Yes - Scythebill for sure, for all the reasons listed by Steve! Easy to use
and promptly updated with changes in taxonomy. Your life list will expand or
shrink before your very eyes!
Simon
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Sent: Saturday, 20 February 2016 4:00 AM
To:
Subject: Birding-Aus Digest, Vol 28, Issue 15
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Today's Topics:
1. BirdLife Victoria Portland Pelagic Trips in the second half
of 2016 (Chris Lester)
2. Re: More on Cape York Subspecies and Rarities (Mike Carter)
3. How to compile a world Bird List (Rob Gully)
4. Re: How to compile a world Bird List (Richard Johnstone)
5. Eurasian Hobby (Frank O'Connor)
6. Re: How to compile a world Bird List (Graeme Stevens)
7. Re: How to compile a world Bird List (Steve Clark)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 14:13:14 +1100
From: Chris Lester <>
To:
Subject: BirdLife Victoria Portland Pelagic Trips in the
second half of 2016
Message-ID:
<CAArR6tE4-VKMVabhNwqA=>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Dear Pelagic Birders,
The BirdLife Victoria web site (see link below) has the details of boat
trips from Portland in 2016 and I am now taking bookings for the second six
months of this year.
If you want a spot (or spots), please follow the instructions there to make
a booking. I also have some spots available for the remaining trips in the
first half of 2016 and am interested to hear from people who might want to
join us on them.
Regards
Chris Lester
For details of future Portland trips, go to the BirdLife Australia web site
at the bottom of the relevant Birdlife Victoria page at
http://www.birdlife.org.au/locations/all-victoria-statewide/activities-vic
For reports of past BA-Vic and BirdLife Victoria trips from Portland and
Port Fairy, search the Birding-Aus archives for the trip reports at
http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/birding-aus/
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:40:38 +1100
From: "Mike Carter" <>
To: "'Tim Siggs'" <>, "'Lloyd Nielsen'"
<>
Cc: <>, "Rohan Clarke"
<>, "George Swann of Kimberley
Birdwatching"
<>
Subject: More on Cape York Subspecies and Rarities
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Yes Lloyd, I too found your comments on Collared Kingfisher, i.e. the
Australian Torresian Kingfisher Todiramphus sordidus very interesting. They
are timely and pertinent to a claim just submitted to BARC on a nominate
race Collared Kingfisher T. chloris seen on a Kimberley Birdwatching Trip
last November on Browse Island, WA. Not only do we have three breeding
subspecies in Australia but at our northern extremities we have as rare
visitors at least 2 (possibly 4) taxa of the now widely split Collared
Kingfisher.
Mike Carter, 03 5977 1262
181/160 Mornington-Tyabb Road
Mornington, VIC 3931, Australia
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Tim Siggs
Sent: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 8:22 PM
To: Lloyd Nielsen
Cc:
Subject: More on Cape York Subspecies and Rarities
Hi Lloyd, your comments on the Collared Kingfisher are interesting. In 2014,
I filmed them in the tropics and noted the massive Bill. On my return, I
compared them to footage of Collared Kingfisher in SE Queensland and the
difference was even more pronounced that I had thought.
This and your other observations and comments are really interesting, as
always.
Tim Siggs.
On Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 10:59 AM, Lloyd Nielsen <
> wrote:
> A bit more to add to the recent discussion about Wet Tropics/Cape York
> subspecies and rarities.
>
> I had John Young look at the boobook photo taken on Mt Lewis by Josh
> and his mates and he was satisfied that it was lurida. Even though the
> quality of the photo was not the best, jizz and markings were right
> for lurida in his opinion. He also said there did not seem to be any
> indication of ocellata in the plumage, despite the quality of the
> photo. Further, he is confident it is a fairly young bird - even
> younger
than I would have said.
> He said that whitish under the throat indicates a young bird and that
> they lose that after a while. The fact that the bird did not move
> probably indicates a young bird as well for lurida is often very
> skittish and can be very difficult to get sight of.
