Hi Martin. A fascinating report.
But just a thought.......
I really hope you've got yourself an Oriental Reed-Warbler. Very exciting.
Nonetheless, I can't help being reminded of the old medical aphorism that goes
like this:
"Unusual presentations of common conditions are more common than common
presentations of unusual conditions." This is a simple statistical reality.
Transposing this into the bird world might read something like:
"Unusual presentations* of common birds are more common than common
presentations of unusual birds." [*Appearance, song, etc.]
There are many thousands of Australian Reed-Warblers in Australia and possibly
one or two (or zero?) Oriental Reed-Warblers.
How does one exclude an Australian Reed-Warbler with a variant call/song, or a
veterinary condition affecting its respiratory tract, or some other reason for
having an altered song?
As I said, I hope you are right and you've defied the odds. But it's an
interesting challenge all the time when rarities are being considered on less
than incontrovertible evidence.
Regards. Richard Nowotny
> On 16 Feb 2018, at 8:41 PM, martin cachard <> wrote:
>
> on Monday 12/02/18 at about 1:15pm whilst at work in our open-air on-site
> office, I could hear the song of what could only have been an Oriental
> Reed-Warbler.
>
>
> the bird was only about 40mtrs away, and just inside the corner of a
> 3/4-grown crop of sugar cane that abutted the carpark, so I walked over
> towards where the call came from and waited for it to call again.
>
>
> it then called again at 1:25pm and it didn't seem to have moved much from
> where I'd just heard it. I could see a bit of movement of the top of one of
> the cane stands, so I knew where the bird was.
>
> but I could NOT see it!
>
>
> when it called for the third time, I telephoned someone in Melbourne whom I
> felt could confirm the call if he heard it over the phone. and frustratingly,
> despite the bird calling a few more times, the listener could not pick up the
> call from their end of the phone.
>
>
> it then made another brief bout of song at 1:45pm, and then nothing.
>
>
> I haven't heard the bird again since, even though i've been listening for it.
>
>
> I have never heard or seen an ORW in the 'flesh' before, BUT I have made an
> effort to learn the call years ago from various different apps & CD's, my
> HANZAB's, internet, etc, etc...
>
>
> and from my extensive Oz birding experience of some 47 years (26 of them
> living in VIC, 21 of them up around Cairns, and 1.5yrs near Newcastle), I
> have heard and seen 100's of Aust RW's...
>
>
> when hearing the bird, which I know was within 5 mtrs of me at one point and
> calling, and no more than 10 mtrs away when calling at any time, I was struck
> by how surprisingly much lower it was in volume when compared to our Aust RW,
> which I hear on many days when they are here in the cane during winter.
>
>
> to me it sounded like a quiet ARW, and not only with a cold, but also with a
> frog stuck in its throat as well !!
>
> there were no loud notes at all, and certainly no ringing or silvery notes,
> and the lower notes were nowhere near as rich and full-bodied as an ARW.
>
> what I haerd just sounded less loud, at a different pitch altogether, and
> somewhat crotchety & ratchety in comparison to an ARW.
>
>
> I am totally convinced that it was indeed an Oriental Redd-Warbler.
>
>
> I welcome any questions or comments, and of course, I will post again if/when
> I hear it again...
>
>
> cheers for now,
>
>
> martin cachard
>
>
>
> solar whisper wildlife cruises,
>
> daintree river, FNQ
>
>
> & trinity beach, cairns
>
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