2004 Victorian Twitchathon Report 6 & 7 November
Tim Dolby
Once again the Victorian Twitchathon has been run, won and lost. There
were two major races this year, the 24 hr race and the 8 hr race - see
summary below. The heavy rain in Victoria over the weekend caused major
problems for many of the teams (with a few being washed out during the
night), although surprisingly it did not seem to affect birding totals.
On Sunday afternoon 30 tired and bleary-eyed twitchers made it to the
finish line at Birds Australia HQ in Hawthorn.
* Final Results 24 Hour Race
· 1st Prize, 200 birds, Bush Turkeys (Sean Dooley, Nevil Amos, Paul
Peake, Michael Veitch) Best bird: Square-tailed Kite
· 2nd Prize, 174 birds, 24-Hour Stints (Margaret Alcorn, Richard
Alcorn, Simon Starr, Clive Curzon). Best bird: Square-tailed Kite
· 3rd Prize, 158 birds, Common Loudmouths (Philip Jackson, Frank
Mitchell, Max Arney, Greg Hunt, Ken Norris, Russell Thompson). Best
Bird: Spotted Nightjar
· 4th Prize, 150 birds, Amber Beer-Eaters (Peter Fuller, Adam Bridger).
Best bird: Gull-billed Tern
· 5th Prize, 142 birds, Ninox Nincompoops (Noel Billing, Lynne Billing,
Asha Billing, Brenna Billing) Best Bird: Painted Honeyeater.
* Final Results 8 Hour Race
· 1st Place, 141 birds, Seven Year Twitchers (Tim Dolby, Greg Oakley
and Fiona Parkin). Best Birds: Greater Sand Plover
· 2nd Place, 127 birds, Norwegian Blues (Jack Krohn Jnr, George
Pergaminelis, Phillip Krohn, Andrew Krohn). Best Bird: Spotted Harrier
The best bird was a Painted Honeyeater, although Square-tailed Kite
(nominated by 2 teams) was a close second. Overall all teams saw a
combined total of 256 birds. The following is a selected summary of the
birds seen in the 2004 Victorian Twitchathon, and reads like a Who?s
who of Victorian birds.
Non-passerines included Emu, Gull-billed Tern, Freckled Duck, Cape-
barren Goose, Glossy Ibis, Little Penguin, 5 species of cormorant
including Black-faced Cormorant, both Australasian and Little Bittern,
Nankeen Night Heron, 15 species of birds of prey including Peregrine
Falcon, Square-tailed Kite, Spotted Harrier and White-bellied Sea-
Eagle, Buff-banded Rail and Spotted Crake, Black-tailed Native-hen,
Greater Sand Plover, Artic Jaeger, both Black-tailed and Bar-tailed
Godwit, Whimbrel and Eastern Curlew, Red Knot, a flock of over 500
Banded Stilt, Pacific Golden and Hooded Plover, Latham's Snipe, Gull-
billed and White-winged Black Tern, Kelp Gull, Peaceful Dove, Brush
Bronzewing, and an amazing 23 species of parrot including Major
Mitchell?s Cockatoo, Cockatiel, Australian Ringneck, Blue-bonnet,
Budgerigar, Mulga, Regent and Turquoise Parrot, Spotted Nightjar and
White-throated Needletail.
Passerines included Superb Lyrebird, both Southern and Mallee Emu-wren,
Variegated, Splendid, White-winged, and Superb Fairy-wren, Large-billed
Scrubwren, Shy Heathwren, Western Gerygone, Rufous Bristlebird,
Striated Fieldwren, 7 species of thornbill, including Inland and
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, a remarkable 26 species of honeyeater
including Yellow-throated Miner, Painted, Crescent, Spiny-cheeked,
Tawney-crowned, Blue-faced and Black-chinned Honeyeater, Southern Scrub-
robin, 6 species of robin, including Red-capped, Hooded, Scarlet,
Flame, Rose, and Eastern Yellow Robin, the 3 possible babblers, Grey-
crowned, Chestnut-crowned and White-browed Babbler, Varied Sittella,
Crested Bellbird, Gilbert's Whistler, Rufous Fantail, 5 species of
woodswallow including White-breasted, Masked, White-browed, Black-faced
and Dusky Woodswallow, Apostlebird, Singing Bushlark, Diamond Firetail,
Zebra Finch, White-backed Swallow, Bassian Thrush and Song Thrush.
My special thanks goes to the participant in the 2004 Victoria
Twitchathon. I would like to thank the BA Vic committee who helped with
the organisation of the BBQ, and to the judges for doing a very
accurate job, for example they penalised (removed) a total of 10 birds
from team lists, with the Common Loudmouths suffering the most, with 5
birds removed for lateness. They even (in line with the current rules)
removed Mallard from my teams list!
Cheers,
Tim
Tim Dolby
Convenor, Birds Australia, Victoria
C/O Birds Australia
415 Riversdale Road, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3123
Ph: (03) 9882 2622
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