Tweet of the Week

 

A little star in the Milky Way.⁣
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🐤 Painted Finch (F8, 1/1600, ISO640)🐤
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The Mowanjum Community of North West Australia call finches wirrirri jirri, the 'little stars in the Milky Way'. I just LOVE that! #birds #birdsoftwitter #australianbirds #paintedfinch #birding pic.twitter.com/QHT970VJ8v

— For the Love of Birds (@GeorginaSteytl1) June 19, 2021

 

Morrison Government caught out attempting to retrospectively censor native bird export information

The Guardian, 4 April 2019:

The Australian government has attempted to retrospectively censor critical information related to exports of rare and exotic birds to a German organisation headed by a convicted kidnapper, fraudster and extortionist.

Guardian Australia revealed late last year that Australia had permitted the export of 232 birds, some worth tens of thousands of dollars, to the Brandenburg-based Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) between 2015 and November 2018.

Conservation groups and federal politicians had repeatedly expressed concern about the group, which is headed by Martin Guth, a man with multiple criminal convictions.

The Guardian’s investigation relied on internal government documents secured through freedom of information laws, released in August.

Guardian Australia made subsequent freedom of information requests and received further documents in January. But the federal department of environment has now attempted to retrospectively redact parts of the documents, saying it accidentally released information it shouldn’t have.

Some of the inadvertently released information could “facilitate fraudulent export applications”, the department said. The department had also accidentally released “personal information, such as birth dates and name, and confidential business information”.

The department has asked Guardian Australia to destroy its copies of the documents, and not further disseminate the newly redacted details.

“While we understand that the FOI decisions have already been made, and that you are under no obligation to follow the department’s wishes, we kindly request that you either: destroy the documents that the department has previously released to you and instead, use the redacted documents attached to this letter; or otherwise ensure that the information in question … is not further disclosed or made publicly available,” the department said in a letter emailed to the Guardian on Wednesday, but dated last month.

The documents have not been published on the department’s online FOI disclosure log. The department’s stance suggests that other parties – journalists or conservation groups, for example – would be subject to the newly introduced redactions if they requested the same documents.

Freedom of information experts say the government’s actions have “no legal basis”……

The new redactions remove details that made it possible for Guardian Australia to establish that the operator of ACTP’s Netherlands facility was convicted in 2015 of involvement as a buyer in a trading ring that was illegally selling protected exotic birds.

The department has also removed identification numbers for the birds that were exported to Germany, arguing that its original decision to release that information could lead to “fraudulent” exports of Australian birds overseas.

It has also blacked out permit numbers from the export permits issued in Australia, the names of individuals who operate other ACTP facilities in Germany and in other countries, and removed information relating to ACTP’s exemption status from corporate tax.

The redactions remove images of ACTP’s main breeding facility and maps that illustrate its layout.

In recent months, Guardian Australia has been trying to establish whether the department undertook adequate due diligence to ensure that all of the birds sent to ACTP were legally captive bred.

But the department has refused to release names of suppliers in Australia that would show the chain of custody for each of the birds before they were exported to Germany. Those details were redacted from FoI documents released to the Guardian in January and from documents tabled after an order for the production of documents in parliament.

Attempts by government agencies to retrospectively recover or redact FOI documents have previously been found to have no lawful basis under NSW freedom of information law. Landcom, the NSW government’s land and property development organisation, attempted to retrieve documents it had accidentally released to a school committee group in 2005, and took its case to the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal.

The tribunal found it had no power whatsoever to retrieve previously released FOI documents.

Yet another Frydenberg ministerial blunder disclosed which is still reverberating

The Guardian, 11 December 2018:

The Australian government has permitted the export of hundreds of rare and endangered parrots to a German organisation headed by a convicted kidnapper, fraudster and extortionist, despite concerns the birds could be sold at a huge profit.

An investigation by Guardian Australia has revealed that the Berlin-based Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots received permission to export 232 birds between 2015 and November 2018 – more than 80% of all the live native birds legally exported from Australia in the same period.

The exports include threatened species such as Carnaby’s and Baudin’s black cockatoos, worth tens of thousands of dollars each.

The head of the ACTP, Martin Guth, has multiple criminal convictions, including a five-year jail sentence for hostage-taking, extortion and attempted fraud in 1996. In 2009 Guth was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for seven cases of fraud. In one incident Guth kidnapped two men and threatened to cut their fingers off unless they paid a large sum of money.

A six-month Guardian investigation has found:

·    Export permits for Australian birds specified they were for exhibition purposes only, but ACTP has no facility that is freely open to the public.

·    Export permits prohibited the sale of the birds or their offspring, but private messages on social media reveal native Australian birds apparently from ACTP have been offered for sale for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The German federal agency for nature conservation has said it was aware of those offers.

The Australian government was repeatedly warned of concerns about ACTP by international wildlife authorities, private breeders and the government MP Warren Entsch.

International conservation bodies and scientists have raised questions about the organisation’s activities in other countries, including Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Brazil.

ACTP does not publish its financial records and is not registered with any major international zoological association.

Concerns about ACTP in Australia were raised with the former environment minister and now treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, and the office of the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, as well as the environment department. But the government has continued to allow the exports. The latest shipment of 64 birds to ACTP was approved on 12 November.

In December 2017 the government brokered a deal with ACTP that involved the organisation giving $200,000 to the Western Australian government for projects to protect the endangered western ground parrot.

