The five members of the Black-necked Stakers twitchathon team once again
participated in the annual Birds Australia Twitchathon on the 30th and 31st
October. The team comprised Greg Clancy (Head Stalker), Bev Morgan, Maureen
O'Shea, Russell Jago and Gary Eggins (recorder and observer this year).
This year we decided to stay "in the Valley" and not head "west" for the dry
country birds - the pressure was on!!!
So...... the facts: first 4 minutes - 16 species at one location (Trenayr),
first 37 minutes- 46 species, first 60 minutes- 58 species- going very well! At
3 hours we were at 90 species and at the top of the Gibraltar Range- dinner at
Raspberry Lookout with the Boobooks and fireflies. At 11.35pm we heard a
Powerful Owl (number 106) out the Old Glen Innes Road. We finally get to bed
at Brooms Head around 2am with 107 species in the bag (one less than 2009).
On Sunday the first bird was ticked off at 5.18 am, 131 species by 6.30 am, 151
by 9.00 am and then it slows up - only 168 at 12 noon. The Iluka Rainforest is
"dead" and we do not get many birds - 175 at 2.00 pm - we start to , yes,
panic! Two male Regent Bowerbirds flew over ten minutes after the twitch has
finished!
The final number was 182 species (198 in 2009) - including 17 threatened
species and 681 km travelled. Rarest/best bird- Sooty Owl, biggest "dip" -
Wedge-tailed Eagle (only two of us saw it, three were needed for confirmation).
The threatened species were: Magpie Goose, Eastern Osprey, Black-necked Stork,
Brolga, Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher, Comb-crested
Jacana, Greater Sand Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Little Tern, Powerful Owl,
Sooty Owl, Ground Parrot, Little Lorikeet, Brown Treecreeper, Rufous
Scrub-bird, Grey-crowned Babbler
Yes, we were a little disappointed at the final result after starting off so
well. We missed some common birds but time is limited and that does happen. All
of the water out west did not help either as species such as the Straw-necked
Ibis, Glossy Ibis and Eurasian Coot, which are usually around at Twitch time
were absent or very scarce in the Valley.
We have already had a debrief and will fine tune our route and times to better
our chances for 2011, in fact, we started doing this when we finished at 4.00
pm.
Ah! The thrill of the chase- can't wait for next year!
We came 10th.
Gary Eggins and Greg Clancy
Black-necked Stalkers
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