Some thoughts....
Flushing by 'Beating' through their habitat has been the way they are
counted for research purposes for a long time.
Also some suppression of scrub growth, in lieu of fire, may actually
be beneficial to the birds.
See http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU9940300.pdf
The GP seen was in the 'clearing' of the roadside - I think Cooloola
Way is just a rocky sandy track at this point with regular 4WD 'scrub-
bashing' evidence.
In comparison the impact of 1 or 2 birders surely is negligible.
Regards, Chris
Chris Charles
0412 911 184
33deg 47'30"S
151deg10'09"E
On 27/01/2009, at 8:18 PM, Peter Baitz wrote:
I to find it disturbing that any Bird Observer would crash about in
the undergrowth-are the birds important or is another tick the be
all and end all.
Peter Baitz
On 27/01/2009, at 6:49 PM, peter crow wrote:
Lisa's report or possibly that of Dominic Chaplin who signed off
at the end of the report is good news but is also quite disturbing.
The good part is reporting both BBBQ and Ground Parrots at
Cooloola. Many of us visit these spots areas annually or more
often and usually see both species.
However most who visit are rather more responsible than whoever
did this birding appears to be.
To quote the report,
" I then spent from 05.00-06.30 crashing about in the undergrowth
close to where the calls seemed to be coming from, achieving very
little apart from falling in wet concealed ditches from time to
time. I did flush a Tawny Grassbird and also a small dark Quail
(King?)
I thought flushing birds was what hunters did-- not responsible
birders.
The Ground Parrot is an uncommon species and in Queensland is
threatened.
This is one of the few places where they are doing well.
It is a National Park.
We would like them to be still there in 100 years.
It is offensive to the National Park authorities to go crashing
about in the undergrowth as this undergrowth is the habitat for
that threatened species.
I also find it offensive that someone interested in birds should
have so little consideration for the welfare of the birds that
they should behave like this.
We all know some bird watchers are more interested in seeing birds
that in the birds welfare.
I hope in this case it was a matter of enthusiasm overcoming
consideration.
I implore those concerned and all other birders to remember that
the birds welfare is of prime importance. Even of more importance
than of you or I getting good looks at a bird.
My rant for the week
Regards
Peter
On 22/01/2009, at 9:27 PM, Lisa Tanner wrote:
I am just writing to report a successful expedition to Rainbow
Beach SEQ where I was lucky enough to find the Ground Parrot &
the Black-breasted Buttton-quail on the same day.
Directions
1. Ground Parrot
One parrot was seen 50m from the location suggested in Thomas &
Thomas. This is:
Drive 16km West from Rainbow Beach
Turn Left/South onto Cooloola Way
After 2.9km turn Left/East down a track just before the powerline
After 1.7km stop on the 'bridge' (actually a small hump in the
road over a concrete pipe)
19 Jan 2009 06.30 One parrot flushed beside the road, 50 m East
of the bridge
2. Black-breasted Button-quail
One BBBQ was sighted in the location suggested by Sean Dooley in
his first book.
This is:
From Rainbow Beach Drive approx 10km North to Inskip Point.
(This is where the ferries leave to go to Fraser Island.)
Drive as far as the turning loop on the bitumen.
Park just before the loop.
Leading NW from the loop is a sandy walking track which leads a
short distance to the point.
After about 1-200m hundreds of 'platelets' were found. These are
caused by the BBBQs spinning around causing a circular depression
of approx 15cm diameter in the leaf litter.
19 Jan 2009 13.30 One BBBQ was observed spinning around for as
long as I cared to watch. Noisy 4WDs are driving past all day so
the Quails must be very habituated to disturbance. (Actually I
also saw two BBBQs in the exact same location one year previously
in atrocious conditions of heavy rain.)
Ground Parrot
Came very close to running over a White-throated Nightjar sitting
in the middle of the track on the way down Cooloola Drive. About
3-4 Ground Parrots were calling from the heathland between
04.30-04.45 when it was still dark. As soon as it became light
enough to actully see a parrot they all stopped. But if anyone
ever wanted to see a New Holland Honeyeater, this would be the
place to start looking. I then spent from 05.00-06.30 crashing
about in the undergrowth close to where the calls seemed to be
coming from, achieving very little apart from falling in wet
concealed ditches from time to time. I did flush a Tawny
Grassbird and also a small dark Quail (King?)
Walking back along the road to the car whilst pondering my next
move a beautiful slender green/yellow parrot took off from the
roadside and gracefully flew 50 into the heath, never to be seen
again.
Other birds seen at this location: Brown Quail, Pied Cormorant,
Welcome Swallow, White-throated Nightjar, Noisy Frairbird, New
Holland Honeyeater, Australasian Pipit, Red-browed Finch, Red-
backed Fairy-wren, Grey Shrike-thrush, Willie Wagtail, Tawny
Grassbird, White-throated Needletail
Black-breasted Button-quail
Inskip Point is actually an excellent spot for birding. As well
as a collection of very tame bushbirds including a Satin
Flycatcher along the walking track there were also thousands of
seabirds on the sand islands just off shore. In between birding
much amusement can also be had watching 4WDs get stuck in the
deep sand trying to reach the Fraser Island ferries.
I came to the same location in 2008 with the same objective of
find the Quail and the Parrot. In weather not fit for man nor
beast I was very pleased to fing a pair of Quail but Cooloola way
was deep under water so I never reached the parrot site. I'm not
sure if these parrots can swim.
I was quite surprised by the large number of platelets beside the
track. In places there were more platelets than spare
ground.Obviously the Quail are not bothered by the traffic but a
pair of Goannas observed at the same spot might cause more of a
problem. Just off shore was a large sand island which had
literally thousands of seabirds resting on it. They were slightly
hard to pick without a scope but there must have been huge
numbers of Common Terns and Crested Terns amongst the migratory
waders. The beaches were quite popular with Red-capped Plovers
and I also managed to pick out one Sanderling amongst them.
A perfect day was capped off at the point watching the great
flocks of terns wheeling over the ocean in the sunset. Just to
finish it off a pair of Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins swam past
10m off shore. One of them swam along for a good 5 minutes with
his head right out in the air, looking about and admiring the
scenery and sunset himself.
Other birds seen at this location: Bar-tailed Godwit, Red-capped
Plover, Royal Spoonbill, Pelican, Grey-tailed Tattler, Whimbrel,
Curlew, Sanderling, Red-necked Sting, Pied Oystercatcher, Caspian
Tern, Common Tern, Crested Tern Little Tern, Siver Gull, Pied
Cormorant, Brahminy Kite, Brush Turkey, Fairy Gerygone, Brown
Thornbill, Rufous Whistler, Satin Flycatcher, Mangove Honeyeater,
Lewins Honeyeater, Whte-breasted Woodswallow, Bar Shouldered
Dove, Eastern Yellow Robin, Eastern Whipbird, Little Wattlebird,
Varied Triller, White-browed Scrubwren
Dominic Chaplin
PO Box 208
Bungalow QLD 4870
Tel 0419 028 077 Fax 07 4051 4896
http://www.pinecreekpictures.com.au
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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