birding-aus

Elegant Parrot in the Pilbara

To: Jonny Schoenjahn <>
Subject: Elegant Parrot in the Pilbara
From: bob gosford <>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:46:13 +0930
Jonny,

Neglected to mention that in early April at sites on Aboriginal land n-w of
Alice I saw the following at sites to the n-e of Newhaven while working with
Aboriginal rangers:

1 - at a claypan saw M & F GFs make kills early am and the group got within
50m - in good cover for about 5 mins - at rest in a dead tree eating b/fast
of 2 x Diamond Doves;

2 - At a site approx 40 km away from the first site where previously (last
August/Sept) I saw a pair of GFs we saw - over period of 5+ mins - 3 GFs
harassing a pair of resident Brown Falcons. Obvious size differential
between female and other birds. Could not distinguish if the smaller birds
were either both males or one x male and one juvenile/immature.

I plan - subject to permission - to return to both sites sometime in July
for a few days to photograph the birds and make further observations.
Without a great deal of evidence I think that one of the smaller birds was
an immature/juvenile, possibly from the same pair that I saw at this site
earlier. I also think - again with little evidence other than that both
sightings were made on the same day, were a fair distance apart and that the
area is excellent foraging country for large falcons (lots of birds, good
mix of rocky gorges & hills & open woodland etc etc - that these groups
would represent two pairs - one of which may have recently had breeding
success.

Peregrine, Brown & Black Falcons (and a host of other raptors) were/have
been seen at both sites either this trip or in the recent past.

I will try to make semi-regular trips to these sites over the course of the
year to check for breeding activity. I will notify you asap if any GF
breeding activity noted. You will need to get landholder and/or Central land
Council permission to travel to these sites.

Cheers and best,

Bob Gosford
Alice Springs

PS - have you seen the recent comments here re the nesting GFs in northern
South Australia?

On 15 June 2010 21:43, Jonny Schoenjahn <> wrote:

> Hi everyone and Tim Dolby
>
> Regarding the occurrence of the Elegant Parrot in the Pilbara, the
> following paper is of interest:
>
>
> http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/images/stories/regional_groups/BAWA/amytornis/Amytornis1_2008_Davis.pdf
>
> If anyone heading out there finds a Grey Falcon, please let me know
> directly, I will be very grateful for that.
>
> Cheers,
> Jonny
>
>
> Jonny Schoenjahn
> Grey Falcon research
> Perth, WA
> Phone: (08) 9385 9939
> SMS and Fax: (08) 9385 9801
> E-mail: 
> http://www.jonnybird-australia.com/greyfalcon.htmwww.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
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-- 
Bob Gosford
Crikey.com
The Northern Myth blog
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/
Alice Springs, NT
Australia
Ph: (+61) 0447024968
Twitter: @bgosford
"The NT Government does not respond to random electronic gossip sites."
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