birding-aus

Yellow Wagtails at WTP

To: Pat OMalley <>
Subject: Yellow Wagtails at WTP
From:
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:52:25 +1100
Searching the archives, Yellow Wagtails have last shown up at the  WTP in 
May 2005(Restricted northern area) and Dec 2003 (austin rd lagoon area).

Theres also another posting about the first vic record in Dec 1998 at the 
WTP. Funnily enough this first sighting is just across the river from the 
current location.






Hi All

I have a cryptic record (and a vivid memory) of seeing a Yellow Wagtail at 
WTP in December 1998. My entry says 'First record'.

Does anyone know which ssp that was? How often have Yellow Wagtails turned 
up at WTP in the interim? And was this the first record of the sp at WTP?

Cheers
Pat


____________________________________

Pat O'Malley
University of Sydney Professorial Research Fellow 
Faculty of Law F10,  The University of Sydney
Sydney NSW 2006 Australia

Phone:  +61 2 9351 0395,  Fax:  +61 2  9351 0200
Email:   



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Subject: birding-aus Digest, Vol 35, Issue 30


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Today's Topics:

   1. RE: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria) (Paul Dodd)
   2. Hot news from Saibai (Phil Hansbro)
   3. RE: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria) (Paul Dodd)
   4. RE: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria) (Tony Russell)
   5. RE: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria) (Jeff Davies)
   6. Re: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria) (Peter Shute)
   7. RE: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria) (Paul Dodd)
   8. Re: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria) (L&L Knight)
   9. Trip Report North & Central coast NSW (russ lamb)
  10. Re: Plains wanderers (jay jay)
  11. Re: Re: columnists on the Bush Fires, a caution (Chris Charles)
  12.            1 GREY TERNLET, 17 STREAKED AND 1 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS,   
1
      WANDERING ALBATROSS - MISTRAL POINT, MAROUBRA - 22.2.09
      (Graham Buchan)
  13. Snipe at Pinegrove Road, Armidale (scott butcher)
  14. Swinhoes Snipe and Laughing Gull still present in FNQ
      (Carl Billingham)
  15. WA Rainbow Lorikeet Management Strategy (Dr Richard Nowotny)
  16. WA Rainbow Lorikeet Management Strategy (Part 2)
      (Dr Richard Nowotny)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:14:25 +1100
From: "Paul Dodd" <>
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)
To: "'Tony Russell'" <>,            "'Birding Aus'"
                 <>
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain;                charset="US-ASCII"

Tony,

I made the original identification based on the pictures and description 
in
Pizzey & Knight (Seventh Edition).

Specifically -

Race simillima: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; ear-coverts dark
blue-grey; back/rump olive-green.

Race tschutschensis: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; back/rump greyish
olive; ear-coverts dark grey-brown; throat white; some have speckled
brownish necklace.

In addition, the photographs most closely resemble the picture of
tschutschensis that edition.

Since then I have compared with Robson, "Birds of South-east Asia"
(simillima only); MacKinnon, Phillipps, "A Field Guide to the Birds of
Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali" (simillima only); Viney, Phillipps, Lam
Chiu, "Birds of Hong Kong and South China" (simillima only); and most
significantly, Dunn and Alderfer (eds), "National Geographic Field Guide 
to
the Birds of North America" (fifth edition) - which has simillima and
tschutschensis described and illustrated.

The significant points of identification used were:

White supercilium - common to simillima and tschutschensis, hence ruling 
out
other races.

White throat - almost non-existent in breeding simillima, but present in
tschutschensis. Non-breeding simillima has a much paler breast. But an
argument could be made that this bird is in partial breeding plumage.

Speckled necklace - clearly visible in the photos of this bird. The 
necklace
is only visible in tschutschensis.

The main thing against this being tschutschensis is that simillima is the
"Asian sub-species" and as such is far more likely in Australia than the
other races.

Since this is my first attempt at identifying a rarity to this degree I
expect criticism of my methods above. Additionally, others are probably 
far
more experienced with this species that I am.

