Sorry for the lateness of this report but ... The Plain Silly Wanderers (John
Boyce, Scott Chandry, and Mark Bennett) did a bit better this year with 146
birds compared with 127 for 1996. Once again the first day started near
Little Desert National Park in a wonderful spot called Glenlee Flora and
Fauna reserve (17 km N of Gerang Gerung). Then we went through Nhill
checking both the tip and the sewage farm, Little Desert Lodge, and finally
the nature walk and campground in Little Desert National Park. Highlights
would include mallefowl, purple-gaped HE, southern scrub-robin, banded
lapwing and white-winged triller. The following long drive to Angelsea was
made a bit safer by my wife Cecilia who came with us to help with the driving
and make sure that we came back alive.
The second day started slowly with very little activity at Mogg's and
Distillery Creeks but Airey's Inlet produced the best views of rufous
bristlebirds I'd ever seen. At Pt. Addis we were surprised to see several
Blue-winged parrots in the forest perched high in the trees. On to the
wetland birds at Hospital Swamp, Lake Conneware and the Werribee sewage farm.
Two of us missed the Ruff seen by the Driving Petrol Heads at Hosp. Swamp.
But we did manage to get a Long-toed Stint at the Paradise Rd. Mud Flats in
Werribee.
Our big misses included Song Thrush, Black Kite (normally lots at Nhill Tip),
Aust King-parrot (seen by 1 person only), Striated Fieldwren (seen by 1
person only) and Australasian Grebe
Recon on Friday and Saturday morning provided several birds that simply
didn't reveal themselves after Sat. 3pm. These included Black-eared cuckoos
(at Little Desert campground and Salt Lake track), Tawny-crowned HE, Varied
Sitella, Scarlet Robin, Cockatiel, Australian Hobby, Great-crested grebe,
Stubble Quail, Weebill, Inland Thornbill and Shy Heathwren. The Black-eared
Cuckoo was a very special sighting. It was a new bird for all three of us
and after seeing one from a long distance there was some discussion about the
accuracy of our identification. In order to clarify matters when we reaced
our lunch destination (5 or 6 km away from the first sighting) we played the
Black-eared cuckoo call from the car tape recorder and convinced ouselves we
were correct. We settled down to lunch and to our surprise another
Black-eared cuckoo began calling directly over our car (we guess brought in
completely by accident by us playing the tape). We got spectacular views of
this individual while we were finishing our lunch.
During my visit to Little Desert about a week before the twitchathon a number
of interesting things were spotted including a single Mulga Parrot in a flock
of Red-rumps (L.D. Lodge), Blue Bonnets (near Wail F&FR), Spotted Harrier and
Banded Stilt (south of L.D.N.P). In Jeparit I was lucky enough to see a
Brown Goshawk carry a Magpie Lark to its nest and feed it to its chick.
Feel free to write for more specific information.
Scott Chandry
John Boyce
Mark Bennett
Complete Twitchathon list
Day 1
Glenlee Flora Reserve
Variegated Fairy-wren
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
White-fronted Honeyeater
White-winged Triller
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Rufous Whistler
Tree Martin
Brown Treecreeper
Southern Whiteface
White-browed Woodswallow
Masked Woodswallow
Red-capped Robin
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
White-browed Babbler
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Hooded Robin
Road to Nhill
Crested Pigeon
Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike
Australian Magpie
Richard's Pipit
Brown Songlark
Common Starling
Banded Lapwing
Willie Wagtail
Brown Falcon
Australian Wood Duck
House Sparrow
Nhill Town
Magpie-lark
Noisy Miner
Feral Pigeon
Black Swan
Black-winged Stilt
Black-fronted Dotterel
Red-capped Dotterel
Silver Gull
Black-tailed Native-hen
Swamp Harrier
Hoary-headed Grebe
Grey Teal
Australian Shelduck
Little Pied Cormorant
Little Desert
Grey Fantail
Red Wattlebird
Grey Currawong
Australian Raven
Diamond Firetail
Striated Thornbill
Welcome Swallow
Buff-rumped Thornbill
Rainbow Bee-eater
Laughing Kookaburra
New Holland Honeyeater
Brown Goshawk
Peaceful Dove
Red-rumped Parrot
Superb Fairy-wren
Striated Pardalote
White-eared Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
Purple-gaped Honeyeater
Malleefowl
Southern Scrub-Robin
Australian Ringneck
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Jacky Winter
Dusky Woodswallow
Sacred Kingfisher
Tawny Frogmouth
Southern Boobook
Common Bronzewing
Little Wattlebird
Along the roads
Long-billed Corella
Little Corella
White-necked Heron
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Nankeen Kestrel
Masked Lapwing
Galah
Eastern Rosella
European Goldfinch
Day 2
Caravan Park - Anglesea
Little Raven
Spotted Pardalote
Blackbird
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Crimson Rosella
Spotted Turtledove
Airey's Inlet
Purple Swamphen
Rufous Bristlebird
Pacific Gull
Brown Thornbill
Great Egret
Pied Currawong
Mogg's Creek
Gang-Gang Cockatoo
White-naped Honeyeater
Fan-tailed Cuckoo
White-browed Scrubwren
Distillery Creek
Grey Shrike-thrush
White-throated Treecreeper
Pt. Addis
Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo
Little Lorikeet
Blue-winged Parrot
Eastern Yellow Robin
Horsefield's Bronze-cuckoo
Lake Conneware and Hospital Swamp
Great Cormorant
Wiskered Tern
Whistling Kite
Australian Pelican
Pied Cormorant
White-faced Heron
Caspian Tern
Intermediate Egret
Chestnut Teal
Dusky Moorhen
White-fronted Chat
Red-kneed Doterel
Skylark
Little Grassbird
Sharptailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Royal Spoonbill
Geelong
Eurasian Coot
Pacific Black Duck
Werribee Sewage Farm
Fairy Martin
Black Shouldered Kite
Red-necked Avocet
Pink-eared Duck
Greenshank
Australian Shoveler
Red-necked Stint
Long-toed Stint
Glossy Ibis
Red Knot
Bar-tailed Godwit
Little Black Cormorant
Golden-headed Cisticola
Clamorous Reed-warbler
Musk Duck
Bluebilled Duck
Crested Tern
Indian Mynah
Silvereye
Melbourne
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Rainbow Lorikeet
By the way does anyone know the scores for the Vic groups. Also does anyone
ever try to collate the entire lists. It would be interesting (although I'm
sure scientifically valueless) to know what percentage of the Victorian birds
were sighted in the twenty four hour period.
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