>
> I also asked him about the probable difference in breeding seasons of
> lurida and ocellata and he agreed with my experience. He has found a
> number of nests of lurida over the years, all in November, and more of
> ocellata which were in the early to mid dry season - up until about
> August-September. This would mean that it could be difficult for
> hybridisation to take place. His opinion is that when one form is
> brooding eggs, the other would probably have large young on the wing
> or vice versa and then be in a different stage of moult. Like myself,
> he has never seen any indication of hybridisation in lurida and both
> of us doubt that it takes place, or if it does, very rarely. If there
> was hybridisation, we should be seeing in-between birds from time to
> time but we aren't. All are fairly standard lurida. There seems to be
> some small differences, probably between sexes, and we think possibly
> age variation as well. Young birds differ slightly again. We suspect
> this may be the reason people are seeing "hybrids". Young lurida are
> on
the wing right now (January-February).
>
> One is a rainforest bird and subject to rainforest conditions while
> the other is an open forest bird and subject to very different
> conditions, more so here in the tropics. Seasons in the tropics (just
> two - the Wet and the
> Dry) can be very harsh and distinct. Even the eggs of lurida are quite
> noticeably different in size and texture from the other two races of
> Boobook. If there is extensive hybridisation, we have yet to be convinced.
> I have been recording sound in September-October just as the breeding
> season commences when birds are quite vocal and all sighted have been
> normal lurida. We have both spent more time in those forests than most
> people, both by day and by night, myself on Mt Lewis and John in the
> Wallaman area.
>
> I did not ask him about race boobook which seems to replace ocellata
> in the very southern part of the Wet Tropics but the chances must be
> that it is similar to ocellata in its breeding in these tropical areas.
>
> Another interesting bird from the tropics - Rogers Pipit (race rogersi
> of Australian Pipit - Anthus australis) inhabits mostly the estuarine
> and saline flood plains in a fairly narrow strip right across the
> tropics from about Lakefiled NP on Cape York to NW WA. Simpson & Day
> show its range well. It seems to be habitat specific and never seems
> to occur away from that habitat. It is worth looking for it on Nifold
> Plain in Lakefield NP or Marina Plains to the north-east on Cape York
> Peninsula where it is fairly common. When you see it, you wonder what
> you have got - heavily spot-breasted, long-legged, a different jizz
> from australis (more upright) and noticeably darker plumage. The first
> time I saw it, I thought I had a vagrant species from Asia or
> elsewhere. It does look like a distinct species but it needs someone
> to do some work on it in the future to arrive at the correct answer.
> The race closest to it superficially is exiguus from the highlands of
> New Guinea according to Schodde & Mason in their Directory.
>
> I have never seen it south of Nifold but Tony Ashton photographed a
> bird south-east of Ingham from similar habitat a short while back,
> which appears identical to the birds from Nifold and Marina Plains. So
> there could be an isolated population in the Ingham area. If so, it
> would be an extension of known range. I included it in my Wet Tropics
> book mostly to entice people to watch for it and to create some
> discussion. Where one gets Zitting Cisticola on the short-grassed
> marine plains, I would be looking for this Pipit. Their habitat
> preference
is similar.
>
> Another which needs to be looked at more closely is the Collared (now
> Torresian ?) Kingfisher group (within Australia). Despite what
> genetics might say, if the southern race colcloughi is not a different
> species from northern sordidus I will give up birding! I haven't seen
> the recent paper by Anderson and others but in the field colcloughi is
> so obviously different from the tropical sordidus which inhabits the
entire Wet Tropics.
> When I was guiding 15 years and more ago, people who were familiar
> with southern colchloughi were always amazed at the difference when
> first seeing sordidus. They usually doubted that it was a Collared
> Kingfisher. When I lived behind the Gold Coast in southern Queensland,
> one would sometimes have to look at a bird about the mangroves several
> times to decide whether it was a Sacred or a Collared. One doesn't
> have to do that in North Queensland where they might come together -
> the
difference is very obvious.