For now I'm calling it tschutschensis, although I know that others are
referring to it as simillima/tschutschensis.

Paul Dodd
Docklands, Victoria


-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Russell  
Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 11:22 AM
To: 'Paul Dodd'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)

Who, if anyone, has positively identified this as a tschutschensis and
not a simillima  ?

Tony.

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Dodd
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 8:14 PM
To: 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)


Hi everyone,

 

Photos of the Yellow Wagtail (race tschutschensis) seen by Peter Shute,
Ruth Woodrow and myself are available at:

 

Ruth's photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614194939510/

 

My photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614151917109/

 

And as Peter has already posted:

 

Peter's photos - 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/pshute2/YellowWagtail#

 

Please note that these photos have been uploaded straight from the
camera to Flickr (in Ruth's and my cases) or Picasa (in Peter's case).
No attempt has been made to remove blurred, out-of-focus or other poor
shots at this stage, and no attempt has been made to process the images.

 

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

 

===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, 
send the message:
unsubscribe 
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No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
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15:36:00



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:43:17 +1100
From: Phil Hansbro <>
Subject: Hot news from Saibai
To: 
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Hi all

Just heard from Richard Baxter who is on Saibai. They have had a big 
morning there with Uniform Swiftlet, House Swift and Papuan Spinetail!!!

Phil.




------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:52:29 +1100
From: "Paul Dodd" <>
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)
To: "'Paul Dodd'" <>,               "'Tony Russell'"
                 <>,                "'Birding Aus'" 
<>
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain;                charset="US-ASCII"

Further to this posting (and thanks to Jeff Davies). Eastern Yellow 
Wagtail
(motacilla tschutschensis) is a full species comprising what were 
previously
the tschutschensis and simillima races of Yellow Wagtail. The darker
"necklace" indicates winter plumage. The races tschutschensis and 
simillima
can't be separated in the field, as such the birds are often referred to 
as
tschutschensis/simillima.

Paul


-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Dodd
Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 12:14 PM
To: 'Tony Russell'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)

Tony,

I made the original identification based on the pictures and description 
in
Pizzey & Knight (Seventh Edition).

Specifically -

Race simillima: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; ear-coverts dark
blue-grey; back/rump olive-green.

Race tschutschensis: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; back/rump greyish
olive; ear-coverts dark grey-brown; throat white; some have speckled
brownish necklace.

In addition, the photographs most closely resemble the picture of
tschutschensis that edition.

Since then I have compared with Robson, "Birds of South-east Asia"
(simillima only); MacKinnon, Phillipps, "A Field Guide to the Birds of
Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali" (simillima only); Viney, Phillipps, Lam
Chiu, "Birds of Hong Kong and South China" (simillima only); and most
significantly, Dunn and Alderfer (eds), "National Geographic Field Guide 
to
the Birds of North America" (fifth edition) - which has simillima and
tschutschensis described and illustrated.

The significant points of identification used were:

White supercilium - common to simillima and tschutschensis, hence ruling 
out
other races.

White throat - almost non-existent in breeding simillima, but present in
tschutschensis. Non-breeding simillima has a much paler breast. But an
argument could be made that this bird is in partial breeding plumage.

Speckled necklace - clearly visible in the photos of this bird. The 
necklace
is only visible in tschutschensis.

The main thing against this being tschutschensis is that simillima is the
"Asian sub-species" and as such is far more likely in Australia than the
other races.

Since this is my first attempt at identifying a rarity to this degree I
expect criticism of my methods above. Additionally, others are probably 
far
more experienced with this species that I am.

For now I'm calling it tschutschensis, although I know that others are
referring to it as simillima/tschutschensis.

Paul Dodd
Docklands, Victoria


-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Russell  
Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 11:22 AM
To: 'Paul Dodd'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)

Who, if anyone, has positively identified this as a tschutschensis and
not a simillima  ?

Tony.

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Dodd
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 8:14 PM
To: 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)


Hi everyone,

 

Photos of the Yellow Wagtail (race tschutschensis) seen by Peter Shute,
Ruth Woodrow and myself are available at:

 

Ruth's photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614194939510/

 

My photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614151917109/

 

And as Peter has already posted:

 

Peter's photos - 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/pshute2/YellowWagtail#

 

Please note that these photos have been uploaded straight from the
camera to Flickr (in Ruth's and my cases) or Picasa (in Peter's case).
No attempt has been made to remove blurred, out-of-focus or other poor
shots at this stage, and no attempt has been made to process the images.

 

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

 

===============================
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:  ===============================

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1963 - Release Date: 02/21/09
15:36:00

===============================
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birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, 
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15:36:00



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:27:17 +1030
From: "Tony Russell" <>
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)
To: "'Paul Dodd'" <>,               "'Birding Aus'"
                 <>
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain;                charset="US-ASCII"

Thanks Paul, and thanks also for the phone conversation earlier today.
Do I stoke up the Honda ?

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Dodd  
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 12:22 PM
To: 'Paul Dodd'; 'Tony Russell'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)


Further to this posting (and thanks to Jeff Davies). Eastern Yellow
Wagtail (motacilla tschutschensis) is a full species comprising what
were previously the tschutschensis and simillima races of Yellow
Wagtail. The darker "necklace" indicates winter plumage. The races
tschutschensis and simillima can't be separated in the field, as such
the birds are often referred to as tschutschensis/simillima.

Paul


-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Dodd
Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 12:14 PM
To: 'Tony Russell'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)

Tony,

I made the original identification based on the pictures and description
in Pizzey & Knight (Seventh Edition).

Specifically -

Race simillima: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; ear-coverts dark
blue-grey; back/rump olive-green.

Race tschutschensis: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; back/rump greyish
olive; ear-coverts dark grey-brown; throat white; some have speckled
brownish necklace.

In addition, the photographs most closely resemble the picture of
tschutschensis that edition.

Since then I have compared with Robson, "Birds of South-east Asia"
(simillima only); MacKinnon, Phillipps, "A Field Guide to the Birds of
Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali" (simillima only); Viney, Phillipps, Lam
Chiu, "Birds of Hong Kong and South China" (simillima only); and most
significantly, Dunn and Alderfer (eds), "National Geographic Field Guide
to the Birds of North America" (fifth edition) - which has simillima and
tschutschensis described and illustrated.

The significant points of identification used were:

White supercilium - common to simillima and tschutschensis, hence ruling
out other races.

White throat - almost non-existent in breeding simillima, but present in
tschutschensis. Non-breeding simillima has a much paler breast. But an
argument could be made that this bird is in partial breeding plumage.

Speckled necklace - clearly visible in the photos of this bird. The
necklace is only visible in tschutschensis.

The main thing against this being tschutschensis is that simillima is
the "Asian sub-species" and as such is far more likely in Australia than
the other races.

Since this is my first attempt at identifying a rarity to this degree I
expect criticism of my methods above. Additionally, others are probably
far more experienced with this species that I am.

For now I'm calling it tschutschensis, although I know that others are
referring to it as simillima/tschutschensis.

Paul Dodd
Docklands, Victoria


-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Russell  
Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 11:22 AM
To: 'Paul Dodd'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)

Who, if anyone, has positively identified this as a tschutschensis and
not a simillima  ?

Tony.

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Dodd
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 8:14 PM
To: 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)


Hi everyone,

 

Photos of the Yellow Wagtail (race tschutschensis) seen by Peter Shute,
Ruth Woodrow and myself are available at:

 

Ruth's photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614194939510/

 

My photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614151917109/

 

And as Peter has already posted:

 

Peter's photos - 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/pshute2/YellowWagtail#

 

Please note that these photos have been uploaded straight from the
camera to Flickr (in Ruth's and my cases) or Picasa (in Peter's case).
No attempt has been made to remove blurred, out-of-focus or other poor
shots at this stage, and no attempt has been made to process the images.

 

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

 

===============================
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:  ===============================

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1963 - Release Date:
02/21/09 15:36:00

===============================
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:  =============================== No
virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1963 - Release Date:
02/21/09 15:36:00



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:20:00 +1100
From: "Jeff Davies" <>
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)
To: "'Paul Dodd'" <>,               "'Tony Russell'"
                 <>,                "'Birding Aus'" 
<>
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain;                charset="us-ascii"

Alstrom and Mild 2003( this is the most authorative work on the subject),
examined many specimens and concluded that tschutschensis and simillima
could not be reliably separated in the field and only differed slightly on
average. Technically the gorget probably determines it as more likely a
winter plumage male tschutschensis, but Alstrom and Mild state "the 
majority
of simillima are indistinguishable from north-east Russian and Alaskan
populations of tschutschensis on plumage".

Cheers Jeff



-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Dodd
Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 12:14 PM
To: 'Tony Russell'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)

Tony,

I made the original identification based on the pictures and description 
in
Pizzey & Knight (Seventh Edition).

Specifically -

Race simillima: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; ear-coverts dark
blue-grey; back/rump olive-green.

Race tschutschensis: crown blue-grey; eyebrow whitish; back/rump greyish
olive; ear-coverts dark grey-brown; throat white; some have speckled
brownish necklace.

In addition, the photographs most closely resemble the picture of
tschutschensis that edition.

Since then I have compared with Robson, "Birds of South-east Asia"
(simillima only); MacKinnon, Phillipps, "A Field Guide to the Birds of
Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali" (simillima only); Viney, Phillipps, Lam
Chiu, "Birds of Hong Kong and South China" (simillima only); and most
significantly, Dunn and Alderfer (eds), "National Geographic Field Guide 
to
the Birds of North America" (fifth edition) - which has simillima and
tschutschensis described and illustrated.

The significant points of identification used were:

White supercilium - common to simillima and tschutschensis, hence ruling 
out
other races.

White throat - almost non-existent in breeding simillima, but present in
tschutschensis. Non-breeding simillima has a much paler breast. But an
argument could be made that this bird is in partial breeding plumage.

Speckled necklace - clearly visible in the photos of this bird. The 
necklace
is only visible in tschutschensis.

The main thing against this being tschutschensis is that simillima is the
"Asian sub-species" and as such is far more likely in Australia than the
other races.

Since this is my first attempt at identifying a rarity to this degree I
expect criticism of my methods above. Additionally, others are probably 
far
more experienced with this species that I am.

For now I'm calling it tschutschensis, although I know that others are
referring to it as simillima/tschutschensis.

Paul Dodd
Docklands, Victoria


-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Russell  
Sent: Sunday, 22 February 2009 11:22 AM
To: 'Paul Dodd'; 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)

Who, if anyone, has positively identified this as a tschutschensis and
not a simillima  ?

Tony.

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Dodd
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 8:14 PM
To: 'Birding Aus'
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)


Hi everyone,

 

Photos of the Yellow Wagtail (race tschutschensis) seen by Peter Shute,
Ruth Woodrow and myself are available at:

 

Ruth's photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614194939510/

 

My photos -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgd99/sets/72157614151917109/

 

And as Peter has already posted:

 

Peter's photos - 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/pshute2/YellowWagtail#

 

Please note that these photos have been uploaded straight from the
camera to Flickr (in Ruth's and my cases) or Picasa (in Peter's case).
No attempt has been made to remove blurred, out-of-focus or other poor
shots at this stage, and no attempt has been made to process the images.

 

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

 

===============================
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:  ===============================

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1963 - Release Date: 02/21/09
15:36:00

===============================
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: 
===============================



------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:23:06 +1100
From: Peter Shute <>
Subject: Yellow Wagtail at WTP (Victoria)
To: "" <>,
                 "" <>,
                 "" <>
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Are you doing a BARC submission?

And have you heard if anyone else has seen it yet?


--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry




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