Hi birders
We were suitably fired up, and have successfully defended our "8-hour
Twitchathon" title. Last year (as the Tang Tang Tintacks) we won by a
handsome margin with 155 species - this year (as a reformed Common
Driving-Petrelheads) we've had another strong win with 156 species. As
inevitably happens under race conditions, we missed quite a few
relatively common birds. The weather wasn't great either, and so we
expected somewhere between 160-170 species, but are happy enough with
156. The winning team in the Victorian 24-hour event scored 174 (just 18
more species) for their extra 16 hours of racing!!
We started about 06:05am on Sunday on a hill at the back of Lorne in the
Otway Ranges. After staying for the first flush of early morning
activity amongst the birds there, we left with about 30 species. From
the shore at Lorne we scoped the sea for albatrosses, gannets,
muttonbirds, etc. before heading east through Airey's Inlet and Point
Addis, arriving at Breamlea on 78 species. From there we visited a
number of wetlands on the Bellarine Peninsula, and arrived in Geelong on
about 115 species. We visited a few spots in Geelong, and then headed
out to the drier bush in the You Yangs. From the You Yangs (on 144), we
headed for the final destination of the Western Treatment Complex (ie.
Werribee sewage farm!), and added the final 12 species there to reach
156 at 2:05pm. For those who are interested, the winning list is
appended below.
Our 156 species does not include Mallard (disallowed under Vic 'Thon
rules) and Sooty Albatross (not claimed). Three teams observed Sooty
Albatross off Lorne, but in our case we thought our view too dodgy to
list it. We did claim the Salvin's Albatross, and nominated it our best
bird. Southern Whiteface at the You Yangs was a contender for our best
bird too, as they're regionally quite rare & restricted.
Waiting to hear from other teams, states, etc .............
Common Driving-Petrelheads (Lawrie Conole, Grant Baverstock, Russell
Woodford)
156 species, 8-hour winning total, Vic 'Thon
Stubble Quail
Blue-billed Duck
Musk Duck
Freckled Duck
Black Swan
Australian Shelduck
Australian Wood Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Australasian Shoveler
Grey Teal
Chestnut Teal
Pink-eared Duck
Hardhead
Australasian Grebe
Hoary-headed Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Short-tailed Shearwater
Black-browed Albatross
Salvin’s Albatross
Australasian Gannet
Little Pied Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Australian Pelican
White-faced Heron
Great Egret
Nankeen Night-Heron
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Royal Spoonbill
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Black-shouldered Kite
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Swamp Harrier
Brown Goshawk
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Little Eagle
Brown Falcon
Australian Hobby
Peregrine Falcon
Buff-banded Rail
Purple Swamphen
Dusky Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Latham's Snipe
Eastern Curlew
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Red-necked Stint
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Pied Oystercatcher
Black-winged Stilt
Red-necked Avocet
Red-capped Plover
Masked Lapwing
Pacific Gull
Silver Gull
Caspian Tern
Crested Tern
Whiskered Tern
Rock Dove
Spotted Turtle-Dove
Common Bronzewing
Brush Bronzewing
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Galah
Little Corella
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Rainbow Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Little Lorikeet
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Australian King-Parrot
Crimson Rosella
Eastern Rosella
Red-rumped Parrot
Blue-winged Parrot
Pallid Cuckoo
Fan-tailed Cuckoo
Shining Bronze-Cuckoo
Southern Boobook
Laughing Kookaburra
White-throated Treecreeper
Superb Fairy-wren
Southern Emu-wren
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Rufous Bristlebird
White-browed Scrubwren
Striated Fieldwren
Brown Thornbill
Buff-rumped Thornbill
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Striated Thornbill
Southern Whiteface
Red Wattlebird
Little Wattlebird
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Noisy Miner
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
White-eared Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
White-naped Honeyeater
Crescent Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
Eastern Spinebill
White-fronted Chat
Jacky Winter
Scarlet Robin
Rose Robin
Eastern Yellow Robin
Crested Shrike-tit
Golden Whistler
Rufous Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
Restless Flycatcher
Magpie-lark
Grey Fantail
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
White-winged Triller
Olive-backed Oriole
Dusky Woodswallow
Grey Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Grey Currawong
Forest Raven
Little Raven
White-winged Chough
Satin Bowerbird
Singing Bushlark
Skylark
Australian Pipit
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Zebra Finch
Diamond Firetail
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Welcome Swallow
Tree Martin
Fairy Martin
Australian Reed-Warbler
Little Grassbird
Golden-headed Cisticola
Silvereye
Bassian Thrush
Common Blackbird
Common Starling
Common Myna
156 species
--
=================================
Lawrie Conole
Senior Ecologist
Ornithology & Terrestrial Ecology
Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
Flora and Fauna Consultants
88B Station Street
FAIRFIELD VIC 3078 Australia
E-mail:
Internet: http://www.ecologyaustralia.com.au/
Ph: (03) 9489 4191; Mob: (0419) 588 993
Fax: (03) 9481 7679
ABN 83 006 757 142
NOTE: This message may contain privileged and/or confidential information
intended for addressees only. If you are not the intended recipient you are
notified that any review, re-transmission, disclosure, use or dissemination of
this communication is strictly prohibited by State and Commonwealth Acts Of
Parliament including the Victorian Information Privacy Act 2000.
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
|
