I've just returned from a week's holiday in Tasmania (my first visit to the
Island State), and what a wonderful week it was. I wasn't in a position to
do any _purposeful_ birding, but nevertheless had a great time just with the
birds we happened to come across as we travelled.
Main impressions -- (1) huge numbers of Masked Lapwings (race
novaehollandiae); (2) numerical preponderance of introduced species, even
outside population centers (eg starlings, blackbirds, sparrows,
goldfinches); (3) no pigeons or doves seen -- native or feral; (4) paucity
of those species that are common and everyday in my part of the country (SE
Qld) -- eg. Willie Wagtails, peewees, B-F cuckoo-shrikes; (5) hardly any
native ducks, herons, egrets; (6) bugger-all shorebirds or waders.
What a delight, though, to see species exclusive to Tasmania, and the
Tasmanian races of familiar species. I got the impression, also, that the
behaviour of many of the birds was less affected by human presence -- for
example, I watched a shining bronze-cuckoo at very close range for several
minutes, and it seemed to be quite unperturbed by my presence.
List of species seen:
Silvereye Black currawong
Swamp harrier Blackbird
Scaly thrush Tasmanian thornbill
Tas. native hen Green rosella
Goldfinch Masked lapwing (r.
novaehollandiae)
Forest raven Pacific gull
Greenfinch Common Starling
Grey fantail Kookaburra
Magpie (r. hypoleuca) Silver gull
Sparrow Superb fairy-wren
Common skylark Welcome swallow
Pied oystercatcher Mallard
Darter Black cormorant
Spotted harrier Yellow wattlebird
Little pied cormorant Black swan
Crescent honeyeater Flame robin
Swamp hen Coot
Grey shrike-thrush Southern black-backed gull
New Holland honeyeater White-breasted sea-eagle
Yellow-tailed black cockatoo Sulphur-crested cockatoo
Dusky woodswallow Scarlet robin
Chestnut teal Little wattlebird
Tree martin Shining bronze-cuckoo
Noisy miner White-faced heron
Little penguin Black-faced cuckoo-shrike
Vicki PS
__________________________________
Vicki Parslow Stafford | ...Stabilised in a
| state of functional
Ipswich, Queensland | disrepair.
Australia
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