I am sure any twitcher has missed a few. My biggest are :
1. I recently went to 80 Mile Beach south of Broome and missed the
Nordmann's Greenshank. This was a WA, Australian and life (in that
order) dip for me, and a wader which are among my favourite families.
2. I flew to Cairns (from Perth) to go to Cooktown for the
Slaty-backed Gull but 400mm of rain closed Cooktown. I was
successful two weeks later.
3. I have driven to Busselton (~3 hours) and Geraldton (5+ hours) and
failed to find Grey Heron (in Sean Dooley's big year). A WA and
Australian dip.
4. I was helping on the annual February wader count on Rottnest
Island several years ago, when a Ringed Plover was seen on the count
near Preston Beach (1+ hours S of Perth). It was seen again on the
Sunday, but had gone by early Monday when I tried. A WA and Australian dip.
5. I drove to Greenough River (5- hours N of Perth) and dipped on the
Grey Phalarope seen two days earlier. A WA, Australian and life dip.
But then I think of all the successes and think I have been very
lucky. Fairy Pitta, Red-legged Crake, Sabine's Gull, Semipalmated
Plover, Red-throated Pipit, Franklin's Gull, Black-tailed Gull,
Lesser Black-backed Gull, Kelp Gull, Northern Pintail, Eurasian
Wigeon, Latham's Snipe, Chinese Pond Heron, Rosy Starling, Grey
Wagtail all in WA. Laughing Gull, Lesser Yellowlegs, American Golden
Plover, Stilt Sandpiper, South Island Pied Oystercatcher, Northern
Shoveler, Javan Pond Heron, White (Black-backed) Wagtail, Hudsonian
Godwit, Forest Wagtail, Grey-headed Lapwing, Tricolored Grebe (Little
Grebe at the time), Tiger Shrike, Eurasian Teal and Red-billed
Tropicbird elsewhere in Australia. And then being lucky to be in the
right place at the right time for Blue & White Flycatcher, Eurasian
Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Little Stint, Blue Petrel, Red-rumped
Swallow, South Polar Skua, White-tailed Tropicbird, Sooty Albatross,
Grey Petrel, Oriental Reed-warbler, Arctic Warbler, Forest
Kingfisher, Tricoloured Grebe, Black-naped Tern, Leach's
Storm-Petrel, White Wagtail all in WA.
Twitching is a very different type of birding. It teaches you
patience, being thorough, knowing what you are looking for, learning
its habits, etc. Plus you get time to look at all the other species
while searching for the target, while all the time knowing that it
may no longer be there ...
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
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