Susan and I and George and Betsy (Susan's parents) returned last weekend
from our Xmas break trip to Australia. It was a wonderful trip despite our
being abruptly thrown into the beginning of our spring semester within
minutes (literally) of our return.
We recorded approx. 325 species in our too-brief stay and certainly did not
do justice to (i.e., did not thoroughly cover) any of the areas we stayed
in NSW, Victoria, or Queensland. We had not previously been to Oz (nor to
Africa or Asia) so there were LOTS of new taxa that we encountered. We
tallied 2 new Orders (Sphenisciformes--Little Penguin;
Casuariiformes--Emu); 33 or 34 new Families, depending on what system of
classification one uses (does the classification scheme in the new Pizzey &
Knight reflect the current taxonomy recognized by the RAOU?) and some 285
new species (for Susan & me).
The Superb Fairy-Wren immediately became Betsy's favorite bird and it
remained so throughout the duration of the trip, even though we had nice
looks at Red-backed Fairy-Wren (a stunner!) and 4 other malurids. Surely
the S. F.-W. has to be one of the (if not THE) most beautiful common birds
in the world!
This was the first real birding trip for George & Betsy and I was amazed
at: 1) how well they put up with all of the birding we did and 2) how
many of the birds they actually got a good look at! I suspect they missed
about 20 species each, part of that due to not having boots for our tromp
around Leeton Swamp.
Some of our many highlights:
1. The previously mentioned new taxa that we were exposed to, especially
bowerbirds and birds-of-paradise (and megapodes and stone-curlews
and.....);
2. The number and diversity of honeyeaters that we saw (~30 spp.) ;
3. The fruit-doves! and other columbiforms (15 spp.);
4. All of the psittaciforms (16 spp.) that we saw (and heard!);
5. The Superb Lyrebirds along the roadside on our way up to Barren
Grounds B. O.;
6. The wonderful finches (Estrildines), especially Beautiful and Diamond
Firetails (and Zebra Finches, which we saw in the wild for the first time
ever!!);
7. The tremendous diversity of corals & other associated fauna at
Michaelmas Cay and Hasting's Reef--spectacular!;
8. Our experience with the Mahers. On our excursion with Phil, we saw
not only Plains-Wanderer, but also Spotless Crake, Inland Dotterel, Aust.
Pratincole, Superb Parrot, Orange Chat, and Ground Cuckoo-Shrike;
9. Our outing with Del Richards (out of Mossman) during which we saw 11
Columbids, 6 Hirundinids (Welcome, Pacific, Barn, and Red-rumped Swallows
and Tree and Fairy Martins), Great-b. Heron, Double-e. Fig-Parrot, Lovely
Fairy-Wren, Aust. Bustard, Red-winged Parrot, and Apostlebird;
10. Spending time with Chris Dahlberg on the Daintree River, where we saw
a pair of Green Pygmy-Geese and had a brief look at a Black Bittern. I
might add that this boat trip was NOT a highlight for George and Betsy as
it was raining pretty hard and steadily for the entire 2-hour trip;
11. The Papuan Frogmouth on its nest on the Daintree River, which we saw
thanks to a tip from Chris D.;
Special thanks to:
-Mike and Malea McLeish from Parkville for spending an entire day with
us, showing us around Werribee during the day and giving us a tour of the
Melbourne Zoo in the evening;
-Lawrie Conole, who encouraged us to visit and gave us information about
(including sending a map of) Whipstick State Park in Victoria; Margaret
Cameron also gave us useful information;
-Edwin Vella, who gave us directions to the nesting Pacific Bazas west of
Sydney. We arrived on 12/24 and the young bird was out of the nest. It
appeared to have fledged very recently as it could not yet fly well. At
one point, it had to struggle (using its beak) through what looked like an
impenetrable mass of tangled vines (near the base of the nest-tree) to get
back to a safer perch. (I might add, we remained at a considerable
distance from the nest tree to avoid disturbing the fledgling and
parents.);
-Patricia Maher, for helping us with various logistical problems;
-John Leonard, for providing specific instructions to Leeton Swamp;
-Mike Schultz, whom we met at Leeton Swamp and who, along with others, is
fighting to save Leeton Swamp and restore much of the surrounding area to
its natural wetland state;
-Stephen Greenfield, who was very helpful to us in the planning stages of
the trip, sending us maps, and suggesting places to stay and places to
visit;
-Ron Stannard, our gracious host at Kingfisher Park;
-Bill McLean, who waited patiently with us at the Wollongong Harbor on
the morning of 12/28 and who commiserated with us when we realized that the
pelagic trip would not take place. (Tony Palliser had no way of contacting
us to let us know that there were not enough participants to go out that
day.) We subsequently went birding with Bill up to Mt. Keira and had an
enjoyable time until the rains came in earnest;
-all of the Birding-Ausers who answered my many questions prior to
leaving on our trip: Murray Lord, Trevor Quested, Lawrie Conole, John
Leonard, Klaus Uhlenhut, Ron Orenstein, Russell Woodford, Denise
Goodfellow, Stephen Greenfield, Tony Clarke, Lorne Johnson, Tom Arny, David
Siems, Stephen Mugford, and anyone else I may have forgotten.
Disappointments:
-not having the set of 11 cassettes of RAOU bird songs while we were
there (they were waiting for us when we got back);
-the virtual lack of night-birding (except for our trip with Phil Maher)
-no pelagic trip
-very limited time at the Cairns esplanade--we had a brief visit when the
tide was out and the flats were covered with shorebirds, but the light
wasn't very good; the other two times we were there (morning and evening),
the tide was in and there were virtually no shorebirds there besides ~50
Bar-tailed Godwits and 3 Black-tails
-the misses!--especially So. Cassowary, no button-quail, Regent
Honeyeater, and on and on......
Lots of excuses for going back!!
I'm in the process of completing the trip list & will let you know when I'm
finished with it, in case anyone is interested.
Thanks again....Jim & Susan
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James D. Hengeveld Biology Dept.
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 Indiana University
812: 855-5353
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