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New South Wales Twitchathon
25-26 October 2003
CENTRAL COAST CHAMPIONS
REPORT
The Tenth NSW Twitchathon was
celebrated with a field of ten entries in the Main Race, 16 entries in the
Champagne Race and ten teams in the Childrens events (almost a record number of
teams), and the Wacked-out Woodswallows won with a very convincing win and
highest score yet of 221 species. Congratulations to David Geering, Carol
Probets and Co for a very convincing win! Alas, the Central Coast Champions had
a pretty unsuccessful time due mainly to thunderstorms on the Saturday afternoon
and general and heavy rain from sunrise to 1000 hrs on the Sunday morning - we
definately were in the wrong place at the wrong time but we did have a good time
despite the wet conditions.
We started our race from Trapyrad
Dam, in Merrewindi SF near Baradine, hoping to find the usual Painted
Honeyeaters living around the dam in the Pilliga Box trees but not so this year.
The storms had commenced in the Coonabaraban-Baradine area about 1430 hrs but we
did not get rained on after we commenced at 1600 hrs although the storms were
all around us. The sky went very dark and unfortunately stayed that
way so that night came atleast half an hour earlier than expected and viewing
conditions before them were appalling. However about half an hour before the
race commenced we came across a small group of Turquoise Parrots so we returned
to that spot about 10 minutes before the start and stayed with them until the
race commenced! We birded here for half an hour and then moved onto The Paddock
where the target species were Southern Whiteface and Double-banded Finches,
which we quickly found, along with an unexpected Red-winged Parrot, Ringneck
Parrots, and large flocks of White-browed and Masked Woodswallows. We checked
out Stumpy Lane where the Spotted Bowerbird's bower is located and while there
were plenty of common birds to add, neither the Bowerbird nor Emu were found!
Neither bird was seen during the race!
We moved onto a small lagoon which
had flooded due to a heavy local downpour in July where we located a lone Plumed
Whistling Duck, Pinkear, Bluebonnets, breeding Grey Teal, 5 Black-tailed
Native-hens, White-necked Heron, Red-kneed Dotterels, and in the fading light,
Robin located a party of a female and three male Painted Snipe,
Wow! Robin had only ever seen one Painted Snipe before and that was at Pambalong
Swamp in 2000 - where I had seen my last one too! Presumably the birds had come
out a dusk to feed, one great compensation for the poor light! This would have
to be a candidate for the "Rarest Bird"! We the visited Terridgerie Lagoon
and in the fading light managed to find a pair of Red-kneed Dotterels with a
chick, more Black-tailed Native-hens and a apir of Whistling Kites!. Night
settled in and as we drove carefully throufgh to Muswellbrook where we were
staying the night, we stopped off at three pieces of woodlands to check for
night birds. Alas no nightbirds called, none were seen with the spotlight and
none were seen as we were driving along, perhaps their absence could be
explained by the continuing drought, and the low level of bird populations
because of the drought.
Next morning we woke to the sound of
rain and as we drove to own first spot for the day, at Quorrobolong, there was
little to see because of the rain. Alas, once we were parked down on this
private property, well known for its woodland birds, the rain fell heavier and
only after a short time we had to return to the car for shelter. Fuscous &
Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters, White-bellied Cuckoo- Shrikes & Jacky Winters
were found here despite the rain but not much else! We relocated to the Wattagan
Mountains to check out the rainforests at Boarding House Dam and Gap Creek, and
were rewarded with four seperate views of male Lyrebirds, running along, up and
across the roads, on two occasions three males and two males respectively
involved in the chases. It was lovely to see in the mist and drizzle. We dipped
on the Red-browed Treecreeper & the Rufous Fantail but managed to get Wonga
Pigeons, Brown Cuckoo-Doves & Black-faced Monarchs. It was not until we
reached Pambalong Swamp at 10.30 am that the rain stopped! (The only conforting
thought about the rain was that the farmers and our gardens at Bateau Bay &
Narara needed it but alas when we arrived home, we had only received 2 mm of
rain, although other places had good falls). Here we collected Tawny &
Little Grassbirds and Cisticolas, none of the raptors that can usually be found
here materialised! Our late morning tea stop was Stockton sandspit and we did
get most of the waders here including Common & Terek Sandpipers, Lesser
& Greater Knots, and thousands of Avocets. We moved onto Ash island to find
the obligatory White-faced Chat, and managed to located many Marsh Sandpipers
and Sharpies hiding over the railway line! We lunched at Shortland WC and found
the Wandering Whistle-Ducks and Magpie Geese as we expected and then headed for
the Central Coast.
It was very windy at Soldiers Point
(Norah Head) and hard to hold binoculars and telescopes still, but we did manage
Fluttering, Wedge-tailed & Short-tailed Shearwater, Common & Crested
Tern, Turnstones & Golden Plover. There was only half an hour to go by the
time we got to The Entrance where we picked up Red-capped Plover and Little Tern
and finally a Red Wattlebird & Caspain Tern at Picnic Point. The finish line
for the "Off The Rails " and "Central Coast Champions" was Bateau Bay and
we arrive there with 5 minutes to spare and hoping (successfully) that the Musk
Lorikeest would be there. We finished with 179 birds! A long way short of 201
which we managed in 2001. The Morris, Benson, Pointer & Horwood families all
enjoyed a BBQ tea at Bateau Bay and exchanged stories and adventures of the
trip.A big thankyou to all our sponsors and congrats to all who took part to
ensure that funds are available for some surveys of woodland birds in the Murray
Region.
Alan Morris & Robin
Benson
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