Hi Michael & Birding Aussers,
Thanks for your comments.
The grid ref for the site is 12 degrees 56' 50.8" S and 130 degrees
33' 12.8" E.
I've been visiting the site several times a year over the last two years
and this is the first time I've seen Star Finches there, so it is likely
they were dispersive/vagrant or escaped birds. I was astonished to
see the variety of rare/uncommon native birds on display at the
Darwin show this year - plenty of Gouldians, Star finches, Princess
parrots etc. I can certainly rule out misidentification - I'm familiar
with the species - having seen large numbers very recently near
Timber Creek and at Kununurra. I was riding back to my camp site
(by quad bike) at around 6:00pm, when I flushed a pair from the
ground. They flew into a low bush and stared at me 'suspiciously' for
several minutes before dropping to the ground again and feeding
quietly at very close range (~5 m). They were very tame, much
more so than the excitable flocks I've seen at Timber creek, though
I'm not sure if that consitutes good evidence they were
habituated/escapees - lots of birds seem to find humans less scary
on a quad bike for some strange reason! I took in salient ID
features, white spots on upperside of red tail, green, not brown
colour (compared to female crimson finch), big white spots on
breast etc. but I'm not sure if my memory is good enough to
comment on age etc. I wasn't aware this was such a rare event, so I
didn't take detailed notes. I'll have another look at some guidebooks
this evening and keep an eye out for them when I return to the field
site tomorrow.
As for the owl - it turned up when there was a large fire in the
melaleuca forest adjacent to the camp, but hasn't returned since -
ether because the fire burnt itself out or, more likely, because I've
taken my camera + big lens on subsequent trips! The legs certainly
appeared white (ie feathered) all the way down, but they lacked an
obvious trousered look depicted in some field guides. I didn't
mention the colour in my last posting, if that helps. The main colour
of the wings was dull grey-brown. The bird looked very grey, black
and white at a distance. Close up bright buffy-orange mottling was
also visible on the wings. Overall the bird appeared more 'contrasty'
than Barn owls I've seen in the past although it sounds like the bird
may have to remain a definate don't know!
Cheers,
Quentin
Dr Quentin Paynter
CSIRO Entomology, Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre
PMB 44 Winnellie NT 0822
Australia
PH (61)(0)8 8944 8420
FAX (61)(0)8 8944 8444
E-mail
http://www.dar.dwe.csiro.au/
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