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> From: "Sean Dooley" <>
> To: "birding-aus" <>
> Subject: The Big Twitch- The Myth of the Grey Falcon
> Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 11:31:37 +0800
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> Back in 1981 I saw a Grey Falcon in North East Victoria. Well I think I =
> saw one. Dad wouldn't stop for me to check it out and to this day I =
> still haven't seen a Grey Falcon. In fact I don't believe they exist but =
> are a fabrication created by an evil cabal of Twitchers and anyone who =
> has claimed to have seen one is either in on the scam or has been duped. =
> And until I see one for myself, I will not be dissuaded from this =
> opinion.
>
> And so I set off from Hawker in the Flinders Ranges bound for the =
> Strezlecki Track, chasing this phantom. First stop, the world famous =
> Chestnut-breasted Whiteface site at Lyndhurst. The barren stretch of =
> gibber hills at the Whiteface site is not the most inspiring of places, =
> but when you think of how many birders have tramped over these baked red =
> rocks and scraggly saltbush, the landscape takes on something of a =
> mythical quality. Having said that, I failed to see anything of interest =
> in the couple of hours I was there waiting for David Harper and his =
> Swiss mate Marco to arrive from Adelaide. And as they approached they =
> managed to flush four Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces towards me.
>
> Telling Dave this, he smiled and declared, "It's because I'm South =
> Australian mate." Now normally I love to see such Croweater cockiness =
> deflated, especially on the footy field, but not out here. There were =
> too many target birds to get.
>
> We set out to knock off the other Lyndhurst specialties. When I was last =
> here, fifteen years ago, trudging for hours through thirty-five degree =
> heat, kicking stacks of Grasswrens, Quail-thrush and Fieldwrens out of =
> the way, it took hours to find the Whiteface. This year the reverse was =
> true, with the other three species remaining elusive. Eventually heard =
> but failed to see Rufous Fieldwren (this bird should have been an easy =
> tick, but is proving most tricky) and after a couple of hours I finally =
> got onto a pair of Thick-billed Grasswren bouncing between saltbushes to =
> give a nice, albeit brief view.
>
> Dave said not to worry about the Fieldwrens as he always saw them at =
> Montecollina Bore which is an odd sort of place, an oasis in the middle =
> of the Cobbler Desert with its white meringue peaks rising out of the =
> barren plains. But of course, no Fieldwrens whatsoever. So we headed to =
> Yaningurie Waterhole at Strezlecki Crossing- the Grey Falcon site!
>
> A few kilometres from our destination, were three Letter-winged Kites =
> perched in a set of dead trees. As they sat posing for Marco's camera, =
> giving us all stunning views, a pair of Pied Honeyeaters made their =
> presence known in a nearby bush. All good omens. Another was that the =
> sign to the waterhole had been removed so we were the only ones camping =
> there. Yaningurie has a large red sand dune that overlooks the =
> Strezlecki Floodplain. The only water left in the creek was a couple of =
> pools at the base of the dune. Surely every pigeon and parrot from miles =
> around would have to come here for a drink, a veritable smorgasbord for =
> a hungry Grey Falcon.
>
> Perhaps the pickings here were too good as the Falcons never turned up- =
> they were probably sitting away somewhere, saying "I'm completely =
> stuffed! Couldn't possibly fit another Crested Pigeon in." Plenty of =
> Pied Honeyaters though, many moving off in small parties to the south =
> east, so it could be another good year for them down south. While Marco =
> and I scrambled about searching for the Falcons, Dave sat quietly atop =
> the dune like an Aussie Buddha (in pose, not shape) waiting for any =
> birds to fly past. He must have been incredibly still for a long time as =
> a Wedge-tailed Eagle seemed to mistake him for some carrion. Flying =
> directly at him, it was only when, mere metres away, Dave put up his =
> hand and yelled "Don't even think about it!", did it pull out of its =
> trajectory.
>
> Spent the next couple of days camped by the Cullyamurra Waterhole on the =
> Cooper Creek. This is the country where Bourke and Wills perished, and =
> sitting by the banks of this magnificent Coolabah-lined waterhole, I =
> could think of many worse places to end your days. They failed in their =
> mission due to incompetence, ignorance and pig-headed arrogance: there's =
> something in that for all of us, well for me anyway.
>
> When I wasn't in contemplative reverie, I was out on the floodplain =
> scanning for bloody Grey Falcons. Of course I saw none because they =
> don't exist, but did manage to add Cockatiel to the list. In fact if =
> birders in NSW are wondering where all their Cockatiels and Budgies have =
> gone, well they're all out here on the Cooper and Strezlecki =
> Floodplains.
>
> As much as I could have kicked back by that billabong forever, time was =
> pressing on. I was to head south and then east while Dave and Marco =
> headed off to the Birdsville Track, where they had a much better chance =
> of seeing Flock Bronzewing and Inland Dotterel as well as the mythical =
> Grey Falcon. But as we have established, they don't exist.
>
> As they drove off and the dust settled, I realised it was just me, alone =
> in the desert again. Those first moments of isolation in that vast =
> landscape, when the power of the silence hits you is quite overwhelming. =
> Resisting the temptation to chase after them, I set off in the other =
> direction.
>
> Sean Dooley, 7th August, 502 species.
