On to the wetlands in the Tullymorgan area picking up those
elusive White-winged Choughs on the way and a nearby immature White-bellied
Sea-Eagle soaring overhead. A Wonga Pigeon was at its expected location
and then four adult Brolgas were first heard and then seen on a property near
the Clarence Broadwater. An adult and three nestling Black-necked Storks
were on the nest in that area and an Azure Kingfisher was observed partly
obscured by creek side vegetation. They can be difficult to find on a
Twitch in our area even though we have a few possible locations for them.
A stop at some eucalypt forest produced a Jacky Winter and then three raptors
were seen firstly by Russell. One was an adult Pacific Baza (you
beauty!!!) and the other two were Wedge-tailed Eagles (which had been listed
the day before). The Pacific Baza had eluded us on a number of
Twitchathons, one year being seen 20 minutes before the start time but not in
the ensuing 24 hours so we were very happy to tick this beautiful raptor
species. We did see one in 2011 though. Glossy Ibis were at the
wetland where I had seen them the previous Thursday and although already
recorded the sight of over 200 Whiskered Terns at this location was very
impressive. A wetland at Lawrence produced the first Red-kneed Dotterels
seen in the Valley since the big wet inland and Pink-eared Ducks were present
and had ducklings in tow. A pair of Yellow-billed Spoonbills was
present amongst the hundreds of Royal Spoonbills and Australian White
Ibis. A group of seven Yellow-billed Spoonbills was later seen on
Woodford Island and nearby a Pallid Cuckoo flew over the road. The cuckoo
was our first for the season and made species number 201 at 1239 pm. The
‘chuk chuck’ call of the Cicadabird was heard at Tyndale and Gary
wondered if Russell and I were delusional until it did its more typical
cicada-like call. Russell spotted a kingfisher on the top of a dead tree
and said that it looked like a Forest Kingfisher. We had checked out a
number of kingfishers during the day hoping to tick off the Forest but they had
all been Sacred Kingfishers. This one however was a Forest Kingfisher -
great. A stop at Glenugie State Forest with its wonderful Large-leaved
Spotted Gums and Grey Box trees produced the Fuscous Honeyeater, Brown
Treecreeper and an adult female Brown Goshawk sitting on a nest. The
Brown Falcon that I had seen at a wetland near Coutts Crossing a few days
earlier was still present and made bird number 209. The location where we
usually get Weebill and Speckled Warbler produced only a few species that we
had already tallied as these two species were absent. No new birds were
added during the last 30 minutes at this site so our final total was 209,
putting us in fourth place out of 17 teams. Where were the Yellow-tailed
Black-Cockatoos, the three Bronze-Cuckoos, Varied and White-winged Trillers,
Collared Sparrowhawk, Weebill and Speckled Warbler and all of those other
certainties that we missed? Oh of course it was Twitchathon weekend and the
birds knew it! A flock of 30+ Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos flew
over South Grafton on Monday and an adult male Collared Sparrowhawk was perched
in a eucalypt in our backyard on the same day. Anyway it is no good
dwelling on those birds that we missed as we really enjoyed those that we saw
or heard including the following threatened species: Coastal Emu, Black-necked
Stork, Eastern Osprey, Brolga, Sanderling, Comb-crested Jacana, Bush
Stone-curlew, Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher, Lesser Sand
Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Little Tern, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Glossy
Black-Cockatoo, Little Lorikeet, Ground Parrot, Masked Owl, Rufous Scrub-bird,
Brown Treecreeper, Grey-crowned Babbler, White-eared Monarch and Paradise
Riflebird as well as four threatened mammals – the Parma Wallaby, Long-nosed
Potoroo, Rufous Bettong and Humpback Whale.
Greg Clancy
Head Stalker
Black-necked Stalkers
Twitchathon Team
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