Hi Graeme,
Please accept my humble apologies for my long delay in getting back to you...
Firstly, I need to say here that it was your pioneering work on Grasswrens that
gave me the kick that I needed to actually get out there for myself to see
them. Then there was your amazing article in an old 'Wingspan' years ago that
really spurred me on further, & from then on, I was categorically hooked! I
constantly referred back & forth to your great web-site for more & more
information as I needed it.
So thank you Graeme for that...
Secondly, thanks for your tip on here re looking for White-throated Grasswrens
- I'd imagine that they would be even a tad louder than the already noisy Black
Grasswrens, with White-throated being a slightly bigger bird. So Graeme, is it
so that White-throated GW are noticeably much louder in the field than Black
GW, or just a little louder ??I reckon that you would be the only person who
could answer that question with any real authority - and I've always wanted to
know the answer, given that I have never heard a White-throated GW personally.
I recall fondly my very first encounter with Black Grasswrens - I found a very
noisy & inquisitive bunch of them on the Mitchell Plateau running around only a
metre or 3 in front of me, & just after a quick storm had passed over.After
checking out this busy bunch of birds for about 10 mins, I then decided to just
sit under a rock that was nearby, keeping myself very quiet & motionless, and
in the general direction of where I thought they were going to be heading.
Then presto!! They scampered right into where I was, hopped around a bit,
called a little in contact, and then left a few minutes later. A couple of them
even came right up to my boots, which were still attached to my feet at the
time!! Then straight after these guys moved on & while still sitting in the
same spot, I had an equally close encounter with a gorgeous male Variegated
Fairy-wren (Kimberley race 'rogersi' ) in fine form, being early December at
the time.
All of this without any use of recorded bird voice (I'm pretty sure most on
here know already that I don't use any recorded bird sounds when looking for
birds - I just find it totally un-sporting - but of course, each to their own).
It just goes to show that getting ahead of a foraging group of birds, & just
waiting quietly & patiently for them to enter your space, actually pays great
dividends with extremely close encounters - your space becomes theirs & they
are more relaxed as they have chosen to enter that same space... Well, that's
my method anyway, especially with seed-eating, & therefore, water-drinking
birds.
And finally Graeme, I need to thank you for correcting my error in thinking
with some certainty that I had seen a rather misplaced male eclipse Splendid
Fairy-wren at Goyder's Lagoon.
I had a very good look at that image (#535210D) of yours on your web-site of a
3rd year immature Blue & White (or White-winged) Fairy-wren. And of course, you
are absolutely spot-on. That is exactly what I saw, except that the bird I saw
appeared to have no blue on body at all - just blue on its flight feathers &
tail. I just saw the blue tail, blue on wings, dark blackish looking bill, &
thought well, it just has to be a Splendid - and all of this at the crack of
dawn in very low light, & what's more, being very rudely interrupted by a Grey
Grasswren!!
But what really confirmed to me back then that I had seen a 'lost' eclipse male
'Splendid' was when I returned home a couple of weeks later. It was what I read
in my HANZAB (please refer to vol.5, p.295) under the Similar Species section
of the account for Splendid Fairy-wren. At the bottom of that page in the LH
column of text it says in one sentence the following: ..."Adult & immature
non-breeding male easily distinguished from other brown-plumaged fairy-wrens by
diagnostic combination of mostly brown plumage, turquoise upperwing and
turquoise or bluish tail." It was the presence of 2 words in that very sentence
that threw me towards a definite Splendid FW, despite the location (easily and
diagnostic). And further, there is no specific mention at all of White-winged
(or Blue & White) Fairy-wren in that Similar Species section for Splendid FW.
So it's easy to see where I went wrong.But Graeme, I had not gone to your
wonderful website back then to check this out any further. Obviously, if I had
done that as well at the time, then I may well have seen your image #535210D
and learned something new - that I had not seen a lost Splendid Fairy-wren
after all. It was something else!! Now people, what a perfect example of the
value of Graeme Chapman's work... So thank you, Sir Graeme Chapman, for
teaching me something new ...again!! cheers,martin cachard,trinity beach,
cairns
*** see Graeme's last comment to me on this thread below... > Your eclipse male
Splendid F/W at Goyder Lagoon is certainly a long way out of the known range
and that is an area that has been surveyed intensively. The most likely
explanation is that you actually saw (in the heat of the moment!!) an immature
Blue and White. In winter plumage they are fairly alike - both have blue wings
and tail and younger B & W males take nearly four years to acquire adult
plumage. Have a look at my pic #535210D. In a few months that bird would have
had a black bill and easily be mistaken for a winter Splendid male. We all make
mistakes - my wife keeps reminding me more and more.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Graeme Chapman
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