Hi all,
As most of you are no doubt aware the last weekend in
October is the start of daylight saving, COG’s blitz weekend AND it is also
the Birds Australia Twitchathon weekend. The idea is to raise money,
through sponsorship, for worthwhile ornithological projects. This year all
money raised will go to the Australian Bird Study Association’s research
fund. This fund is available to “students” wishing to obtain a
small grant to assist them in their ornithological research, usually by providing
material such as mist nets, Pesola balances etc, rather than hard cash.
This year, Richard Allen and his son Mark, Anthony
Overs, Carole Elliott and I are putting in a team and we are seeking sponsorship.
You can either sponsor us a certain amount, eg 200 species recorded @ 10cents/species
= $20, or you can make a one off donation. At the time of typing this I don’t
have the official sponsorship form printed out but will have it at the October
COG meeting. Those who can’t make the COG meeting and want to sponsor us,
an email to me will be considered as “official”. I have no idea how
many species we will see but the last national twitchathon that Richard and I (+
Warren Martin and James Nicholls) were in some years ago recorded about 180
species – we came 4th in NSW with less than 2 weeks planning!!
A comment from Warren
was that it was an entirely new way of bird watching!!
We may put out requests up until the twitchathon
weekend on where it is “easiest” to find certain species, eg Scarlet
Robin. Believe me, it is amazing how many common species can disappear off the
face of the earth when you are trying to find them and how often you fall over
rarities…. If any one wants more details either see me or the other team
members at the COG meeting next week, send an email to me, or phone me at home
on 62413620.
Many thanks in advance,
Mark
