Sure the bird may be beautiful, with black and gold feathers, but I wasn’t prepared to be soaking wet and freezing cold for six hours.

Luckily I was staying at the divine Lansallos Bed and Breakfast, so I’d had a good night’s sleep in the large, modern, designer bedroom, complete with marble bathroom and panoramic views on to the spectacular sandstone cliffs.

It was 6am and I could see wind and rain on the puddles outside the glass doors. 

I was tempted to go back to bed, but would feel too guilty.

After all, over 100 people were expected at the planting from the region, Sydney and Newcastle.

Thirty volunteers from Taronga Zoo were coming in a bus that left at dawn.

So I got up and drove over to Santonio, a beautiful property owned by Sandy and Tony Thompson, secretly planning to stay in the car if the rain persisted.

When I arrived at 8am (as requested) there were already about 30 people working away.

There had been good rain in the valley in the past month, so the soil was softer than usual.

But it was still wet, cold and windy so I feared the worst.

For 20 years, volunteers have been coming to the valley twice a year to plant trees, and the Land Rover Owners’ Club (LROC) has provided logistics, transport and watering expertise.

These skills are vital to the enterprise, and it’s an interesting alliance — birders with 4WDrivers.

LROC members like helping out, and showing that some 4WD owners care about the environment.

On Friday, LROC members had collected the 2900 seedlings, expertly grown from locally gathered seeds by valley couple Kerry Cooke and Dominique della Libera, and brought them to the site.

Lines had been ripped in the soil a few weeks before, and volunteers laid the plants, guards and stakes out in 3 metre to 5 metre spaces along the rows.

Dick Turner, a forester from Lapstone, designs the mix of trees and understorey for each site.

“We’re planting River Oaks and Yellow Box close to the river, White Box mid-slope, and up towards the top of the hill, we’ve got Ironbark and Kurrajong, and shrubs to match,” Dick said.

He explained that this property, off Huntingdale Road, was particularly good as it sloped down to the Capertee River, one of the most important sites in the valley for the Regent Honeyeater.

Jenny Schabel, environmental scientist and natural resource manager, agreed this was a particularly significant site.

“We know Regents are using the Casuarinas nearby, and it would be really lovely to see landowners who have riverside properties join in and improve the connectivity of native trees along the river.”

Any landowner in the valley can apply to have trees planted on their land.

Funding comes from the Local Land Services, Central Tablelands through the Federal Government.

Turner vets the properties for suitability, and when a site is chosen, the project supplies the trees, fencing, guards, stakes and watering, with money for follow-up watering if necessary.

A few generations ago, the sky would darken with huge flocks of these beautiful black and yellow birds.

Now there are only around 500 to 1000 left, and the Capertee Valley is one of their main habitats, so the Capertee Valley Regent Honeyeater Recovery Group organises plantings twice a year, in May and August, to give the birds some food and habitat.

Amazingly, three pilots turned up to plant trees.

They each brought their young children and were camping, which I thought was very brave given that it was freezing (snow in Lithgow that day) and rainy, though it was slowly clearing.

Svend Stuebe, from Blaxland, flies for Jet Star.

He came with his wife and 10-year-old daughter.

“We’ve been here a few times,” he said.

“I come because I don’t actually volunteer doing anything else.

“I’ve always been focussed on environmental causes, since I was a teenager.

“I think it’s a good thing for my daughter to see that other people are prepared to get out and do something for the environment.

“It’s not just about money and cars and whatever else society promotes as being important in life.

“And it gives us a chance to catch up with friends.

“We’re so busy all the time, especially when you have jobs with no schedule or routine.”

Builder Ian Peterson has a weekender in the valley.

“I don’t have the experience or the time or the money for raising cattle,” he said.

“I’ve had two plantings at my place and they’re going really good.

“A lot of the trees are over three metres tall.”

By 10am, the rain had stopped and the rest of the day was dry, with spectacular views of clouds and sun on the massive sandstone cliffs that ring the valley.

At 11.30, hundreds of trees still lay along the rows, waiting to be planted.

Then we heard the great news — the bus from Taronga Zoo had arrived.

The bus couldn’t get through the gates, so the 30 volunteers walked about a kilometre to the site.

The group was a mixture of staff, and youth volunteers known as YATZ (Youth at the Zoo).

After a short briefing on safety and the proper way to plant a tree, they grabbed some tools and headed off over the hill to start work.

Taronga Zoo has a Regent Honeyeater Captive Breeding Project, and last year they travelled to Chiltern State Forest in Victoria and released some birds into the wild.

Over 100 birds have been released so far.

“I come to plant trees because the Regent Honeyeater is my favourite bird,” Ryan McAdam, 14, from YATZ, said.

“I got to go to Chiltern and release birds from the captive breeding project into the wild!”

Rod Cheal, Learning Engagement Officer at the zoo, had driven up towing a barbecue on a trailer.

At 1pm, he cooked sausages and onions, and fed the enthusiastic planters, then they were back at work again.

Cheal explained the zoo’s education efforts in the area: “Taronga has worked with Glen Alice, Capertee and Cullen Bullen in the past, building a greenhouse with them in each school.

“Students learn about the plight of the Regent Honeyeater and what Taronga and other organisations do to support it.

“Students are challenged to create communication pieces that inform their community how to reduce threats and support the Regent Honeyeater.

“In the case of Capertee schools, they focus on the aspect of habitat regeneration, therefore tree planting.”

The watering, always a crucial and sometimes problematic part of the day, started around noon.

The Glen Alice Bush Fire Brigade came with a truck as a training exercise.

Sam Myskle from Rylstone was on hand with a big tanker of water.

Peter van Winden from the LROC filled each 500L tank on the back of the Land Rover trailers, and the drivers headed off to the trees.

Two people with long yellow hoses ran along behind each water tank and gave about eight litres of water to each tree.

The seedlings need a good soaking to start off in the earth.

At 2.45, the zoo group headed back to their bus and the four-hour drive back to Sydney.

It was a long day (the bus leaves Taronga Zoo at 7.15am) but worth it.

By 3 o’clock all the trees were planted and watered.

The rest of the weary volunteers headed back to their accommodation to get ready for the evening dinner cooked by locals.

It began at 6.30 with zucchini or pumpkin soup served in cups outside by the fire.

Then the group of about 80 headed inside the Glen Alice hall for a delicious dinner.

The main course was chicken and vegetable casserole, beef burgundy, chick pea curry and salads.

Desert was chocolate mud cake with raspberry coulis, and other treats.

The next planting is from August 16-17 on a property on Crown Station Road.

For more information, contact southernnsw@birdlife.org.au.