>
> Colcloughi is a much smaller and perhaps daintier (different jizz)
> bird with a proportionate bill while sordidus is noticeable larger
> (contra Bergman's rule), sturdier, almost lanky with a very obvious
> large, disproportionate bill. Some males have an almost massive bill.
> I have played sound of colcloughi in territories of sordidus without a
response.
> However, play sordidus sound within a sordidus territory and the
> reaction is immediate. David Hollands has photographs of sordidus
> (taken at
> Innisfail) in his book Kingfishers and Kookaburras. Compare them with
> photos of birds taken in southern Queensland.
>
> Our race of Bassian Thrush (cuneata) also needs attebtion - another
> which defies Bergman's rule.
>
> Lloyd Nielsen
> Mt Molloy Nth Qld
> www.birdingaustralia.com.au
>
>
> <HR>
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------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 17:00:39 +1100
From: "Rob Gully" <>
To: <>
Subject: How to compile a world Bird List
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
After 50 years of birding I've decided to compile a world bird list. Having
looked what software's available on the internet it looks a daunting task to
enter numerous old bird lists on programs available. Any suggestions as to
what is the simplest way to compile suc a list.
Rob Gully
0434 140 880
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 19:03:16 +1100
From: "Richard Johnstone" <>
To: "'Rob Gully'" <>
Cc: <>
Subject: How to compile a world Bird List
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hello Rob.
I did the same thing about 3 years ago when I received a hard copy of
Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. I had a whole lot of lists from
different places and manually put them into Clements, which also lists
subspecies, so subsequent splits are visible fairly easily. I then manually
put all of them from Clements onto an excel spread sheet, and update it
whenever I see a new lifer. Obviously it also counts the number of species,
which was what I wanted to know. I am going on a trip to Thailand tomorrow
so I am hoping to be able to add quite a few in when I get home in 3 weeks.
Taxonomic differences between lists are up to you to accept or reject as you
see fit, although many people will follow a particular authority. If I think
I am familiar enough with groups of species I just make the decision myself,
I don't actually refer to IOC or any other authority, although I think it is
interesting to check. In October I saw Black-chinned Whistler in Halmahera,
which some authorities still have lumped with Golden Whistler, but I decided
when I saw it that it was a new species to me (if Black-tailed Whistler is
separated and looks almost identical to Golden, then Black-chinned has to be
different, it is so unlike Golden). On the other hand if it was a
Phylloscopus warbler I would have absolutely no opinion on the taxonomy.
I am sure this is a clunky way of recording all my lifers, but it works for
me.
Cheers, Richard.
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Rob Gully
Sent: Friday, 19 February 2016 5:01 PM
To:
Subject: How to compile a world Bird List
After 50 years of birding I've decided to compile a world bird list. Having
looked what software's available on the internet it looks a daunting task to
enter numerous old bird lists on programs available. Any suggestions as to
what is the simplest way to compile suc a list.
Rob Gully
0434 140 880
<HR>
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<BR>
<BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
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</HR>
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 18:45:35 +0800
From: Frank O'Connor <>
To: "birdswa Google Group" <>,
Cc:
Subject: Eurasian Hobby
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Just back from Broome from the wader expedition. The hobby was found the day
I flew to Broome (Saturday 6th) so I hadn't had a chance to look for it. I
was at the airport when I got the tweet. Exhausted this morning so I slept
in, but I went to South Lake (southern suburb of Perth) to look for the
hobby this afternoon. I got there at 15:10.
Rob (? sorry didn't quite get your name in the wind) had been there from
13:00 without success.
South Lake is a place I know very little about, so I spent a little time
looking around to get my bearings. Rob left at 15:30. I spent 10 minutes
sitting and then 5 minutes walking along the track. At 16:04 I was about 150
metres from the gate on North Lake Road and heading back when the hobby
flashed through very fast. Not a very satisfactory view, but hopefully it
would return. I spent another 10 minutes looking around but it hadn't flown
back through. So I sat down again. At 16:18 it flew almost overhead and hung
around the area for about 4 minutes before it climbed very high and flew
north probably going over Adventure World. I felt like Bill Lawrie at the
MCG. GOT HIM!! :-) :-) :-) I waited until 16:45 and then left.
