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Beginning to wish I hadn't done it now, but there
you go.
Have had some slightly more rational email
discussions and I've been persuaded that I was wrong about the short-taileds. Am
perfectly prepared to bow to superior local knowledge and learn from the
process. I do however stand 100% by the pale phase Wedge-tailed. A field
guide which combines modern artistic abilities with good oldfashioned writing a
la Pizzey and Doyle may have spared my blushes. Don't want all of Oz
thinking I'm a tick-happy novice, though. Brush Cuckoo on day 2 was my 3000th
species - and before some wag chips in, that doesn't include 2850 species
of dodgy seabird ;-) and the list would be longer were I to include those
horrible dodgy views such as the almost certain Spotted Nightjar flushed out
west somewhere, the silhouetted flight views of a pair of Radjah Shelduck
somewhere up north, etc etc. And Tom Tarrant will vouch for the fact that I
flatly refused to tick Tawny Frogmouth on the basis of two fat-faced balls of
fluff sat on a nest.
Then again I did count Stubble Quail even though we
hadn't IDed it prior to pulling it out of the radiator grille (well, most of
it).
All the best Australia. The jetlag is wearing off,
I am back to my old mellow self and a full resume is imminent. Whether you
believe any of it is a different matter entirely . . .
Steve
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