From: Mark Clayton <>
Date: Saturday, 25 October 2014 7:43 pm
To: chatline <>
Subject: [canberrabirds] Blitz miss
Evening all,
Sometime it is not what you see but what you miss that can be somewhat frustrating. This morning just as I was finishing (2 minutes to go) the Valley Ponds at Gungahlin when the unmistakable call of a Cicadabird started up in Palmerston
, about 300 metres away. I have seen Cicadabirds in the urban area a couple of times as they move through the local area and know the call well from numerous surveys on the North and South Coasts when working with CSIRO as well as seeing the species in the
Brindabella Ranges. I will put in an “odd obs” sheet.
Lots of breeding records in the sites I did today. There were a couple of “bummers” in some of the surveys. The first was the usual Spotted Dove at the “Large McKellar Pond”, the second was a rather large Muscovy Duck on the Crace Pond,
and while I was there counting ducks on the larger pond, a woman throwing a ball into the pond for her dog to chase – totally inconsiderate I thought . She knew what I was obviously doing but didn’t care. The most annoying thing was walking around several
of the ponds first thing this morning in wet, chest high grass. I don’t know where all the large mowing contactor’s mowers I see driving up and down Maribyrnong Avenue are working but it is not in these areas!!
To keep Barbara happy I will be off again first thing tomorrow, crook ankle or not, to do a few more sites!!
Happy blitzing everyone!
Mark
