To add to Anthony’s night tally.
John and I started our blitz at 1am on Sat morning in the Mt Clear camp ground
with an Owlet Nightjar and a Boobook (no Powerfuls though). We camped there
overnight before heading off to Yankee Hat to do more surveys. I reckon that
matches Mark Clayton’s 11.45pm record, only at the other end of the
weekend.
Kathy
From: Overs, Anthony
(REPS) [
Sent: Tuesday, 28 October 2008
4:16 PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Night
blitz
I spent my blitz weekend doing night
surveys on Saturday and Sunday nights.
I particularly wanted to find Powerful
Owl in the ranges, and Australian
Owlet-nightjar or Barn Owl lower down.
Saturday evening I headed up to
the hills. I started up at the Mt Aggie walk carpark with a 20 minute count
before sunset. I picked up Yellow-faced and White-eared Honeyeaters, a pair of
very confiding Flame Robins feeding a dependent young, a Spotted Quail-thrush
and a Superb Lyrebird singing madly about
30m into the regrowth. After dark I
did some call playback for various nocturnal species at several locations along the Mt Franklin Rd and down below Piccadilly circus. There were
many Southern Boobooks throughout the ranges.
Each time I stopped and got out of the car I could hear a boobook, and
didn’t need to do any playback. At two locations there were three birds
calling to each other! I stopped a couple more times lower down and then made
my way up to Corin Dam, stopping at regular intervals. Nothing but boobooks up
there too.
Sunday evening I went south and
started my night’s surveys at
the Mt Clear campground. I stopped at a few places along the way back, picking
up the odd boobook here and there. No sign of Barn Owls anywhere
on the drive back to town. I then went to Cooleman Ridge to try some playback
on the White-throated Nightjar. No response. I guess Tobias’s bird has
moved on. My last spot was
Campbell Park where I picked up more boobooks and
a single Australian Owlet-nightjar.
So, no Powerful Owls in the ranges. But not the best time of year for
playback for them. I think we need a more substantial attempt at finding
Powerful Owls in the ranges, maybe in April and over consecutive nights.
We’ll need a few more volunteers for that one!
I must say I was a little disappointed at the lack of interest amongst
members in doing night surveys (i.e. not a single person!). Were you all too
tired from your diurnal blitzing? Hopefully there will be more people
interested next year.
Cheers
Anthony