An amazing selection of raptors for the Perth metro area.
Black-shouldered Kite, Collared Sparrowhawk, Square-tailed Kite and Little
Eagle.
Now if the Kamchatka Leaf Warbler would hang around until next weekend
......... I missed it yesterday when I returned from Anna Plains Station at
lunch time. I looked for it for two hours in the heat of the day.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA
http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 17:38:50 +1100
From: Graeme Stevens <>
To: Rob Gully <>, ""
<>
Subject: How to compile a world Bird List
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Thanks for that question Rob and I will also be keen to have the invaluable
advice of the list!
Retirement looms, expeditions have been numerous and the pile of notebooks
mounts! Including from the years living in HK and Malaysia.
How many have I seen? No idea.
The pleasure from revisiting those experiences and compiling a list looks
very tempting (but once completed how to keep up to date with the splits and
lumps?)
Indeed valuable to know what others do if the time can be spared.
Graeme Stevens
> From:
> To:
> Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 17:00:39 +1100
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] How to compile a world Bird List
>
> After 50 years of birding I've decided to compile a world bird list.
> Having looked what software's available on the internet it looks a
> daunting task to enter numerous old bird lists on programs available.
> Any suggestions as to what is the simplest way to compile suc a list.
>
>
>
> Rob Gully
>
> 0434 140 880
>
>
>
> <HR>
> <BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
> <BR>
> <BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
> <BR>
> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
> </HR>
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 22:29:10 +1100
From: Steve Clark <>
To: Graeme Stevens <>, Birding-Aus
<>
Subject: How to compile a world Bird List
Message-ID:
<>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
G'day all
This issue becomes more difficult the longer you leave it. My list has
evolved through dBase, Wings and now Scythebill over nearly 30 years. The
beauty of all of these and other systems is that they were all able to
import from and export to a standard spreadsheet file (e.g. Excel).
Starting from scratch I would now strongly recommend Scythebill for many
reasons. It is in active development, handles Clements and IOC taxonomy inc.
subspecies, can import and export eBird files and is updated quickly when
taxonomy changes. It is also free and in the public domain so if the author
lost interest tomorrow others could continue the development.
It also works with Macintosh, Windows and Linux computers.
I'm a big fan!
I realise it can be daunting when one has several decades of records but
starting today with Scythebill is better than stuffing around with a
spreadsheet system.
http://blog.scythebill.com <http://blog.scythebill.com/?m=1>
Cheers
Steve Clark
Hamilton, Victoria
On Friday, 19 February 2016, Graeme Stevens <> wrote:
> Thanks for that question Rob and I will also be keen to have the
> invaluable advice of the list!
> Retirement looms, expeditions have been numerous and the pile of
> notebooks mounts! Including from the years living in HK and Malaysia.
> How many have I seen? No idea.
> The pleasure from revisiting those experiences and compiling a list
> looks very tempting (but once completed how to keep up to date with
> the splits and lumps?)
>
> Indeed valuable to know what others do if the time can be spared.
>
> Graeme Stevens
>
>
> > From: <javascript:;>
> > To: <javascript:;>
> > Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 17:00:39 +1100
> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] How to compile a world Bird List
> >
> > After 50 years of birding I've decided to compile a world bird list.
> Having
> > looked what software's available on the internet it looks a daunting
> task to
> > enter numerous old bird lists on programs available. Any suggestions
> > as
> to
> > what is the simplest way to compile suc a list.
> >
> >
> >
> > Rob Gully
> >
> > 0434 140 880
> >
> >
> >
> > <HR>
> > <BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
> > <BR> <javascript:;> <BR> To change
> > settings or unsubscribe visit:
> > <BR>
> > http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
> > </HR>
>
> <HR>
> <BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
> <BR> <javascript:;> <BR> To change
> settings or unsubscribe visit:
> <BR>
> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
> </HR>
>
------------------------------
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