flight that our shorebirds make each year to their Arctic breeding grounds.”

Wherever she can, scientist and artist Milly is using her flight to connect with school kids and community groups to share the story of our migratory shorebirds.

“Because as well as being superheroes of long-distance flight, they are the world’s most endangered group of bird species.

“This is a really fantastic way to highlight the way that people in coastal areas, and beach walkers, can really make a difference,” says Milly.

“Birds and people share the shoreline, and by caring for the local wetland and coastal ecosystems our collective grassroots action can make a massive environmental impact.

“In Coffs Harbour – birdwise – I’m looking forward to visiting local coastal wetlands to see what shorebirds are around.

“Most will be heading off on their northward migration, so I expect it will be mainly resident shorebird species like Pied Oystercatcher and Red-capped Plovers.”

Milly’s plans on the Mid North Coast include visits to seven primary schools around the area to talk to students in Grades 3-6 about her adventure and the shorebirds that inspired it.

Milly will visit The Nature School, St Columba’s Anglican School, Stuarts Point Public School, Frank Partridge VC Public School, Casuarina Steiner School, Crossmaglen Primary School and Sandy Beach Public School.

“I’m also in the process of organising a migratory shorebird workshop with National Parks and Wildlife Service staff to train them in shorebird identification and survey techniques for BirdLife Australia,” she said.

Migratory shorebirds make an awe-inspiring 25,000km round journey from Australia to Siberia each year to breed.

Milly’s trip is a similar distance in 180 flying days, aboard a microlight specifically chosen because it closely replicates how shorebirds fly, travelling at about 50 to 55 knots, or just under 100kph.

The strong winds in southern Australia are a challenge for the microlight, and it took almost six months for Milly to complete the first third of her journey from Perth to Lake Macquarie.

Milly’s trip follows most of Australia’s coastline where she can have the biggest impact in the communities on the front line.

She aims to capture the imagination of children and adults alike, with a book she illustrated – A Shorebird Flying Adventure.

She uses the book and accompanying eLearning resources to engage primary school-aged children with science stories and encourage a new generation of optimistic problem-solvers.

“Migratory shorebirds are a living expression of how we’re all connected through a global, ecological network,” said Milly.

“And while they’re at our beaches, they’re a doorway into nature that we can see every day.”

For more on Milly’s journey and to see livestreams from the sky, visit www.wingthreads.com.

Follow her on Facebook, Instagram @wingthreads and Twitter @wing_threads.

By Andrea FERRARI