Hi Birding-Aussers
Those birders in the
Toowoomba/Helidon area, SEQ and any of you planning to visit the area
this year may be interested to know the Toowoomba Bird Observers have set
themselves a Sean Dooley-inspired goal to collectively record 250 species in our
survey area during 2006. We've called it the "250 in 2006" Challenge
and you're all invited to participate.
The 250 target represents 87% of the 289 species
(www.toowoombabirdobservers.org/tbo/birdlist.html) officially
recorded by the club since its inception in 1975. It's not going to
be easy - the waterbirds will be tough and the drought's no help, but
whether we get there or not, it's novel, it's constructive, the response has
been great, and it's achieving the desired outcomes
including practical use of our new website, timely reporting of sightings,
and now putting the focus squarely on those uncommon and under-reported
species in our survey area.
If you can't chip in you can still be a
spectator by checking out our website regularly. A progress update and reverse chronological listing can be
viewed on the home page at: www.toowoombabirdobservers.org.
We are already up to 194 species but many of the
remaining species are rarely seen here and will be subject to a
Rare/Unusual Bird Report which can be completed and submitted on the
website.
I encourage those who decide to follow the
Challenge to Register on the forum so that we can gauge how much
"outsider" interest there is over the course of the year.
Looking forward to your participation one way
or another.
Regards
Michael Atzeni
President
Toowoomba Bird Observers
Inc.
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