Agreed Alan. I saw both species at the T & T sites last year (July 2007) with
little effort! I saw 3 separate groups of Banded Whitefaces in a 2-3hr period.
The first group were within 50m of the road. I saw the grasswrens within 200m
of the carpark, it took a couple of hours.
Kind regards
Rob Morris Brisbane, Australia > From: > Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008
11:24:27 +1000> To: > CC: >
Subject: [Birding-Aus] T & T.> > Peter, Don et al> > Being very involved with
Richard & Sarah on the original sites for T > & T for these birds and having
visited them both many, many times > since it was written I can assure you both
of one outstanding bird > fact: you dipped! (sorry:-) )> > The birds are at
both sites, I saw them last time I went, in October > last year (2007) and I
have visited them often more than once a year > for the last 15 years!> >
Banded Whiteface: Yes, they like burnt areas but (and the Erldunda > site bears
this out well) if you see an area where it looks like > nothing could possibly
live there, then that will probably hold > Banded Whiteface! This holds true
for areas I have seen them on > Strzelecki Track too! Admittedly last October
at Erldunda we spent a > whole day around the site west of the highway walking
up to 5 km > north south, etc. and didn't see them. The next morning, change of
> tack, starting across the Stuart Highway on east side, walked in up > to 1
km, played tape and watch up to 6 birds come screaming in from > the distance
to the sole tree on the ridge in front of us! Every time > I have visited
Erldunda, (10 at least, I have seen them). It's the > Quail-thrush I don't see
every-time there, probably 7 / 10 !!!> > Striated Grasswren: Yes, they are
there and I have seen them say > every time but one (9/10 say) and that may
well have been due to the > very hot weather and prolonged drought on one
visit. They are on the > hill west of the sunset strip parking area and they
are in the scrub > (not entirely spinifex) area east of the car park. The
problem for > you now with this eastern side of the site is that Parks have it
> closed off to stop people walking in to help regeneration. I have > seen them
from the north east end of the car park, simply by playing > the tape and also
by walking along the road. Your best bet is very > early morning but I have had
them through until about 4.00 pm and > also in the middle of the day when
flying in from ASP. Invariably > they would live in and move through the
spinifex but are mostly > visible on top of the bushes there when taped. The
reality is they > haven't gone anywhere else.> > Roost sites for owls will vary
as long as they have wings and large > territories!> > Guiding available.> >
Cheers> > Alan> >
************************************************************************ > *>
Alan McBride> > Be green and read from the screen> > e-mail: >
Skype me: mcbird101> Mob: + 61 419 414 860> > This e-mail and any files
transmitted with it are confidential and > intended solely for the use of the
individual or entity to which they > are addressed. If you have received this
e-mail in error please > notify the sender. This e-mail is also subject to
copyright. No part > of it should be reproduced, adapted or transmitted without
the prior > written consent of the copyright owner.>
************************************************************************ > *> >
> On 28 August 2008, Peter Ewin wrote:> > My 2 cents on Using Thomas & Thomas
for Banded Whiteface and Striated > Grasswren. I may be wrong but I would be
surprised if either of the > sites mentioned would have been successfully
"twitched" for these > species in the last 10 years. Both species would appear
to be > effected by fire history and so any changes since T&T would mean that >
the habitat now is probably unsuitable. Banded Whiteface would appear > to
prefer areas that have been burnt in the last few years, so I > would be
spending time looking in this sort of habitat (should be > obvious from the
habitat condition) rather than going to any specific > site. I would also
suggest enough time poking around would eventually > get on to them (last time
I was at Uluru I saw driving between the > survey sites that I was helping
with).> The Striated Grasswren is a very different species, probably >
preferring long unburnt Spinifex, which is getting scarcer in and > around
Uluru. I have been there twice and looked around the carparks > on both
occassions with no luck (and as far as I recall it had been > burnt). I also
have looked around behind the airport which is where > birds apparently have
been recorded in the past. I talked to some of > the staff (I was helping a
friend with his PhD so we got into some of > the less accessible parts of the
the park) and they had very few > records or even potential sites where this
species had been recorded. > We looked in some interesting habitat east of
Uluru off the Curtin > Springs road and saw potential footprints but saw no
birds (and got > no response from call playback).> As a conclusion I would
suggest you would be very lucky to find > Grasswrens in Uluru and that the T&T
is probably a bit of a dead end > (if you can stop in some big spinifex then
you might have a chance).> As I say I may be completely wrong on these theories
(any comments > appreciated) but as good as T&T is for many species still (and
I have > been to quite a few of their sites), you can get information on other
> species that is much more up to date from Birding-Aus (the roost > sites for
some of the owls would be another example).> Cheers,> Pete> > > > >
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