Hi all,
Here's the Woodswallows' report for this year's NSW Twitchathon,
which was held on 25-26 Oct. Written by fellow woodswallow (and fully
recovered) Tiffany Mason...
Let's win that @#^%*$# Twitchathon trophy back!
All boded well at the Whacked-Out Woodswallows' (captain David
Geering, 2IC Carol Probets and not-quite rookie Tiffany Mason) secret
starting location, a little house on the prairie near the Macquarie
Marshes. Arriving with half an hour to spare, the initial scout
turned up Pacific Heron, White-winged Fairy Wren, Welcome Swallow and
a nest-building Willie Wagtail. 4pm and we were off! White-plumed
Honeyeater calling, White-browed and Masked Woodswallows making a
very pretty picture drinking at the dam (especially when a group of
nervous Black-tailed Native-hen ran behind them), Brown Treecreeper,
Hooded Robin and Fairy Martin. Back in the car and up the road for
Crimson Chats, Southern Whiteface, Singing & Black Honeyeater.
The Marshes were drier than last year, despite recent storms, and
although we spotted a Brolga on the journey out to the start, it
wasn't co-operating for the official race. The White-bellied
Sea-Eagles had apparently left the area, hankering for fish after too
many months of rabbit and road-kill, but there was enough meat around
to keep a Whistling Kite happy. Golden-headed Cisticola and Little
Grassbird were calling and while Carol had her 'scope scanning the
plains for non-existant Brolgas, David had spotted something a little
different coming into land on a nearby paddock: Australian Pratincole
- a lifer for Tiff, and a very elegant bird, too. The rest of the
paddock yielded a couple of Banded Lapwings and White-fronted Chats.
Back on the track and a cry of "Major Mitchell!" brought the car to a
screaming halt; on closer inspection, we seemed to have picked up the
only two Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in the Marshes, a very unusual
spot for them. Mallee Ringneck, Spotted Bowerbird, Chestnut-rumped
Thornbill, Blue Bonnet, Mulga Parrot, Painted Honeyeater and
Grey-crowned Babbler were next, but the other babblers were proving
elusive and we were already behind schedule. On to the Ground
Cuckoo-shrike site where David spotted Brown Goshawk...wasn't it
rather a large BG? Carol double-checked and we all got great views
of a perched Spotted Harrier. Then the Ground Cuckoo-shrike turned
up, very co-operatively walking about in the grass not too far away
and mostly unobscured. Back in the vehicle for those cryptic
babblers - where were they? Another stop and circuit on foot through
the woodlands eventually uncovered the White-broweds, at the moment
we had all but given up on them. Was there time to hunt down Brown &
Stubble Quail and Little Button-quail on the road verge? Well, we
made time, but the quail weren't there - a perfectly good pair of
socks ruined for nothing (next year, don't forget the gaiters).
Off to the next stop for David's famous Barking Owl impersonation (as
immortalised on "Chasing Birds"), although we had to be patient - you
can't rush an artiste. After about 4 minutes of silence, an
Owlet-nightjar greeted us and David felt sufficiently relaxed to
start the show. And yes, there was the response after three
prompting "woof-woof"s from Maestro Geering. Back onto the road and
it wasn't long before an obliging Tawny Frogmouth posed for us on a
roadside sign. A brief stop at a bridge over a dampish creek brought
us plenty of Peron's Tree Frogs but Carol just couldn't get a Boobook
to answer her call. Never mind, lots of other nocturnal birds to
find and, anyway, the count was looking pretty good, but then Carol
twice called out "Barn Owl" and both team-mates missed them. Then
Tiff got one, we turned the car around and the whole team had perfect
views of the Tyto on a fence post. Time to head for our own roosting
spot, which turned out to be the rehearsal venue for the local
Boobook Choral Society, so one more night bird was ticked off the
list and the first afternoon's tally was a healthy 106.
Up bright and early to hit the frog and toad in time for the dawn
chorus at Allyn River, but something was amiss, the car slowed and
David began using the sort of language usually prefaced with a
warning to young &/or sensitive viewers...what was happening? Had
the car gone bung? No, he'd left his binocs on the bonnet and they
weren't there now! Busted binocs with still half the race left to
run - a disaster! Then Tiff confessed that she had picked them up at
the WOW's roosting stop and had them in the back of the car...and
there was much rejoicing (albeit through David's clenched teeth).
It was a cool (two jumpers and a beanie) morning at Allyn River,
which didn't deter the birds: Eastern Yellow Robins led the
singalong, joined by Bassian Thrush, Rose Robin, Yellow-throated
Scrubwren, Rufous Fantail, Brown Cuckoo-dove and Wompoo Fruit-Dove
(breakfasting in the giant fig tree). The team decided to have
breakfast too, in the company of Pied Currawong and Kookaburra,
before a short walk in the rainforest to tick a few more species:
Black-faced & Spectacled Monarchs, Noisy Pitta, Large-billed
Scrubwren and Carol even picked up a leech (no tick). Then a quick
sprint back to the car to leave the Dodgy Drongoes eating our dust...
