Neil Shelley

Neil has always lived on the Mornington Peninsula and spent many of his early holidays camping and caravanning throughout Victoria with my parents and siblings.  Later he travelled extensively throughout Australia with his own family, including memorable trips along the Gunbarrel Highway, across the Simpson Dessert and around Australia.  Neil has also been fortunate enough to visit 43 other countries.

Neil has been a member of Birdlife Australia (and its predecessors the RAOU and BOCA) for 30+ years, and in the early 2000s before retiring, completed a Graduate Diploma of Ornithology at Charles Sturt University.

Around 2010, he developed a smart phone app to help identify shorebirds.  This led to him developing a Wetland Birds Field Guide iPhone app for Birdlife Australia a couple of years later.

Neil has been fortunate enough to have observed 208 of the 287 species recorded on the Mornington Peninsula — the most by any eBirder!  Having visited Woods Reserve over 100 times since 2000, and led monthly surveys there since 2014, I have recorded 96 of the 113 species observed at the site.  Some of the most memorable being Sacred Kingfisher (breeding), Satin Flycatcher, Rufous Fantail, Olive-backed Oriole, Scarlet & Flame Robin and White-winged Triller — most of which are seasonal migrants.