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Hi all,
Yet another posting from me:) This afternoon
(around 2-7pm) I went up to my usual part of Cooleman Ridge. The afternoon
started well, with nice views of a Satin Flycatcher. It was a male, so I suppose
there is a strong possibility that it was the same bird that was hanging around
our house this morning.
Later on I went down in search of the Painted
Button-Quail in the southern part of the patch. There were several new
platelets, so the bird was evidently there. I choose the extremely slow method:
moving very slowly, very quietly, and pausing for long periods of time to keep
an ear out for anything. And it paid off. Eventually I heard the PBQ scratching
around in the midst of a clump of grasses and young wattles. By seating myself
next to this large clump, I finally succeeded in getting views of a female
through the surrounding wattle stems. She was foraging around in the dead
leaf litter, producing new platelets. However, I only got very obscured views.
More waiting until the end of the day didn't yield anything other than
more fleeting glimpses. I stayed close to her for about 1 or 1.5 hours, but
most of the time I couldn't see her. Occasionally she would give one or two
calls (a medium-short deep oom).
FINALLY!! Gosh, that was a long time coming. I am
really glad that I finally managed to see a PBQ at Cooleman Ridge
(having somehow missed the one last year). I got photos, but they were very crappy manual focus through the
vegetation. Main thing is I have seen them, though!!
If anyone wants to see the photos of either the PBQ
or the flycatcher (or wants further directions to the PBQ) don't hesitate to
email me.
Cheers
Tobias
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