Nigel et al. - splendid field ornithological sleuthing of the highest
order. well done.
>We started planning our trip to look for the parrots in that particular
>area late last year (prior to hearing any of the calls out of Qld), so our
>search was not in response to the information released on the
>nightparrot.com.au website. However, we obviously took that information
>into account once it had been released, and had the Qld calls on hand
>during our search. Based on the released information that their peak calls
>times were often during the first hour after sunset and before sunrise, we
>thought the best way forward would be to spread out roughly 300m through
>old-growth (not recently burnt) ring-forming spinifex (roosting habitat)
>and listen for their calls from sunset onwards (like you do for ground
>parrots). The first night we happened to have put ourselves within the
>roosting area of some parrots, and we heard (likely) two individuals not
>too far away (about 200m). The following night we stationed ourselves
>closer to this area and heard even more individuals (at least 4, possibly
>6, and probably including the original 2 from the night before), with at
>least two very close (<10m!). At this stage, we still weren't completely
>sure that what we were hearing were Night Parrots, because although we
>didn't recognise the calls, they also didn't match the Qld calls. Where the
>bird was photographed the next morning was not in this particular area
>(where the calls had been heard), but nearly a kilometer away in an area we
>hadn't listened in previously. I sat in the area were we flushed the bird a
>couple of nights later, and heard 1-2 very close to me, as well as another
>2 slightly further away. One flew past my head in the twilight. So with
>the minimum of 4 birds (likely 6) heard at the first spot, and the minimum
>3 (likely 4) heard where the flushed bird was, there were at least 7 heard,
>but more likely closer to 10.
++++++++++++
Dr Lawrie Conole
Tylden Vic 3444
Australia
lconole [at] gmail.com
<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>
|
