(Probably time to change the subject heading ......? as this no longer
has anything to do with Night Parrots ...)
Tony Russell wrote : (referring to irresponsible birders / maybe
twitchers)
>Oh yes, and to our exclusion from Price Saltfield and the
difficulty of
>accessing Alice Springs, Mt Isa, Broome and most other sewage ponds
Not to
>mention the access restrictions placed on other Evaporation areas
around the
>country
I think that Tony has got it wrong about Broome, and perhaps the
others? ...
In the old days (early 1990s), there was only official access to the
Broome sewage works from outside the fence. However, if people were
working there, you could usually ask if you could come inside the
fence, and permission was usually granted. However, there weren't the
high bunds that are now there, so with a scope it was relatively easy
to scan all the ponds from outside the fence, and especially the
overflow section at the back. A few locals were given keys to the
gate.
The change to access seemed to coincide with the concern about public
liability. My understanding is that this is when keys were no longer
given out. Then over the years the ponds expanded as Broome rapidly
expanded, and it became more difficult to see many of the ponds. I
have never heard it mentioned that birders, and especially
'irresponsible' birders or twitchers had anything to do with the
restrictions.
There is still a track around the outside fence, and by standing on top
of your vehicle (e.g. the tray of a ute) you can still see the better
ponds.
I believe that access to the Derby sewage ponds has a similar history.
There are tracks outside the fence (at least the last time I was there
about 5 years or so ago), and you can still walk around the overflow
area out near the mudflats. They did build a viewing platform for the
main ponds, but I understand that this has now been removed, from my
understanding because it was getting old and risked breaking, and
because of public liability it was easier to remove it rather than
repair it.
There was a case at the Kununurra sewage ponds about 15 years ago.
Birds Australia WA (as known at the time) with me as the author
published a Birding Sites around Kununurra brochure, nominating the
ponds as an excellent site to visit. Someone tied a chain to the gates
and the back of their vehicle and pulled the gates down! This was
blamed on 'birders' and because of the brochure. There was never any
evidence of this, and I would be totally staggered if a birder did
this. You can easily see the ponds from outside the fence.
In Western Australia, it is quite difficult to access many of the
lighthouses in the south west which tend to be good seawatching sites.
Again, I believe this is due to public liability concerns rather than
'irresponsible' birders, and definitely nothing to do with twitchers.
Yes. I understand that people (mainly birders?) doing the wrong thing
is the reason given for being denied access to the Price Saltfield near
Adelaide, and Koonchera Sand Dunes / Goyder's Lagoon on the Birdsville
Track. But not by being 'irresponsible' birders or twitchers, but by
being bad drivers and getting bogged necessitating the locals having to
rescue them, and the locals getting fed up with this. And I have heard
the details of people (yes probably birders but were they twitchers?)
trespassing to see the Red Goshawk at Mataranka. And the group who
visited the Princess Parrots a few years ago without getting the entry
permit (but I heard that this group - or one of the groups - was an
overseas bird tour company and not Australian 'twitchers').
I am a twitcher. Number 6 in Australia I think. I think of all the
twitches that I have done. Black-headed Gull / Blue & White Flycatcher
/ Semipalmated Plover / Franklin's Gull / Red-throated Pipit, Rosy
Starling / Lesser Black-backed Gull / Chinese Pond Heron / Red-rumped
Swallow / Tricolored Grebe (all Broome), Fairy Pitta (Derby),
Red-legged Crake (Whim Creek), Black-tailed Gull (Geraldton), Eurasian
Wigeon (Carnarvon), Northern Pintail (Mandurah), Javan Pond Heron /
Tricolored Grebe (Darwin), Laughing Gull / Slaty-backed Gull (Cairns /
Cooktown), American Golden Plover (Sydney), Stilt Sandpiper / Northern
Shoveler (Werribee), Hudsonian Godwit (Price Saltfields), Forest
Wagtail (Alice Springs), Cape Gannet (Portland), Red-billed Tropicbird
(Lord Howe), Lesser Yellowlegs (Northern NSW), South Island Pied
Oystercatcher (Ballina). The only bird I can remember flying
specifically because of my presence was the Chinese Pond Heron and
probably the South Island Pied Oystercatcher, and the Northern Pintail
swam behind reeds. The crake walked 6 inches past my foot! Too close
to photograph. The RR Swallow flew over my head as I stood there. The
Forest Wagtail walked two metres in front of me. The AG Plover and JP
Heron landed less than 10 metres in front of me. Then there are all the
birds on Cocos & Christmas Islands. Yes birds flush there, but they
would do anyway as people walk past the trees or drive / walk along the
roads. Twitchers are a very valuable source of income for these
islands. Twitching is mostly about finding a good site to view from
and being patient waiting for the bird to show. On Ashmore Reef we
have walked through the grass and around the pisonia trees and some
birds do flush, but that is the last thing you want. You aim to get a
good view of the bird. If it flushes you don't see what it is.
So like Kevin, Tony P and others I get very offended when 'twitchers'
always seem to be lumped in with 'irresponsible' birders. 9/10 on the
'Satanic' scale!!! by one ignorant person (just behind poachers). I am
sorry, but the general public are usually the worst offenders. Feeding
bread to ducks, driving on beaches, letting their dogs chase the gulls
and other birds ('they are only gulls so what is the problem? .....'),
destroying sand dunes with their 4WDs, disturbing nests, bush bashing,
.... General birders are far worse than twitchers because they are
always on the move and disturb many more birds.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA
[1]http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
References
1. http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au/
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