Great read Frank .. what a way to spend xmas.Jude> >
> > A very different Christmas as I showed Noah Strycker around for 2.5
> > days. For those who don't know, Noah has been doing a big year and
> > has been birding every day since January 1st. See his blog at
> > http://audubon.org/noah His goal was for 5,000 species for the year,
> > but he was on 5,949 and heading towards 6,000!! I had met Noah
> > earlier in the year as he was part of the Rockjumper Bird Tours
> > extension to Shiripuno Lodge in the Amazonian rainforest in SE
> > Ecuador (where it rained, and rained, and rained and the river rose 9
> > feet and trees were falling over!!!).
> >
> > I had hoped that I could show him 60 or more species. But he did
> > exceptionally well in Queensland (Cairns, Brisbane), Melbourne and
> > Tasmania. And he changed from the original 3.5 days to 2.5 days. So
> > the final list of possibles were 53, but many of these would need
> > exceptional luck. I made a guess on the percentages and came out with
> > 31.6 (call it 32). His flight from NZ was 40 minutes early, which
> > then raised Western (still Rufous in Clements terminology) Fieldwren
> > to almost a certainty so 33 would be par.
> >
> > So on Christmas Eve I picked him up at the Perth International
> > Airport and we were away at 13:30. We had 400+ kms to go to Payne's
> > Find on the Great Northern Highway. It was windy, and we saw very
> > little. At New Norcia the Western Corellas were in force posing for
> > photographs, and shortly after an Australian Ringneck (Port Lincoln
> > Parrot in Clements terminology) flew across the road, and then we
> > drove past some Black-faced Woodswallows (how did he miss that in the
> > east?). With the extra time available I went up the southern entrance
> > towards Charles Darwin Reserve to bird in the Unallocated Crown Land
> > south of CDR. Western (Rufous) Fieldwren was quite easy as expected
> > and Redthroat responded to give good views. But no Black-eared
> > Cuckoo, Black-breasted Buzzard, Malleefowl, Southern Scrubrobin,
> > Southern Whiteface, White-fronted Honeyeater, Tawny-crowned
> > Honeyeater that could have been possible. The wind! We continued to
> > Payne's Find arriving at 20:30. No Spotted Nightjar in the dark.
> >
> > Christmas Day. The first I have spent birding. We were off at 05:00.
> > Windy! We stopped at the grid at the 7km mark on the Sandstone Road.
> > Nothing calling!!! But we did track down the White-browed
> > Treecreeper and a bonus of a group of Slaty-backed Thornbills. No
> > Southern Whiteface!!! No Black-eared Cuckoo. We continued to the
> > Warne River crossing 50km east of Payne's Find. Again silence along
> > the river. No water there at all. It looked like it hasn't rained
> > here for a long time. Chiming Wedgebill eventually called and we had
> > very poor views. No White-fronted Honeyeater (or any of the nomadic
> > honeyeaters). Little Crow was a bonus. I have seen them there in the
> > past, but I missed them in May when I was last there, so I thought we
> > might miss this. And Splendid Fairywren was there. Things were going
> > very poorly. Then some birds flew and bingo! Fantastic views of
> > Bourke's Parrots and Mulga Parrots and Noah spotted a female Crimson
> > Chat walking on the ground. No Southern Whiteface, Black-eared Cuckoo
> > or Red-backed Kingfisher.
> >
> > We headed back towards Payne's Find. A single eucalypt was flowering
> > so I did a quick U turn. Nothing in the tree. But then the magic call
> > of White-fronted Honeyeater. I thought that had got away. Several
> > more stops along the way but still no Black-eared Cuckoo or Southern
> > Whiteface. Got some more Slaty-backed Thornbills! SBTs but no SWs?
> > Crazy. We then visited the old mine next to Payne's Find to look for
> > White-backed Swallow. Stewart Ford said his team had them there on
> > the Twitchathon in mid November. Little Woodswallows (but he had seen
> > one outside Brisbane) were nice to see in the pit, and there were
> > some Fairy Martins flying around (but he had seen those). But no
> > White-backed Swallows. But we did get one Southern Whiteface in a
> > mixed flock of thornbills.
> >
> > We then headed south on Maranalgo Road to my Grey Honeyeater
> > site.Terry Witt (from the US) had been there there in the past
> > fortnight and had seen Grey Honeyeater and Major MItchell's Cockatoos
> > along the road. I have seen Ground Cuckooshrike, Budgerigar,
> > Red-backed Kingfisher, Orange Chat, Black Honeyeater, Pied
> > Honeyeater, etc along this road in the past. But we struck out. Yes,
> > the wind! And the exceptionally dry conditions. So we added 13
> > species we wouldn't get out of Perth. I had expected 15+ and I was
> > hoping for 20+.
