For what it's worth, my own favourites are
Rufous Fantail - whether in a wet forest gully with the sun glowing
through its tail or, as I once found it, in the lignum at the north
end of Lake Hindmarsh, in a late November heat-wave (probably wishing
it was in a wet forest gully)
Mallee-fowl - iridescent wings, wide, ragged black tie, incredibly
industrious
Azure Kingfisher - brilliant dart of colour in the drab Red Gum
woodlands along the Goulburn
White-browed Wood-swallow - rich colours and an eyebrow that looks
like it's been applied with oil paint
Olive Whistler - unpretentious, confiding and melodious
Speckled Warbler - plump, a neat contrast between bold pattern and
unassuming manners
Diamond Firetail - crisp, positive markings and the rump brilliant in
the bright sun
Powerful Owl - only seen a couple of times, but the first sighting
never to be forgotten - such a huge bird, and so totally
self-possessed, with a remote, golden-eyed stare and utterly aloof.
I'd hate to come back in another life as a Ringtail.
A selection of the rarest (for me) - Pied Honeyeater (Chiltern, early
1980s), Mallee-fowl (Cherrypool, next to Glenelg River, 1981), Masked
Owl (Lower Glenelg NP, 1983), Beautiful Firetail (Wonthaggi, near
Apollo Bay and Providence Ponds; maybe not all that rare as such, but
very elusive), Elegant Parrot (old Kiata Lowan Sanctuary, Little
Desert), Little Wood-swallow (pair at Terrick Terrick four or five
years ago), regrettably unidentified Nightjar hawking moths around a
street-light in the main street of Kyneton, Feb 1989. Also a few
others I'm personally convinced I saw, but for which I have no
confirmation and wouldn't dare claim in public.
Least attractive - any Wattlebird outside the bedroom window at 4:30
on a spring morning; any introduced starling, sparrow, mynah, etc; any
blackird just after the beans start growing; any Tyto owlet (sorry,
but they do look apalling), any bird which disappears while I'm
lifting the binoculars; any species which can't be identified without
a blood sample and an electron microscope or something equally
impractical.
And a couple of recent observations:
Melton Reservoir, upstream of the railway bridge, mid February - at
least four Darters sitting on nests, and several others perched in
dead trees.
Phillip Island, 19/3 - 67 Cape Barren Geese in a paddock a couple of
km north of the Pyramid Rock car park; one Painted Quail on Church
Road, Cowes (walked off the bitumen reluctantly as I drove past); and
one Pallid Cuckoo calling in the vicinity of Churchill Island,
sounding, on an autumn morning, even more plaintive than usual.
Thanks to all whose postings do much to brighten up the day.
Jack Krohn
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