Hi all,
As many of you would know I've been working on the endangered Black-eared
Miners now for since 1997 . This year we have plans for a long weekend of
searching in Danggali Conservation Park to the north-east of Gluepot.
Unfortunately the most suitable date for this (because of the timing of
breeding of Black-eared Miners in the Bookmark area, available accommodation
in the shearers quarters and availability of leaders) is the first weekend
in November (a long weekend for Victorians). I say unfortunately because the
dates clash with Birds Australia's Centenary Congress (Adelaide) and campout
(Nhill). We don't wish to poach potential attendees at either of these Birds
Australia events but if there are people that are not planning to attend
these events who would be interested in spending all or part of the 3rd till
6th of November at Danggali I'd be very keen to hear from you ASAP.
A quick summary of the details are as follows.
3rd until 6th of November 2001
Danggali is approximately 70km North of Renmark SA.
Accommodation is available for 20 people in the shearers quarters (at no
charge) for the duration of the trip and campsites are available for
additional people.
Facilities include drinking water, showers, power in the evenings and a nice
BBQ area.
Activities will focus on searches for Black-eared Miners along tracks
throughout Danggali. Tapes and/or CD's of miner calls will be provided as
will all survey forms and guides to identification. We have some spare tape
and CD players but hope most vehicles will have one or the other that can be
used.
Over the weekend talks will be given on 1) identifying Black-eared Miners,
hybrids and Yellow-throated Miners and 2) on progress in the Black-eared
Miner recovery program.
While a handful of tracks in Danggali are 4wd only, all the major tracks and
access points are well maintained and accessible to 2wds. A 4wd is therefore
not essential.
The area is the last large tract of mallee in the Bookmark Biosphere Reserve
(which also includes Gluepot Reserve, Taylorville and Calperum Stns) that
has not been systematically searched for Black-eared Miners. Any assistance
people are able to provide would be a significant contribution to the
recovery program.
Black-eared Miners are known to occur in Danggali so there is a good chance
each group of searches will see the species. Attendees are welcome to search
at there own pace and there will also be ample opportunity to undertake
general bird watching during the weekend. Other notable species on Danggali
include Scarlet-chested Parrot (apparently more regular here than Gluepot),
Red-lored Whistler, Striated Grasswren and Malleefowl.
At the moment good numbers of Black and Pied Honeyeaters are also reported
to be present.
Because beds are limited if you are interested in attending let me know as
soon as possible.
Happy Birding
Rohan
Rohan Clarke
PhD Candidate
'Conservation Biology of the Black-eared Miner'
Department of Zoology
La Trobe University
Bundoora Vic. 3083
Tel 03 9479 1672
Fax 03 94791551
Email
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
