Hi All.
In a prolonged fit of enthusiasm, and time to devote to "Finding the
Night Parrot", including a trip to the Wolf Creek meteorite crater with a like
minded group of experienced birders after a supposed sighting there a few
years ago, I looked into the possibility of using dogs. The idea was to spend a
month or three driving along the margins of the Percival Lakes and other lake
systems, with the dogs quartering the extensive succulent fields and shrubbery
that straddle the lakes.
One of the problems with the usual hunting dogs was whether they would
be up to the conditions, eg heat and the terrain. Walton did not mention
whether his dog actively sought out and flushed the NPs, whether it was just an
accidental flush, or what breed of dog it was. Any suggestions as to
best breeds for the job anyone?
Otherwise, motion sensitive cameras are now reasonably inexpensive, and
and an expedition equipped with a bulk buy of say fifty or a hundred of them,
placed next to dams or along lakes across a wide area should eventually turn up
a NP or two. That strategy would best wait for the next drought.
When and if I retire, our search for the NP is still on the agenda.
Lots of logistical problems though, one of which could be obtaining permits
from the traditional owners to search on their land.
Considering the interest and effort put into finding the
most-likely-extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the USA, the NP is certainly
still out there, and really warrants a serious search. Maybe we need another
(or the same) Dick Smith to get really into the idea. The possibility
of catching a pair of NPs and establishing a captive breeding and release
population in one of our zoos might appeal to the public at large, and could be
the basis for an appeal to support a serious expedition.
Cheers
Michael
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