Hi everyone,
(Sorry for the delay...I didn't realise the info was in demand as there
wasn't a great deal of interest beforehand. I actually sent this yesterdee but
it got blocked. I had to wait for a couple of results to trickle in too.)
The second 'Minitwitch' for 2006 was held on Sunday 27th August. In total, 7
teams took part, with 5 being from the Hunter Region, one from Dubbo and one
from Rutherglen, Vic. Other teams from Forbes and Brisbane were late
withdrawals. Without the Forbes team, this meant that only 2 "inland" teams
took part.
Matt Weeks from Rutherglen (no team name as yet) managed 112 species, which
is a fantastic effort without the luxury of rainforest / coastline etc.
Apparently they were on 80 spp. after the first 2 hours, which would probably
have had them ahead of the 'coasties' at the same point in the race. The
'Double Dubbo Dippers' came in with 92 spp., after sleeping in until 20 minutes
before the race starting time! The D's have vowed to crack the ton for the next
twitch, a sentiment which will be no doubt spurred on by the Rutherglen score.
In the Hunter, three teams scored 125+, with the 'Square-tailed Quites'
running in with 135 species to take out the trophy. The 'Young Guns' came a
close second with 132 and the 'Oil Barons' third with 126. All of these scores
were excellent considering they were still technically during winter. Plenty of
migrating birds were found, but the winning team couldn't manage a Cuckoo of
any description.
Highlights for the various teams were an easterly Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
near Jerry's Plains; Blue-billed Duck and Baillon's Crake near Maitland; an
early Latham's Snipe near East Maitland; White-fronted Tern off Newcastle
Baths, a displaying Pacific Baza near Wallsend and a Wandering Whistling Duck
near Shortland. The D's last bird of the twitch was a probable Regent
Honeyeater.
The team from Bris Vegas has decided to do their own 5 hour run in the next
week or so, just to see what they're capable of getting up there.
Overall, the feedback from the event has been extremely enthusiastic and I'm
glad people were interested in the results. It really is a great way of finding
lots of different species in a short period of time (almost a different bird
every 2 minutes) and it really makes you appreciate how diverse your local area
can be.
I look forward to organising the next 'Minitwitch', most likely in summer. I
hope also that it has attracted a bit more attention to the idea of 'twitch
racing' for the fundraising events later in the year. A big thanks to everyone
that took part. I will post a 'Quites' twitch report soon too, though there
will be significantly less fruit-cake than the D's report.
Mick Roderick
Team totals below:
Square-tailed Quites (Hunter) - 135
Young Guns (Hunter) - 132
Oil Barons (Hunter) - 126
Matt Weeks (Rutherglen) - 112
Choughed Babbling Baza's (Hunter) - 110
Crested Shrike Twits (Hunter) - 108
Double Dubbo Dippers (Dubbo) - 92
Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
