Churchill Island Friends Society Inc.

04/11/2026

The Churchill Island museum collection has a photocopy of the Amess Family's Visitor Book for Churchill Island, from the 1890s until early 1900s. Friends of Churchill Island Society FOCIS secretary Christine Grayden wrote an essay about the entries in a recent edition of the local online journal Bass Coast Post. Called "A jolly good time on Churchill Island", you can read the essay directly from the website page here (no need to download):

Amess family and friends on the veranda of Amess House, Churchill Island, c. 1880s

01/11/2026

If you have never seen an Eastern Barred Bandicoot before, this is a good place to start. Churchill Island, being fox, cat and rabbit free, was the perfect place for the first release of the captive bred EBBs, who were endangered at that stage. They've gone so well on Churchill Island and Phillip Island, they can be seen in quite a few parts now. But because they are nocturnal, it can be quite hard to spot them if you're not sure what to look for. Sharing the information and images here about the Phillip Island Nature Parks bandicoot discovery tours on Churchill Island:

"Small and a little elusive, the Eastern barred bandicoot is a sight that can be hard to see!

For your best chance to catch a glimpse of these endangered creatures, join one of the exclusive Bandicoot Discovery Tours on Churchill Island.
Places are seriously limited, so book now: https://phillip-island-nature-parks.visitlink.me/Ksruwv

30/10/2026

Our local resource organisation Phillip Island & District Historical Society are having an Open Day at their museum space and upstairs or up lift at their research room at Berninneit today, 10am - 2pm Saturday 31 October 2026. They have local history books for sale, many of them now out of print, at Bargain Prices! Also their new exhibition "From Fire to Farming" about the McHaffie era on the island - the first colonists. If you don't have time to watch the audio visual presentation for the exhibition they have an exhibition booklet you can purchase, or order if they run out of copies.

Please go along to support this wonderful group of volunteers. They are fundraising towards paying their $6,000 p.a. storage unit bill, so if you can donate that would be greatly appreciated too!

29/10/2026

Friends of Churchill Island Society spring edition of our new-look newsletter is now online for you to enjoy. Read about how the curator of the Churchill Island museum, Maxine Holden, has gone about reinterpreting the historic 1872 Amess House and 1860s Rogers Cottages for the warmer weather. You can also read our new series “What Churchill Island means to me…” with several committee members giving us their views, and FOCIS secretary Christine Grayden sharing some memories of the day the northern slope forest was first planted. Also updates on our new meetings format. Take a look here:

https://focis.org.au/newsletters/

24/10/2026

2026 marks 50 years since the Victorian Conservation Trust (VCT) purchased Churchill Island for the people of Victoria. The VCT was set up by the Hamer Liberal government in 1974 to seek out and purchase private land of great heritage and environmental value to the state. Churchill Island was one of the VCT's early and also one of the most significant purchases. The VCT now operates as the Trust for Nature with some of the original VCT functions.

Friends of Churchill Island Society FOCIS will be holding a small gathering of people originally involved in the early years of VCT management of Churchill Island, to commemorate this significant anniversary. However, we are having difficulty contacting staff and volunteers from that era, or their descendants.

If you know of anyone who was involved on Churchill Island, or with the Victorian Conservation Trust, or the CI Restoration Group during the time of VCT management of CI, we would love to hear from you. Please contact our secretary Christine Grayden, by e: [email protected] or phone/text/leave message: 0400 900 612.

Thank you for your help!

18/10/2026

This year we have had many, many days when Warn Marin Western Port appeared to be one great millpond, the weather has been so calm. More like Autumn than Spring, the calm days continue. Here are some photos shared with us of Churchill Island recently, with the bay so calm it fitted the older generation's saying "The bay's so calm, you could row around in a bath tub".

15/10/2026

FOCIS congratulates gardener Alice and her volunteers for the great job they are doing keeping Churchill Island's heritage garden going during these last very dry years. We had good rain over several weeks recently, but generally the situation is not good.

The garden is a cottage garden with feature trees, some well over 100 years old. It takes a lot to keep a cottage garden looking fresh and abundant. The garden team's dedication to keeping the heritage trees and the garden generally at its best is greatly appreciated.

Here's a few recent views from around the garden taken by FOCIS member Jolanta Paull. Thanks for sharing Jolanta!

12/10/2026

Now more than ever before it's vital that we know what birds we have and where, especially for us, on and around Churchill Island Moonah'mia! One in six Australian birds is in danger. Avian flu is on our shores now.

Bird Life Australia's citizen science program Aussie Bird Count is the best way we currently have to find out where our birds are and how they are going.

Each year Bird Life Australia puts out a call for us all to get out in our backyards, a reserve, a beach, anywhere at all, for just 20 minutes and record what we see. You need to register with Bird Life Australia first. To participate in the count, you don't need to be an expert - just have a phone with the app downloaded from Apple or Google Play. You can find out how to use the app here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ5SzQA2GHI&t=194s

You can go to as many sites on and around Churchill Island Moonah'mia as you like for 20 minutes a time to count the birds there. It doesn't matter if you go to the same site more than once, provided it's at a different time. It doesn't matter if other people are counting the same place, but try to make it a different time, day, or weather.

To find out more about Aussie Bird Count, and to register for the count by 18 October at the latest, go here:
https://aussiebirdcount.org.au/