Additions to your personal list or house list are always exciting, and with
the Abberton list standing at 197, I've hypothesised a bit about what the
next few additions might be. Although the list for the Lockyer Valley is
321 species, there are only a dozen or so of the remaining 124 that would
seem to be realistic possibilities for the house list, and of those only
three or four that I think of as maybe imminent or overdue.
But, if there is any such thing in nature as a status quo, it's at best
ephemeral! It's too easy to be lulled into thinking that changes from the
situation we're familiar and comfortable with can only be interpreted as
variations from a norm, whereas in reality we're living in a dynamic
environment that never stops moving, changing and reshaping itself.
Even so, there are several birds on the Abberton list that I have been
surprised by, such as Cotton Pygmy Goose, Swift Parrot, Forest Kingfisher,
Noisy Pitta and Regent Bowerbird. And then there are the birds that we
would never have dared predict would turn up here, such as White-rumped
Swiftlet, Noisy Pitta, and Black Honeyeater - but they all have.
Being on Lockyer Creek, which still harbours a ribbon of rich pickings along
its margins, it isn't really surprising to see any of the 20 raptors which
are on our list, all of which are species which tend to wander through the
area. I don't really need to tell you which four are missing, and lilely to
stay so - Letter-winged Kite, Black-breasted Buzzard, Red Goshawk and Grey
Falcon - though the Red Goshawk has been tantalisingly near.
Similarly, 10 of our 11 cuckoos are regular or fairly frequent, though we
haven't had an Oriental Cuckoo for a few years. There is no scope for an
addition there.
A few droughts and floods have removed the reedbeds we used to have here,
(only temporarily, I hope) and though we had some good crake and rails in
the past, I don't see anything new turning up in the foreseeable future.
I've thought for a while now that the bird most likely to become #198 was
Long-billed Corella. They've become regular just a few hundred metres from
Abberton, and I'm sure they must sneak in from time to time. Pink-eared Duck
have re-established in the valley in large numbers
over the last few years, as have Red-necked Avocets and Red-kneed Dotterels.
With water becoming harder to find, they could well turn up here. As I
write, half my view of the creek is still water, but the other half is mud
and shingle. So, let's add Marsh and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper as possible
drop-ins before the drought breaks.
On the passerine front, there are a few of the more-western honeyeaters that
are in the valley from time to time, that could just as easily wander in
here when there's a good flowering of the eucalypts. Given the monarchs,
shrike-thrushes and robins already on the list, as well as Regent Bowerbird,
(and our ongoing revegetation) I guess that Crested Shrike-tit or Satin
Bowerbird could be options. But I think it's more realistic to look to the
non-passerines for the next three species to take us to 200, and events of
the last few days have reinforced that view.
Last Friday, 8th November, a Red-kneed Dotterel dropped in. Red-kneed and
Black-fronted Dotterels seem to co-habit fairly closely around the region
without any apparent ill-will, but our resident Black-fronted (with two
remaining young nearby) flew at the newcomer in a very complaining way,
which the Red-kneed ignored, staying for much of the day.
Then, this-morning, Tuesday, the Long-billed Corellas scraped in a fairly
close second in our top paddock - well, 199th in fact.
So we're on the cusp of one of those round numbers. Next bird in will be
number 200 on the house list!
Bill Jolly
"Abberton",
Lockyer Valley, Queensland.
Visit our website at http://www.abberton.org
Email:
Ph: (+61) 7 4697 6111 Fax: (+61) 7 4697 6056
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