Timothy Nye Dolby wrote:
> Over the weekend I re-visited Banyule Wetlands, Melbourne -
> and the bird list was impressive:
>
> Baillon's Crake (10)
> Spotted Crake (1)
[snip]
> (Out of interest - how many people saw Crake in the
> twitchathon? Are they the sort of bird that are not worth
> the time and effort to secure?)
Hi Tim
An interesting point. We only saw Baillon's Crake, and though a particularly
beautiful view of the beast in bright sunlight at close range, it was at our
fallback site. We saw no other crakes/rails. Our primary crake/rail site is
generally a quick stop on the roadside to view Spotted, Baillon's and Spotless
Crakes and Buff-banded Rail. This spot was OK a week or so ago, but on the
Twitchathon weekend was too full with water - ie. no exposed mud for the
beasties
to be seen on. In general though, my team rely on easily accessed, species-rich
locations - rather than seeking out individual rare species. Our 205 is about
95% "common species", and that is in part the key to success in one of these
events - get a set of species-rich and diverse sites, and harvest them
thoroughly. Recognising calls is one of the most useful skills to have - and
with that I suppose comes familiarity with most or all species likely to be
encountered.
I'd like to add congratulations to all the Twitchathon teams - and commend them
all for the nice amount of $$$$ that will now be available for bird
conservation/research in various locations. I think the Black-tailed Upstarts
(David Geering, Koren Mitchell, Stuart & Norm Cooney) deserve special mention in
the Victorian event - a fantastic effort for a new team with an untried route.
The weather in Victoria for the event was pretty awful, and it prevented some
from following their planned routes. The fact that it is such a magnificent
year
inland for birds helped to rescue the event overall, and pull out a couple of
200+ scores.
We (the Petrolheads) look forward to a very competitive Twitchathon in 2000! If
we can win twice by simply refining a route and working it well, then so can
others. I'm hoping to see a renaissance of the event in 2000 - there were only
5
main race teams & 1 champagne race team this year. Come on you'all - get
involved. It's fun, gratifying, and great fundraising.
Cheers -- Lawrie
--
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LAWRIE CONOLE
3 Gezireh Street, Pascoe Vale South
Victoria 3044 AUSTRALIA. 37°44'27"S 144°56'17"E
Phone (03) 9354 2484; Mobile (0419) 588 993
E-mail: <>
My home page: http://www.users.bigpond.com/ocoineoil/
Twitchathon: http://www.users.bigpond.com/ocoineoil/sections/cdph.html
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