COLLARED
IMPERIAL-PIGEON
On Saturday I received a report of this bird in
the settlement area of Saibai, if correct only the 2nd Oz record. Tony
Palliser, Mike Carter and I will be trying to confirm details.
RED-RUMPED / STRIATED SWALLOWS
A birding client of mine told me about 4 years
ago that Striated Swallows possess a gliding flight pattern recalling
crag-martins or woodswallows. In contrast, the Red-rumped flies
more like the Barn Swallow. My observations of the Dusky Crag-Martin in
Thailand confirms that this species certainly has a flight differing from
Red-rumped. Such a distinction is consistent with Tom Tarrant's
impression, reported 16/1.
BIRDING TOURISM
My experience as a bird-guide over 33 years indicates to me
that birding tourists in Australia will remain a niche market
indefinitely. Glossy brochures with wide circulation will mostly be
wasted.
The best birding tourists are usually well informed anyway,
made easier these days by the rapid rise of IT. Casting the net more
widely [poor pun] is probably the most effective means of "developing the
industry".
However, once perceived as a marketable commodity by
entrepreneurs, birding tourism is sure to attract uninformed operators.
The ecotourism market already has plenty of those in the Wet Tropics. I've
been bemused several times by guides instructing tourists
about how strangling figs are parasites, or how male
bowerbirds attend their nests !!!
Glenn
Glenn Holmes & Associates
PO Box 1246
Atherton Qld
4883
