Hello All,
I have thoroughly enjoyd the several excellent reports from individuals
in the recent Big Three, Eastern State Twitchathons. Congratulations to
all participants on your fundraising efforts. The strongest message of
fun pervades all reports and we Shifty Shags certainly enjoyed ourselves
in the Birds Queensland Twitchathon. It's not just fun though. I
picked up a few identification pointers for particular species from my
fellow participants. Welll, that was fun!
I sometimes hear criticism of twitching as wasting resources on a
self-indulgent exercise BUT, most birders travel to a certain extent to
see birds, not all twitchers travel very far and for most, choosing
sites where travel efficiency is at its greatest is part of the interest
in the planning stage and a large factor in racking up a good total.
This year the Birds Queensland Twitchathon introduced categories for
people walking only. Next year we will most likely have categories to
suit people wishing to use public transport and bicycles.
The bottom line is the funds raised for ornithological research and for
conservation. "Twitch money" raised by our group is almost our only
source of money for this purpose. Within this framework there have been
surveys and recovery projects for the Golden-shouldered Parrot, Eastern
Star Finch, Red Goshawk and Eastern Bristlebird. Graduate student
thesis work on artificial nest predation rates and on bird diversity in
grazed landscapes incorporating edge effects has also been supported.
All research projects funded are tested by our Scientific Committee
prior to granting the funds. As all positions in this Committee and the
Birds Queensland Committee are honorary, all funds raised go towards
actual research.
Results in the 2002 Birds Queensland Twitchathon should reflect the
extremely dry conditions we are experiencing but some very knowledgeable
birders picked up amazing lists of birds. Here (below) are the results.
Best wishes to twitchers for fun and funds.
Regards,
Ros Laundon.
ORDINARY FULL TWITCH
1. LAREF STAC 201
2. UNLEADED PETRELS 193
3. GUZZLING REDTHROATS 176
4. TIDE-IN KNOTS 172
5. MAROOCHY MUDLARKS 163
6. SHIFTY SHAGS 160
7. DUCK OUT 157
8. JOLI CHATTY LIARBIRDS 155
9. WANDERING GANG GANGS 146
10. COOLUM KITES 139
11. DOLLAR-WISE BIRDS 137
12. CACATUAS ON YER BIKE 110
BEGINNER FULL TWITCH
SPEEDY (Unofficial) 116
ORDINARY HALF TWITCH
DEMENTED DARTERS 142
BEGINNER HALF TWITCH
RED HOT KOELS 72
ORDINARY FULL WALKING
NO DRIVING PETREL BILLS 126
BEGINNER FULL WALKING
BAXTERS (Yowah via Cunnamulla) 75
ORDINARY HALF WALKING
LONE RANGER (Unofficial) 87
BEGINNER HALF WALKING
SANDERLINGS 70
MUM AND SONBIRDS 20
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