Great report, James, and should be very helpful to David and Greg.
Just a couple of little extra notes.... It should make much difference to
anyone trying to find it, but it's actually Mt Wellington, not Ellington, and
I'm guessing the "Olive-tailed Thrush" is Bassian Thrush?
Also, Forty-spotted Pardalotes CAN be found (though increasingly rarely) on the
'mainland', without going to Bruny Island (though it's certainly worth going
there if you can manage it). The best 'mainland' colony (though as I say, in
fairly severe decline) is at Peter Murrell Reserve, near Kingston. The easiest
way in to where they are is to turn into Huntingfield Ave, just south of the
large Roundabout at the Antarctic Division HQ. Abut three quarters of the way
down Huntingfield Ave, there is a large Vodapohone (or other telco?) warehouse
on the left (business may have changed, but building should still appear on
detailed maps). Take the narrow little lane beside that building down to a
parking spot for the reserve at the end. Walk in and around the ponds,
searching for 40-spots in the trees. As I say, used to be very reliable there,
though they are declining.
Otherwise, Bruny Island is the best bet. Much of the Island, though Northern
end is generally best - where James said, or seach any Euc. viminalis stands
around the road either side of the north end of the Island. They're also
recorded from the south of the Island, but I think the north is probably the
best bet.
Happy searching,
John Tongue
Ulverstone, Tas.
On 18/08/2011, at 4:04 AM, James Holmes wrote:
> Dave,
>
> My father and I did a trip to Tasmania in December 2009. We got
> Orange-bellied Parrot and all the endemics in 1 day (although I would advise
> alloting more time than 1 day as we were very lucky). We arrived on the
> evening of Dec 5 and departed on the afternoon of Dec 8, birding all day Dec
> 6, 7 and morning of Dec 8.
>
> We spent the night of Dec 5 in Kingston (SW of Hobart) because there were no
> hotel rooms available in Hobart. We started very early on Dec 6 and went up
> Mt. Ellington targetting Black Currawong because we were worried about
> missing it on Bruny Island (more difficult on Hobart in summer?). We had 7
> on the road (this was early in the morning and we were the first car up).
> It was cold and we only spent a short time on Mt. Ellington but we also saw
> Olive-tailed Thrush, Green Rosella, Pink Robin, Tasmanian Scrubwren,
> Scrubtit, Tasmanian Thornbill.
>
> We quickly drove back down from Mt. Ellington and over to Cambridge and took
> a flight with Par-Avion http://paravion.com.au/ to Melaleuca. They flew us
> roundtrip from Cambridge to Melaleuca and we spent most of the time in the
> hide (weather was poor with rain and wind) successfully looking at
> Orange-bellied Parrot and Beautiful Firetail. Upon arriving back at
> Cambridge, we drove Backhouse Lane (about 1km west of the Cambridge airport)
> as there are some ponds that had ducks/swans. With the recent problems for
> the Parrot, I would recommend making sure that the birds are being seen
> regularly at the feeder before going because the flight is very expensive.
>
> We then went to Kettering where we caught the ferry to Bruny Island. After
> arriving on Bruny Island, we drove up towards Dennes Point and got the
> Forty-spotted Pardalote at an area ~3km south of Dennes Point where they
> were doing some clearing on the west side of the road (There is a sharp turn
> at this point, and you can actually see the clearing on Google maps. I have
> it as 7.4km north of Bruny Island main road on way to Dennes Point).
>
> We then drove to the south end of the island, birding along the way and
> getting the rest of the endemics (Dusky Robin at Bruny Neck Game Reserve,
> track to Cape Queen Elizabeth). We spent the night in Adventure Bay. We saw
> the penguins and shearwaters coming in to roost at dark (Bruny Neck game
> reserve, narros spit on the west side of Adventure Bay, signs show the
> spot). The first penguins came out at 9:27pm on Dec 6. The next morning,
> we got Black Currawong again on the road south out of Adventure Bay, just as
> it starts to climb up Mount Mangana. We ultimately went back to the
> mainland and birded around Hobart until we left on Dec 8.
>
> Feel free to ask me any questions and I am happy to send you a trip list if
> you wish.
>
> Jim Holmes
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of
>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 4:21 AM
> To: Greg Little
> Cc:
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] OBP RFI
>
> Hi all,
> Don't mean to hijack your thread Greg, but I am also contemplating a trip to
> Tassie over summer primarily to see the OBP. (I haven't birded TAS before so
> all the endemics will be worth the trip too!) What would be the best time to
> go down to Melaleuca with a view of seeing/photographing them? I would have
> 4-5 days max in the state.
>
> Any thoughts/tips would be appreciated!
>
> Cheers
> Dave
>
> On 17/08/2011, at 7:22 PM, Greg Little wrote:
>
>> Gooday BA
>>
>>
>>
>> My wife and I would like to see the Orange-bellied Parrot and were
>> hoping to fly down to Melaleuca and see them at Christmas time.
>> However, circumstances have changed for us and we were hoping maybe we
>> could see them somewhere south of Melbourne around the third week of
>> September instead. Can someone please tell us if the OBP is likely to
>> be still in that area at that time and where we might be able to have
>> a chance of seeing them, off line if preferable. Also if someone is
>> happy to come with us and show them to us on the day we would be happy to
> pay for lunch etc or whatever is necessary.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>>
>> Greg Little
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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