canberrabirds

RE: Chestnut-rumped Heathwren at Pierce's Creek

To: "Steve Holliday" <>, <>
Subject: RE: Chestnut-rumped Heathwren at Pierce's Creek
From: "Lindsay & Diana Nothrop" <>
Date: Wed, 6 May 2009 18:32:31 +1000
With a strong aversion to trail bikes, Julian Robinson and I chose a weekday for our heathwren hunt.  We found 6 birds relatively easily by playing a tape (in thick fog I might add).  They would have been nigh on impossible to find without the tape. They responded briefly to the tape but did not hang around.  One pair was only 30 to 40 metres north of Alistair's pole.  Fortunately for us, the pair were on either side of the track that leads from the pole, calling to eachother and we were in the middle so one had to cross the track eventually.
 
The other 4 were on the southern side of the road and as stated earlier, they dislike being seen.  There are 2 tracks upslope but parallel to the road that can be accessed by a steep track about 40 meters east of Alastair's pole.  Most birds were on the track along the top of the ridge.  We played the tape every 80 to 100 metres as we walked along the tracks and where the scrub was thickest and got a response at most stops.  As there are thousands of hectares of that type of country, the level of infestation we encountered suggests there is a plague of heathwrens!
 
Warks Road had plenty of YFH, a couple of fuscous and a couple of New Hollands.
 
Lindsay Nothrop
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the Canberra Ornithologists Group mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU