They seem to be quite easy to see in New Zealand (North Island).
John Leonard
2009/5/10 John Tongue <>:
> Good list, Mick,
> We had a week there a couple of years ago, and got most on your list, plus a
> few others, but NO California Quail!
>
> Cheers,
> John Tongue
> Ulverstone, Ts.
>
>
> On 10/05/2009, at 7:06 PM, Mick Roderick wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Steve Roderick, Craig Arms, Alan Stuart and I visited King Island from the
>> 30th April to 2nd May. Apologies for the tardiness in getting this short
>> trip report to the list.
>>
>> We enjoyed reasonably good weather for the time we were there, which
>> amounted to just under 2 days of daylight birding. We recorded 79 species in
>> that time, the highlights of which are discussed below. Not having good
>> knowledge of the bird life on the island, I have based the significance of
>> sightings on documents such as "Fauna of King Island" and checklists
>> available at the links that I have pasted at the end of this message.
>>
>> We stayed at Naracoopa, on the east coast of the island. Personally I
>> think this is a great place to stay - very well sheltered from prevailing
>> winds and close to some of the island's best birding sites at Sea Elephant
>> and Pegarah State Forest. We hired a 4wd which is essential for accessing
>> sites around Sea Elephant and Nook Swamp.
>>
>> In general, the birding is not frantic on KI but most of what you are
>> seeing is very interesting to mainland birders - most of the Tassie endemics
>> can be seen there, plus there are several endemic sub-species present. For
>> listers KI is possibly second-to-none in Australia for 'plastic fantastics'
>> and most are very easily seen.
>>
>> The following were probably our birding highlights:
>>
>> Great Egret - one close to the airport 30/4 and one near Yambacoona 1/5.
>> Straw-necked Ibis - single bird close to Egg Lagoon 1/5.
>> Black-browed and Shy Albatross - a few seen from Currie Harbour 2/5.
>> White-bellied Sea-Eagle - at least 4 birds seen, all along east coast
>> (listed as Endangered in Fauna of KI).
>> Brown Goshawk - one near the airport 30/4 (said to be a recent arrival).
>> Brown Falcon - one near Yambacoona 1/5.
>> Australian Hobby - one perched on wires in the vicinity of Egg Lagoon 1/5.
>> Banded Lapwing - group of 5 birds in a paddock adjacent to the Hobby.
>> Double-banded Plover - common at Yellow Rock but a count of 250 birds was
>> made over a section of Lake Flanagan 1/5 - there would have almost certainly
>> been as many birds there again which were not counted.
>> Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo - 3 or 4 birds at Pegarah SF 1/5.
>> Orange-bellied Parrot - single bird on southern side of Sea Elephant
>> estuary 30/4 and again 1/5.
>> Blue-winged Parrot - two sightings of single bird (probably same bird) on
>> Lake Flanagan 1/5.
>> Spotted Pardalote - heard twice at Pegarah SF.
>> Golden Whistler - Pegarah SF 2/5.
>> White-browed Woodswallow - 5 birds at northern end of Nook Swamp 1/5.
>>
>> The latter of these was probably the most 'surprising' bird we saw. We
>> were also surprised not to see any Wood Ducks at all, though we didn't visit
>> the southern end of the island where they are supposed to be more common. No
>> Pied Oystercatchers were seen either, although numerous Sooties were seen.
>> We also observed a lone, flightless juvenile Short-tailed Shearwater
>> (presumably abandoned) stumble across a beach and into the water to start
>> what would be one hell of a long paddle north!
>>
>> Three endemic taxa listed as vulnerable (Green Rosella, Yellow Wattlebird
>> and Black Currawong) were encountered regularly, the latter forming flocks
>> around Sea Elephant. We made a brief attempt at finding the Critically
>> Endangered Scrub-tit in a small patch of unburnt vegetation at Nook Swamp
>> without success.
>>
>> Two of us also saw the most difficult 'plastic' on the island to see
>> (Californian Quail) as one scurried across the road behind a group of Brush
>> Bronzewings that we were admiring on the road to Sea Elephant.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Mick Roderick
>>
>> Links to lists mentioned above:
>>
>> Fauna of King Island:
>> http://www.kingisland.net.au/~naturalresources/publications/KIFauna.pdf
>>
>> Birds of King Island Checklist:
>> http://www.kingisland.org.au/ClientFiles/KI%20Birds%20checklist.pdf
>>
>> Other Bird Species Recorded on King Island:
>>
>> http://www.kingisland.org.au/ClientFiles/KI%20Birds%20checklist%20-%20additional%20vagrant%20and%20rare%20species.pdf
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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--
John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net
"I rejoice that there are owls." Thoreau
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