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_001F_01C246AA.D07972C0
> Content-Type: text/html;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> <HTML><HEAD>
> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
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> </HEAD>
> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Back in 1981 I saw a Grey Falcon in =
> North East
> Victoria. Well I think I saw one. Dad wouldn't stop for me to check it =
> out and
> to this day I still haven't seen a Grey Falcon. In fact I =
> don't
> believe they exist but are =
> a fabrication created
> by an evil cabal of Twitchers and anyone who has claimed to have =
> seen one
> is either in on the scam or has been duped. And until I see one for =
> myself, I
> will not be dissuaded from this opinion.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>And so I set off from Hawker in the =
> Flinders Ranges
> bound for the Strezlecki Track, chasing this phantom. </FONT><FONT
> face=3DArial size=3D2>First stop, the world famous =
> Chestnut-breasted Whiteface
> site at Lyndhurst. </FONT><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The barren =
> stretch of
> gibber hills at the Whiteface site is not the most inspiring =
> of
> places, but when you think of how many birders have tramped over =
> these
> baked red rocks and scraggly saltbush, the landscape takes
> on something of a mythical quality. Having said that, I failed to =
> see
> anything of interest in the couple of hours I was there waiting for =
> David Harper
> and his Swiss mate Marco to arrive from Adelaide. And as they approached =
> they
> managed to flush four Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces towards me. =
> </FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Telling Dave this, he smiled and =
> declared, "It's
> because I'm South Australian mate." Now normally I love to see such =
> Croweater
> cockiness deflated, especially on the footy field, but not out here. =
> There were
> too many target birds to get.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>We set out to knock off the =
> other
> Lyndhurst specialties. When I was last here, fifteen years ago, trudging =
> for
> hours through thirty-five degree heat, kicking stacks =
> of Grasswrens,
> Quail-thrush and Fieldwrens out of the way, it took hours to find the =
> Whiteface.
> This year the reverse was true, with the other three species =
> remaining
> elusive. Eventually heard but failed to see Rufous Fieldwren (this bird =
> should
> have been an easy tick, but is proving most tricky) and after a =
> couple of
> hours I finally got onto a pair of <STRONG>Thick-billed =
> Grasswren</STRONG>
> bouncing between saltbushes to give a nice, albeit brief view.
> </FONT></DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Dave said not to worry about the =
> Fieldwrens as he
> always saw them at Montecollina Bore which is an odd sort of place, an =
> oasis in
> the middle of the Cobbler Desert with its white meringue peaks rising =
> out of the
> barren plains. But of course, no Fieldwrens whatsoever. So we headed to
> Yaningurie Waterhole at Strezlecki Crossing- the Grey Falcon =
> site!</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>A few kilometres from
> our destination, were three Letter-winged Kites perched in a =
> set of
> dead trees. As they sat posing for Marco's camera, giving us all =
> stunning
> views, a pair of Pied Honeyeaters made their presence known in =
> a
> nearby bush. All good omens. Another was that the sign to the waterhole =
> had been
> removed so we were the only ones camping there. Yaningurie has a large =
> red sand
> dune that overlooks the Strezlecki Floodplain. The only water left in =
> the creek
> was a couple of pools at the base of the dune. Surely every pigeon and =
> parrot
> from miles around would have to come here for a drink, a veritable =
> smorgasbord
> for a hungry Grey Falcon.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Perhaps the pickings here were too good =
> as the
> Falcons never turned up- they were probably sitting away somewhere, =
> saying
> "I'm completely stuffed! Couldn't possibly fit another Crested =
> Pigeon
> in." Plenty of Pied Honeyaters though, many moving off in small parties =
> to the
> south east, so it could be another good year for them down south.
> While Marco and I scrambled about searching for the Falcons, Dave =
> sat
> quietly atop the dune like an Aussie Buddha (in pose, not shape) waiting =
> for any
> birds to fly past. He must have been incredibly still for a long time as =
> a
> Wedge-tailed Eagle seemed to mistake him for some carrion. Flying =
> directly at
> him, it was only when, mere metres away, Dave put up his hand and yelled =
> "Don't
> even think about it!", did it pull out of its =
> trajectory.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Spent the next couple of days camped by =
> the
> Cullyamurra Waterhole on the Cooper Creek. This is the country where =
> Bourke and
> Wills perished, and sitting by the banks of this magnificent =
> Coolabah-lined
> waterhole, I could think of many worse places to end your days. They =
> failed in
> their mission due to incompetence, ignorance and pig-headed arrogance: =
> there's
> something in that for all of us, well for me anyway.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>When I wasn't in contemplative reverie, =
> I was out
> on the floodplain scanning for bloody Grey Falcons. Of course I saw none =
> because
> they don't exist, but did manage to add <STRONG>Cockatiel </STRONG>to =
> the list.
> In fact if birders in NSW are wondering where all their Cockatiels and =
> Budgies
> have gone, well they're all out here on the Cooper and Strezlecki
> Floodplains.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>As much as I could have kicked back by =
> that
> billabong forever, time was pressing on. I was to head south and then =
> east while
> Dave and Marco headed off to the Birdsville Track, where they had a =
> much
> better chance of seeing Flock Bronzewing and Inland Dotterel as well as =
> the
> mythical Grey Falcon. But as we have established, they don't =
> exist.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>As they drove off and the dust settled, =
> I realised
> it was just me, alone in the desert again. Those first moments of =
> isolation in
> that vast landscape, when the power of the silence hits you is quite
> overwhelming. Resisting the temptation to chase after them, I set =
> off in
> the other direction.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Sean Dooley, 7th August, 502
> species.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
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