Peter, Don et al
Being very involved with Richard & Sarah on the original sites for T
& T for these birds and having visited them both many, many times
since it was written I can assure you both of one outstanding bird
fact: you dipped! (sorry:-) )
The birds are at both sites, I saw them last time I went, in October
last year (2007) and I have visited them often more than once a year
for the last 15 years!
Banded Whiteface: Yes, they like burnt areas but (and the Erldunda
site bears this out well) if you see an area where it looks like
nothing could possibly live there, then that will probably hold
Banded Whiteface! This holds true for areas I have seen them on
Strzelecki Track too! Admittedly last October at Erldunda we spent a
whole day around the site west of the highway walking up to 5 km
north south, etc. and didn't see them. The next morning, change of
tack, starting across the Stuart Highway on east side, walked in up
to 1 km, played tape and watch up to 6 birds come screaming in from
the distance to the sole tree on the ridge in front of us! Every time
I have visited Erldunda, (10 at least, I have seen them). It's the
Quail-thrush I don't see every-time there, probably 7 / 10 !!!
Striated Grasswren: Yes, they are there and I have seen them say
every time but one (9/10 say) and that may well have been due to the
very hot weather and prolonged drought on one visit. They are on the
hill west of the sunset strip parking area and they are in the scrub
(not entirely spinifex) area east of the car park. The problem for
you now with this eastern side of the site is that Parks have it
closed off to stop people walking in to help regeneration. I have
seen them from the north east end of the car park, simply by playing
the tape and also by walking along the road. Your best bet is very
early morning but I have had them through until about 4.00 pm and
also in the middle of the day when flying in from ASP. Invariably
they would live in and move through the spinifex but are mostly
visible on top of the bushes there when taped. The reality is they
haven't gone anywhere else.
Roost sites for owls will vary as long as they have wings and large
territories!
Guiding available.
Cheers
Alan
************************************************************************
*
Alan McBride
Be green and read from the screen
e-mail:
Skype me: mcbird101
Mob: + 61 419 414 860
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they
are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please
notify the sender. This e-mail is also subject to copyright. No part
of it should be reproduced, adapted or transmitted without the prior
written consent of the copyright owner.
************************************************************************
*
On 28 August 2008, Peter Ewin wrote:
My 2 cents on Using Thomas & Thomas for Banded Whiteface and Striated
Grasswren. I may be wrong but I would be surprised if either of the
sites mentioned would have been successfully "twitched" for these
species in the last 10 years. Both species would appear to be
effected by fire history and so any changes since T&T would mean that
the habitat now is probably unsuitable. Banded Whiteface would appear
to prefer areas that have been burnt in the last few years, so I
would be spending time looking in this sort of habitat (should be
obvious from the habitat condition) rather than going to any specific
site. I would also suggest enough time poking around would eventually
get on to them (last time I was at Uluru I saw driving between the
survey sites that I was helping with).
The Striated Grasswren is a very different species, probably
preferring long unburnt Spinifex, which is getting scarcer in and
around Uluru. I have been there twice and looked around the carparks
on both occassions with no luck (and as far as I recall it had been
burnt). I also have looked around behind the airport which is where
birds apparently have been recorded in the past. I talked to some of
the staff (I was helping a friend with his PhD so we got into some of
the less accessible parts of the the park) and they had very few
records or even potential sites where this species had been recorded.
We looked in some interesting habitat east of Uluru off the Curtin
Springs road and saw potential footprints but saw no birds (and got
no response from call playback).
As a conclusion I would suggest you would be very lucky to find
Grasswrens in Uluru and that the T&T is probably a bit of a dead end
(if you can stop in some big spinifex then you might have a chance).
As I say I may be completely wrong on these theories (any comments
appreciated) but as good as T&T is for many species still (and I have
been to quite a few of their sites), you can get information on other
species that is much more up to date from Birding-Aus (the roost
sites for some of the owls would be another example).
Cheers,
Pete
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
