canberrabirds

Well what's THIS, then?

To: <>
Subject: Well what's THIS, then?
From: "Geoffrey Dabb" <>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:11:56 +1000
Yes, the Chestnut-breasted Whiteface, said to be South Australia's only endemic bird species and indeed a frustrating quarry. With some useful advice from Barry Bucholtz about a specific location between Marla and the NT border, I stopped there and after about 30 mins searching a pair flew overhead calling. I got some preliminary video which was adequate for ID purposes, and that sighting might have sufficed for a mere ticker. However after I changed to a longer lens for some serious work the pair disappeared, and were not found after 2 hours of further searching. I called at the same spot on the way back 2 weeks later. There was an unpleasant stiff easterly and very few birds at all, but I cast around fruitlessly for another couple of hours. I suspect they had moved to some more sheltered area. After that I took the road Coober Pedy-William Creek-Marree-Lyndhurst, which should have been through their heartland. At promising spots I drove slowly with the window down, and checked most small-bird sightings and whiteface noises. All this did was confirm the abundance of Southern Whitefaces. By the time I got to Lyndhurst I was whitefaced-out and did not go the 20k to the east to check out the Thomas&Thomas spot. At that point you are right in the grid cell where the 98/02 atlas recorded most sightings. I did plan a morning at Aroona Dam - the Leigh Creek water supply, which had been recommended for various purposes - but the road was closed due to recent rain. (There was a Southern Whiteface nest with young right at the turn-off, so I suppose it might have been more of the same.) The Banded Whiteface is child's play by comparison.





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