> >
> > I considered heading back to Perth via Beacon and Wongan Hills, but
> > being Christmas Day I was worried about whether we could get fuel. My
> > turbo diesel Subaru Forester has exceptional range (900km+), but it
> > would be marginal to make it back to Perth especially with the wind
> > reducing the fuel efficiency. So we headed back to Wubin. No
> > Black-breasted Buzzard, Regent Parrot, Major Mitchell's Cockatoo,
> > Red-backed Kingfisher or Black-eared Cuckoo. No fuel in Wubin, but
> > relief with fuel in Dalwallinu. So we headed for Wongan Hills. The
> > birdswa email list had given me information about sites there for
> > White-backed Swallow and Southern Scrubrobin and I have seen
> > Purple-gaped Honeyeater at Ballidu in the past. Just north of Ballidu
> > Noah spotted some swallows. A quick U turn and yes there was a pair
> > of White-backed Swallows. I always think these are wonderful when I
> > see them. No Purple-gaped Honeyeaters in the mallee across the road
> > from Ballidu. And then we visited several sites around Wongan Hills.
> > Reynoldson Reserve had a flock of White-backed Swallows (20+!!). I
> > have never seen them in a flock before. But no matter where we looked
> > there was no Southern Scrubrobin. Fabulous habitat for them in many
> > places, with the poorest habitat at Mount Matilda which was a site
> > given to me where they would be near the car park. We finally
> > admitted defeat and headed for Perth via Goomalling and Toodyay
> > arriving after 20:30. So the total was 17 species, but this included
> > some we would see around Perth.
> >
> > Boxing Day and we left before 05:00. First stop was the Anstey Keane
> > reserve off Armadale Road. A good site I was told for Tawny-crowned
> > Honeyeater, and Robyn Pickering gave me an excellent mud map. The
> > wind! No TCHEs. But a pair of Elegant Parrots flew overhead, and as I
> > was getting into the car I heard what sounded like Regent Parrot. We
> > walked back along the road, and yes there were two Regent Parrots in
> > the trees. I missed this on my recce the previous weekend, so a
> > bonus. I checked out the heath on Stirling Road but it had been
> > burnt, and the banksia woodland at the NE of Forrestdale Lake. No
> > Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. But as we started off, Noah spotted some
> > cockatoos. We tracked them down at the end of Moore Street and a
> > group of Carnaby's Black Cockatoos were feeding busily in a couple of
> > pine trees.
> >
> > Next was Admiral Road. No Western Wattlebird (but they would be easy
> > later) and no Baudin's Black Cockatoos which I had heard the previous
> > week. Did I mention the wind? A quick stop in Bungendore SF to lock
> > in Western Yellow Robin and Western Spinebill. The latter proved
> > difficult. It called but didn't give us any views. Varied Sittella
> > was good to see, but Noah had seen this in PNG (Clements doesn't
> > split Papuan Sittella). So we stopped next at the Gleneagle Rest Area
> > to see the spinebill. I had struck out there on the recce. But a
> > different story this time with Western Spinebill and Gilbert's
> > Honeyeater very easy. And Western Whistler, but Clements has yet to
> > split this. And then we heard Baudin's Black Cockatoos fly past.
> > Heard is good enough for the twitch. Next stop was Wearne Road off
> > the Albany Highway just north of North Bannister. I had never birded
> > here, but I know that several teams start here for the Twitchathon.
> > So Robyn Pickering gave me an excellent mud map for the area, and I
> > visited here on the recce the week before. An excellent site that I
> > will continue to visit. Western Thornbill was fairly easy on the
> > drive in. Scarlet Robin is a potential split so one for Noah's bank.
> > The birding was harder than the recce (and no not because of the
> > wind!) but we did get the target Rufous Treecreeper, Yellow-plumed
> > Honeyeater, Red-capped Parrot, Blue-breasted Fairywren and Western
> > Rosella. We also saw Gilbert's Honeyeater, Hooded Robin, Rufous
> > Songlark, Carnaby's Black Cockatoo. But we missed Crested (Western)
> > Shriketit and Painted Buttonquail. I had seen the CST on the recce.
> >
> > Next we drove to Dwellingup to my Twitchathon site on River Road.
> > Very quiet for the first few minutes. Where were the Western
> > Wattlebirds that were abundant the week before? And the Red-winged
> > Fairywren and White-breasted Robin that had been waiting for me the
> > week before on the recce? And then it happened in quick succession.
> > Red-eared Firetail flew across the road. Western Wattlebird flew into
> > a tree just up the road. A party of Red-winged Fairywrens worked
> > their way along the side of the road for Noah to photograph. And two
> > White-breasted Robins stayed inside the vegetation but gave good
> > views and Noah got a photo. And then two Red-eared Firetails flew up
> > onto the power line for Noah to photograph.
> >
> > 11:30 and we had seen all the certainties. So where to now? Out of
> > the way but the decision was Collins Road off the Brookton Highway.
