The answers are as follows. Some of
them may be of interest from the viewpoint of that increasingly popular
science, Ethno-ornithology. The quiz itself is reproduced below, rather
smaller than the original which should make it about 80kb..
Thanks to the small number of participants
(one from New York),
all of whom are remarkably perceptive, no-one doing worse than 9. Between
them they got the lot, except for 4 and 14.
1
Sewage
treatment plant, Fyshwick (Whistling Kite)
2
Botanic
Gardens (N Holland
Honeyeater - all got this)
3
Mexican
flag, in fact outside the Mexican Embassy, but it could as easily be the flag
in the display by Lake Burley Griffin. This is one of your more pictorial
flags, depicting an eagle on a cactus plant eating a snake, a tableau taken
from a legend relating to the founding of the Aztec empire.
4
See
below
5
A
representation of ‘Mr Yellow’, the Black-tailed YellowCockatoo
reported persistently from the Wamboin area.
6
Tidbinbilla Nature Park (sandwich-swiping Emu)
7
Settling
pond associated with Queanbeyan sewage works, Oaks Estate (nesting Great Black
Cormorant)
8
Mallee
section, ANBG (the faded figurine of a malleefowl has a spider’s lair
under its chin)
9
Indonesian
Embassy, Yarralumla (‘Garuda’ national emblem on wall)
10 Commonwealth Park, metal bird sculptures
11 Kelly Swamp, specifically the inlet channel known as ‘Crake Alley’
(feeding Snipe)
12 Lake Burley Griffin, specifically Bowen Park
off Bowen Drive,
Barton. Shown is part of the gull squadron that inhabits this popular
swan-feeding venue.
13 Campbell Park (the 3 wise owlet-nightjars much seen and reported a few
years ago)
14 Australian War Memorial (stuffed and mounted – and ringed
– carrier pigeon)
15 PNG High Commission, Yarralumla (the crest includes a stylized
version of the Blue Bird of Paradise, which for presentational reasons is shown
displaying above its perch rather than suspended beneath it)
Now, as to number 4. In the WW2
North Africa section of the Australian War Memorial, one unexpectedly comes
across this stuffed Swamphen in a glass box, the background to which is as
follows. In the early part of the 20th century the British
navy had constructed a number of destroyer-class warships known as the
‘V&W’ class. All of these were given names starting with
‘V’ or ‘W’, and one, completed in 1918, became HMS Waterhen. In 1933 the RN
transferred this to the Australian navy where it became HMAS Waterhen. In 1934 a member of
the Australian public presented the ship with the stuffed Swamphen
(‘waterhen’). (If the British Admiralty had any particular
bird in mind when they named the ship it was probably the Common Moorhen,
sometimes known as a ‘waterhen’ in the UK.) HMAS Waterhen, affectionately known as
‘The Chook”, gained a place in the history books when it became the
first Australian warship in WW2 to be sunk by enemy action, off Tobruk (with no
loss of life). Clearly enough the stuffed Swamphen was not on board at
the time. The present HMAS Waterhen
is less likely to be sunk, this being an RAN shore base in Sydney Harbour.
As to the winner, well this depends on the
degree of generosity in the marking, but perhaps Alastair’s (quickfire)
response, and Anthony O’s, just edged out that of Greg R and the
Manhattan Marvel.
