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Hi Everyone
Here's a few of my special moments. Some of them
are the ones which inspire awe and you'd expect to find on a "Highlights" list.
Others are the "little things" which are part of the magic which comprises that
love we share for spending a few moments with this amazing class of
animals.
1. Holding my breath in tall canegrass by the banks
of the Victoria River in the Northern Territory as I observed my first family
group of perfect little Purple-crowned Fairy Wrens, thus fullfilling a
birding goal which I set when dipping on this species in 1978. These images are
burnt into my memory and I'll treasure them forever. I since enjoyed many more
moments with these birds around the Fitzroy Crossing area: a stunning
species.
2. Watching spellbound (in the company of Dean
Portelli and Lynn Scott) on Lady Carrington Drive in the Royal National Park, as
the antics of a group of male Superb Lyrebirds turned into a threat display by
the dominant male towards a juvenile. The display emulated the courtship of
this species except there was no mimicy, just the "space invaders" call and
the "plink" call. This continued for several minutes in the open before three
very amazed birders.
3. Peeking over the low cliff-face on the shores of
Roebuck Bay, WA, and witnessing a flock of 25 to 30,000 mixed waders on the
shores of Roebuck Bay, south of Broome, WA. This is now a daily occurence for
me.
4. Whilst experiencing the "beautiful
desolation" (borrowing from the words of astronaut Edwin Aldrin) of Bush Point -
the southern headland of Roebuck Bay - finding thousands of Sanderlings
scurrying amongst the huge numbers of Knots, Godwits, Plovers, etc.,
etc..
5. One moment frozen in my memory when I
particularly enjoyed that slight tilt of the bill and very plain visage of the
Large-billed Scrubwren as it foraged in the filtered sunlight among vines in a
rainforest in the Royal National Park
6. Whilst struggling on my own in the 45 plus
degree furnace of Geikie Gorge, near Fitzroy Crossing, finally tracking
down the splendid beauty of the powdery-blue female member of the Variegated
Fairy-wren race rogersii.
7. Observing the amazing repetoir of dances
performed by the Great Bowerbirds in my garden here at the Broome Bird
Observatory.
8. My first sighting of the race leucophrys of the
Varied Sitella, foraging in the stunted treetops of open tropical woodlands east
of Broome, WA.
9. Witnessing the first flight and subsequent
practice flights of the runt of a clutch of Brown Goshawks in my backyard at the
Observatory.
I could add so many more, from simply watching
doves bathe in tropical showers with one wing raised at a time, observing a
White-bellied Sea-eagle at arm's length as he hovered before me
and just above the low cliff face on the side of Roebuck Bay,
every dawn chorus, huge flocks of Black-Cockatoos wheeling overhead, the
chest-to-chest song-battles of Golden Whistlers in misty forests around
Sydney, the extraordinary beauty of a male Rose Robin in his breeding prime
and the excitement from each of the more than 150 new sightings which I've
made in the past 12 months.
It's been a pleasure to share many of these moments
with my fellow Birding-Ausers and we can all only look forward to more
excitement, magic, mystery and wonder as our birding experiences of
the past urge us on to share, discover and enjoy more in the
coming year. Bring it on!
Ricki
Broome WA
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