The sun was well and truly up, so time to start moving into the
eucalypt forest for Riflebird, Wonga & White-headed Pigeons and
Striated Thornbill. We had dipped on Red-browed Treecreeper at this
point last year and Carol was determined not to let it happen again.
Numerous stops along the way turned up a flycatcher (no tick - the
call wasn't enough for team consensus on the species) and an
assortment of honeyeaters but no Treecreeper... A brief stop at
Barrington House added absolutely nothing to the list and an even
briefer stop at the smallest house in the bush made Carol the
undisputed breakfast choice of the local wildlife when a juvenile
Brush Turkey took a well-aimed peck at her.
Time was hurrying along so we followed, leaving the Tops behind and
speeding (figuratively, not illegally) down into the Upper Hunter. A
movement on the fenceline caught David's eye and we picked up a
totally unexpected species for the habitat (semi-cleared hillsides
with bladey grass): Southern Emu-wren - fantastic! But no Red-backed
Fairy-wren (the species David was hoping for). This was followed by
a disappointing stretch of not much (Scarlet Honeyeater & Common
Myna) and a number of river crossings where the Azure Kingfisher
refused to show.
We had the woodland birds in our sights now and stopped for Speckled
Warbler, Buff-rumped Thornbill, Leaden Flycatcher and Double-barred
Finch. Through Paterson and onto Green Wattle Road for a close
encounter with the Hunter Thickheads, Fuscous Honeyeater,
Olive-backed Oriole and Little Lorikeet. Carol's careful scanning of
the ground turned up three Painted Button-quail platelets but, alas,
the birds themselves evaded us.
Now we began to pick up water birds as farm dams became more
numerous: Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, Little Corella, House
Sparrow and off to Seaham for the lorikeets, Rainbow &
Scaly-breasted. Eyes were peeled for the Long-billed Corella (some
members of the team were reaching semi-delirium at this point and any
white bird with short legs and a long beak would have done, e.g. the
Short-legged Ibis), but neither were to be found. Round to Seaham
Swamp for Latham's Snipe (dipped) and a nice trio of raptors in Brown
Goshawk, Sea-Eagle and Osprey. Across the Hunter floodplain and
picked up Australasian Shoveler, Black Swan, White-breasted
Woodswallow and a single Pink-eared Duck (hiding amongst Grey Teal
and Pacific Black Duck).
By this time, we could smell the sea, and the next stop was a private
property at Fullerton Cove for a couple of wader species. Through
the fence to the mangroves and there was a Whimbrel, Eastern Curlew,
Gull-billed Tern and two Red-necked Avocets awaiting us. At this
point, Tiff began to look a bit peeky and complained of an inability
to see anything but double through the telescope...what had she been
swigging from her "water" bottle? The WOW don't slow for anything or
anyone, however, and it was away to Stockton Bridge/Spit to be
greeted by Brown Honeyeater and hunt down more of those vital wader
species. Over the salt bush and onto the sand - barren except for
one Striated Heron, two Red-capped Plovers and 5 million Soldier
Crabs. We'd hit low tide - things weren't looking good on the wader
front. Tiff collapsed in the shade while David and Carol (remaining
within earshot of Tiff's groaning, in line with the official
Twitchathon rules) went off for Mangrove Gerygone and Pied
Oystercatcher.
Grahamstown Dam was next and the Great Crested Grebe and Musk Duck,
swimming obligingly close to the dam wall. Hoary-headed Grebe wasn't
playing so easy to get, however, and it took a couple of sweeps with
the 'scope to pick up a raft of them far out on the water.
Bundling the invalid back into the car, the team hit the road again
for Newcastle Beach, hoping for some shearwaters and rock-platform
specialists. It was a mite disappointing, the only Shearwater in
sight was Short-tailed and the only species on the rock platform
(apart from the Dodgy Drongoes) were Ruddy Turnstone, Crested and
Common Tern - the Sooty Oystercatcher was notable by its absence.
Off to Ash Island for those elusive waders (they must be hiding out
somewhere). Tiff, laid low by suspected food-poisoning and now able
only to communicate by a series of brief grunts, knew from past
experience (i.e. broken leg during the 2005 race) that the
Twitchathon stops for no woman, however close to death. Carol &
David picked up Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Caspian Tern and Brown
Quail. Time to aggravate the gravel once more and check out a
certain location, buried deep in Carol's memory, for Latham's Snipe
and the four Cormorants: Little Pied, Pied, Little Black and Great.
Shortland Wetland Centre was in sight and a flurry at the finish
brought us Little Wattlebird, Magpie-Goose, Wandering Whistling-Duck
and Little Egret. Tiff rallied and, lying prostrate on the grass
while the senior team-members relaxed on a nearby bench, got a
perfect view of the last species to be ticked. Mustering all her
strength, with just 3 minutes to the finish, she pointed it out to
the others: the amazingly-hard-to-find Straw-necked Ibis!!! Yes, we
had crossed the Hunter Floodplain, staked out numerous flooded
paddocks, ponds and dams and totally dipped on this species up until
the last moment.
We finished with a total of 225, 10 down on last year's tally, and
somebody else can write the last paragraph; I'm too depressed about
it.
The Whacked-Out Woodswallows
David Geering, Carol Probets & Tiffany Mason.
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