Jawoyn traditional owners would not be happy with that plan.
I learned how to watch birds (and other fauna) as a small child, going on
long walks with an adult Aboriginal friend. We'd listen and watch and wait.
And I employ similar tactics whether hunting with my Bininj relatives,
carrying out biological surveys or guiding birders in the Top End (which
I've done since 1983). I mention these techniques in "Birds of Australia's
Top End" (2000, 2005).
Last year, a woman in her late sixties, told me how she gone looking for
White-throated Grasswren, with her husband and son at a particular place I
use ( not Gunlom). I described the sort of habitat to look for, and while
the men went off searching for the bird, she sat quietly on a rock in the
shade. And it was the old lady (to use a Bininj term of respect) who saw
the wrens, three of them. They paid absolutely no attention to her, and she
had a great view.
One December, Michael and I had a similar experience, but this time a male
stood not three metres from us, calling his little heart out.
--
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
1/7 Songlark Street, Bakewell NT 0832, AUSTRALIA
Ph. 61 08 89 328306
Mobile: 04 386 50 835
Birdwatching and Indigenous tourism consultant
PhD Candidate (Southern Cross University, NSW)
Interpreter/transcriber, Lonely Planet Guide to Aboriginal Australia
Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia
http://www.denisegoodfellow.com.au
http://www.earthfoot.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baby-dreaming
www.fatbirder.com/
For copies of Birds of Australia¹s Top End or Quiet Snake Dreaming, visit
amazon.com
http://www.facebook.com/Wildlife.Tourism.Australia
http://wildlifetourism.org.au
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him
to hold in higher regard those who think alike
than those who think differently."
(Nietzsche)
on 16/7/11 9:43 AM, Dave Torr at wrote:
> But what is the secret to getting a deck chair and an esky up Gunlom - do
> you have to use porters or have them dropped in by helicopter?
>
> On 16 July 2011 09:17, Shirley Cook <> wrote:
>
>> How often have we heard the story about the person who stayed in camp for a
>> cuppa, read a book, smoke, etc. who had the elusive bird stroll past them,
>> while the others were bush-bashing to find it??
>>
>> Regards
>> Shirley
>>
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