> > This was a site I regularly visit, but it had been quiet the two
> > times I visited this year, except for Crested Shriketit which I got
> > both times, and Painted Buttonquail had been common back in April. We
> > headed down the escarpment to Pinjarra and headed north on the South
> > West Highway to Armadale. I hoped to jag a Square-tailed Kite along
> > the way but no such luck. Then out along Brookton Highway. Again no
> > luck with STK. We got to Collins Road at 13:00. For the first 40
> > minutes we did well with Western Yellow Robin, Rufous Treecreeper,
> > Yellow-plumed Honeyeater, Rufous Songlark, Blue-breasted Fairywren
> > etc but none of these were new. We had just found some fresh
> > buttonquail platelets when a Crested Shriketit did something they
> > very seldom do. It gave a single call. This lack of calling is part
> > of what makes them so hard to locate. We moved to roughly where we
> > thought it had called, played the call and bingo!! There it was. And
> > a second bird called in the mid distance. And this was the middle of
> > a warm day (32C)! We returned to the area of platelets and it wasn't
> > long before Noah flushed a Painted Buttonquail.
> >
> > 14:00 and what to do now? We could stake out Victoria Dam and hope a
> > Square-tailed Kite flew over, and at dusk we could go to Lake
> > Joondalup and hope for a Black-backed Bittern to call. Both a long
> > way from being certainties. We could revisit Anstey Keane for a
> > second try at the Tawny-crowned Honeyeater. But this is a
> > Twitch!! So let's head east to look for Southern Scrubrobin,
> > Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Purple-gaped Honeyeater and maybe even a
> > Malleefowl. In retrospect not the best decision, given the very dry
> > conditions and the stiff breeze. We made it to Corrigin where we
> > stopped in many places that looked excellent for Southern Scrubrobin,
> > and where I have seen that and Tawny-crowned Honeyeater in the past,
> > and one site that had potential for Purple-gaped Honeyeater, and one
> > site with some flowering poker grevilleas (White-cheeked Honeyeater
> > but no Tawny-crowned). But it was to not to be. Fuel could again be
> > an issue returning to Perth, but we managed to refuel at Corrigin. It
> > was after 17:00 and it would have been 18:30 by the time we made it
> > to Hyden so we turned around and tried several more excellent sites
> > for Southern Scrubrobin without success. We returned to Perth. Still
> > no success with Square-tailed Kite along Brookton Highway, but we did
> > see three Baudin's Black Cockatoos at Roleystone. It was last light
> > as we went along Armadale Road. I have done Western Ground Parrot
> > surveys and heard Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters calling until the very
> > last light, so we revisited the Anstey Keane Reserve. Excellent
> > conditions with no wind. But no Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters.
> >
> > So the total was 35 species. Not bad and better than par, but I was
> > hoping for 40+. But wait. I checked my email at 22:00 last night just
> > before heading for bed and with many thanks to Ross Jones he reported
> > Tawny-crowned Honeyeater at Kensington Reserve. Noah had an 08:30
> > departure, so plenty of time to have a look on the way to the
> > airport. Bingo. There it was sitting on top of a flowering banksia.
> > So the final total was 36 bringing his year total to 5,985. With a 7
> > hour lay over in Singapore (where Con Foley will show him around),
> > and then 3 days in north east India near the Burma border, he should
> > comfortably make the 6,000.
> >
> > If we had the extra day that he had planned, I would have stayed an
> > extra night at Payne's Find and spent a day birding north to Mt
> > Magnet and Cue, or maybe we could have visited Kirkalocka Station.
> > Hopefully we would have got Western Quailthrush, Orange Chat, Banded
> > Whiteface, Western Bowerbird, Red-backed Kingfisher and we would have
> > had chances for Budgerigar, Diamond Dove, Slender-billed Thornbill,
> > Spotted Nightjar, Black-breasted Buzzard, Black-eared Cuckoo, Grey
> > Honeyeater, Little Buttonquail. But he needed to average 13.7 a day
> > for 5,000 and 16.5 a day for 6,000 so he almost certainly made the
> > right decision.
> >
> > A different time of year would have helped. In May I had Black
> > Honeyeater, Black-eared Cuckoo, Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, Ground
> > Cuckooshrike, Black-breasted Buzzard and Budgerigar in the area. And
> > I would have contacted Charles Darwin Reserve for permission and we
> > might have seen Regent Parrot, Southern Scrubrobin, Major Mitchell's
> > Cockatoo, Black-eared Cuckoo, Budgerigar, Crimson Chat and Malleefowl
> > could also have been a chance.
> >
> > The biggest difference would be to have had a good season. It has
> > been a very bad season and conditions were very dry. A good season
> > would almost certainly have added 3 to 6 species.
> >
> > But on the plus side we had reasonable temperatures. The three days
> > before had been 39C in Perth, and today is forecast to be 36C. We had
> > high twenties and low thirties which were pleasant. Although lighter
> > winds would have made it easier. Boxing Day morning was cool early on
> > and we needed light sweaters.
> >
> > It was fun and a very different way to spend Christmas. We travelled
> > over 2,000kms in the 2.5 days!! Good luck to Noah for his final few
> > days. I look forward to the book.
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Frank O'Connor Birding WA
> > http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
> > Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
> > <javascript:>
> >
> >
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