HI Carol
Thanks for passing this story on to the list, and it's good to hear
of birders helping out the community in other ways. It's very sad
that it all ended as it did. It's a very sobering way to start
Christmas. Your story reminds me, though, that it is wonderful to be
a birdwatcher - whatever reason takes you into the bush, or even just
along the highway, the journey is never dull when there are birds to
look for. Unfortunately, for those fighting the fires around the
country there wouldn't be much time to be thinking about birds - I
imagine these fires are taking a high toll on all our wildlife.
Some of us would like to be up there fighting the fires in NE
Victoria but can't do that without the necessary training. Our
thoughts are certainly with those who are in the fire areas, both
residents and firefighters. A number of our friends have properties
in the Mansfield area and it has been a very tough time for them -
fortunately all are OK and properties intact as yet, but it will be a
long summer.
On a more positive note, the Victorian government has just announced
that the 2007 duck hunting season has been cancelled.
On 21/12/2006, at 4:47 PM, Carol Probets wrote:
Hi birders,
Earlier this week I was one of many people who joined the search
for a missing bushwalker near Mt Solitary in the Blue Mountains NSW
(which has now ended sadly as you would have heard on the news).
The Kedumba Valley is an area I particularly love and for me it was
strange to be driven down into the area in an RFS vehicle, instead
of the usual 2-hour slog down the hill, and back up again. I was
part of a team of 6 and later 10, searching on foot. I decided not
to carry my binoculars as there wasn't much time for birding and I
wanted to minimise the weight I had to carry which included 4
litres of water, my food and other necessities. Nevertheless I did
of course keep a mental note of birds seen and heard during the day.
Part of the huge area that needed to be covered included the old
sewage works site below Leura Falls. The treatment works closed
down a few years ago and the site is now being regenerated. Here
there were Crescent Honeyeaters calling and Little Lorikeets
zipping around - I'm not sure what was in flower but I've seen
Little Lorikeets in a few places around the mountains recently,
including a couple 2 weeks ago near my house in Katoomba.
In the rainforest sections were numerous Rufous Fantails, Black-
faced Monarch, Rose Robin, Bassian Thrush and three species of
scrubwren, while in the tall Blue Gum forests further down the
valley were Red-browed Treecreepers, Yellow-faced and White-naped
Honeyeaters, Leaden/Satin Flycatcher, Mistletoebird and many Bell
Miner colonies. On a very steep site near the Kedumba River was an
amazing density of Superb Lyrebird display mounds.
Up on Kings Tableland in the city of police trailers and press
vehicles that was the search headquarters, I became aware of about
20 White-throated Needletails flying around low overhead on Monday
afternoon. They were barely clearing the treetops while I sat
sipping a delicious cup of vegie soup that had been provided for
us, between searches. Earlier in the morning at this site I'd seen
Gang-gang Cockatoos and as I was driving home that evening, a pair
of Glossy Black-Cockatoos nearby.
Carol
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carol Probets
Guided birding in the Blue Mountains & Capertee Valley
PO Box 330
Katoomba NSW 2780
Web: http://www.bmbirding.com.au
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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