Hi Bernice. Thank you for your wonderful account of the trip with John.
You found him as I have found him myself - a very knowledgeable and
clever guy, undeserving of the criticisms sometimes thrown his way.
I must organise myself and do another trip with him.
Tony.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Burnice Starkey
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 10:52 AM
To:
Subject: John Young Tours
John Young's Cape York and Iron Range Tour of Nov 2008. Written by
Burnice Starkey Being a new member of Birds Queensland and only a
fledgling to the bird fraternity, I was interested to gain more
knowledge about the birding tours advertised in Birds Queensland
Newsletters. After asking a few people in the club, I received a mixed
bag of reactions. Some think you should do it yourself without a guide,
others had reservations about John Young calling birds that weren't
positively identified and others who had actually gone one his trip(s)
said very positive things. In making my own decision factored that I had
no means (4X drive) or knowledge of the Cape endemics and yearned to see
Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfishers, Palm Cockatoos, Double-eyed Fig
Parrots and Golden-shouldered and Eclectus Parrots to name but a few.
Nevertheless, I'm a little hesitant to throw good money at a "group"
situation were a holiday could be spoilt by certain personality types.
As it turned out this was a fantastic trip!! The group, though diverse,
was very fun-loving and dynamic and the longer we were together the
better the bonds. John is quite the master of ceremonies and ensured
that everyone felt comfortable within the group and displayed very good
HR skills in "reading" the various characters. The group helped each
other to see those difficult to focus birds and many contributed their
knowledge to identify a call, the direction or location. The whole time,
John was moving through the group ensuring everyone saw the latest
beauty. His vast knowledge of habit, feeding, breeding and bird haunts
had some of us calling him "The Master" with a respectful bow. We learnt
the bird calls from his mimicry and were exhilarated by his owl
impersonations as for example, a male Rufous Owl which came to confront
John's territory dispute call.
Not only did we see all the birds I had on my wish list but also 11
Spotted Whistling Ducks, Black-Breasted Buzzard on a nest with Chick,
Red-necked Crake, a pair of Oriental Plover at Musgrave, the Oriental
Cuckoo and many more. He never tired of our questions, even if oft
repeated and always had a funny anecdote. He shared his knowledge of
birds, trees, mammals and butterflies (in both lay and Latin
terminology). He shared his knowledge of cameras and how to care for
them and our Binos after the trip. The Oz Safari crew were tireless,
professional and delightfully friendly while caring for all our needs
and also sharing their knowledge of the region. Many thanks to all their
hard work and again to John who also helped with packing tents and
loading equipment. The food was exceptionally good and since I consider
myself a good cook, I was humbled by the care taken to prepare hot meals
over a open fire frizzing the hairs on their arms. The heat and humidity
was often challenging but the birding outings were planned in the
(slightly) cooler parts of the day and the bus was refrigerator cold.
There were also some adrenalizing encounters with a Taipan (in a tree?!)
and the large salt water crocs which were seen both by day and then by
night. While the Tree Kangaroo proved too shy the Spotted Cuscus
visited our camp as did various bats. Evenings were spent with one of
the most entertaining examples of Bird Call, I have ever encountered. I
may have contributed to the banter but there were many players which
were full of hilarity. The verbal tennis matches continued with jokes
and tales. Other nights we were able to coax John to show us some of his
photos and sound recordings of our wonderful and sometimes rare birds.
He will and does share his knowledge if he can trust the recipient. To
those of you considering going on a trip in the future, I highly
recommend it. To those sceptics who still doubt, don't come we don't
want you on these trips anyway. Cos I'm booked to go again.
_________________________________________________________________
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