In response to questions from Guardian Australia, the office of the threatened species commissioner, Sally Box, said no such deal would have been reached had it known of Guth’s record…..

Guth’s criminal convictions do not relate to his involvement with ACTP. But the investigation raises serious questions about the oversight of exports of native species from Australia, and the due diligence conducted by international wildlife authorities on a group that has acquired one of the largest collections of rare and endangered parrots in the world.

The Australian parrots, which were bought openly and legally by ACTP from local breeders and birdkeepers, were exported after the environment department agreed to recognise the organisation as a zoo in 2015.

Documents show ACTP obtained a licence to operate as a zoo in Germany in 2014, only months before its application to Australian authorities.

The organisation told the Australian government it ran numerous centres in Germany. None are freely open to the public. Its main premises at Tasdorf, a village 30km outside Berlin, displays no public information other than a mobile phone number. Its location is not advertised and the buildings display no opening hours nor any other indication that the public is welcome to visit….

Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) has confirmed to Guardian Australia it was aware that glossy black cockatoos imported from Australia by ACTP had been offered for sale. It said it had looked into the offers and found the birds had been legally imported and bred, and there were no limits on trade.

But under the terms of ACTP’s Australian permits, the animals and their offspring could only be moved to recognised zoos…. [my yellow highlighting]

Just because it is beautiful.....(36)

Red-winged parrot

Aprosmictus erythropterus
Male

Native to northern Australia and New Guinea

The male is bright lime green with black back,deep blue rump & yellow tipped green tail

Female .has a smaller wing patch, dark green back and a paler rump

Photograph by David Marle

via @ParrotOfTheDay

Speak Up for Battery Hens Before It's Too Late: NSW Government taking submissions on Model Code of Practice for Poultry until 26 February 2018

AAP MediaNet Release:

15 Feb 2018 4:00 AM AEST - Australians Urged to Speak up for Battery Hens Before it's too Late

15 February, 2018

Australians Urged to Speak up for Battery Hens Before it's too Late

Australians are being encouraged take part in a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help end the cruel use of battery hen cages by making a submission to the poultry code review.

With polls indicating 84% of Australians believe that battery cages should be banned, it's alarming that 11 million hens still suffer in cages in Australia today.

Deemed cruel and unacceptable in many other countries including Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the entire European Union, Australia is now lagging behind the rest of the world by continuing to allow the use of battery hen cages.

The reasons to act now and make a submission to the poultry review are clear. Battery hens in Australia are permanently locked in small cages, denied the freedom to walk around and stretch their wings for their entire life. Furthermore, scientists estimate that four in five caged hens suffer from crippling osteoporosis due to the conditions they are forced to live in.

Setting the standard for the treatment of farmed birds, the review of the Model Code of Practice for Poultry is now open for public consultation. But the process hasn't been without scandal, with documents acquired under the Freedom of Information Act indicating collusion between the egg industry and the NSW Government to ensure battery cages remain in use.

With industry interests dominating the agenda, now is the time for the public to raise their voices for animal welfare standards to reflect community expectations.

"This is the first time in 17 years that the laws that allow cage egg farming have come under review. Currently, more than 90,000 Australians have made a submission through the Animals Australia website, which is staggering. It's already the biggest response to a public consultation for farmed animals that Australia has ever seen. This demonstrates the depth of concern in the community about this issue," said Animals Australia's Campaign Director Lisa Chalk.

The expectations of the community have changed significantly within the last decade, with many consumers already voting with their wallets. Most Australians no longer buy cage eggs and while major companies such as Woolworths, Aldi, McDonald's, Subway, Hungry Jack's, Arnott's, Nestle and Heinz are removing cage eggs from their supply chains, cage egg corporations are still permitted to operate in Australia.

Cage egg farming in Australia is dominated by three multi-million dollar corporations whose combined annual revenue is over half a billion dollars. They can well afford the 2.5 cents per egg it would cost to give hens a better life.

With support for cage egg farming waning, some egg producers are now looking to export cage eggs overseas. A legal ban on battery cages would ensure Australian hens aren't condemned to suffer in cages to lay eggs for other countries. 

    

"Australian Governments like to project the nation as a world leader on animal welfare but in reality, Australia is lagging well behind other developed nations, particularly in failing to acknowledge the unacceptable cruelty caused by battery hen cages," said Lisa Chalk.

"What we have before us is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure a better life for millions of animals."

The poultry code review provides a rare opportunity to secure a legal ban on the cruel and archaic battery hen cage. Running until February 26, the public consultation process enables everyone in the community to join well-known Australians - Judith Lucy, Mick Molloy, Sam Pang and Lehmo - to be part of history in the making and help free hens from cages.

Submissions take only a minute and can be made by visiting AnimalsAustralia.org before February 26th.

Video and images are available for download at:

http://animalsaustralia-media.org/uploads/caged-hen

Submissions can be made via email or post. 

Please email submissions to publicconspoultry@animalhealthaustralia.com.au 

Or 

Post submissions to: Animal Welfare Standards Public Consultation PO Box 5116 Braddon ACT 2612

Just because it is beautiful.......(34)

Sulpher Crested Cockatoo

Cacatua galerita

Image: Clement Tang

This large parrot’s range extends throughout the northern and eastern mainland, andTasmania. A small population has become established around Perth, WesternAustralia. The species also occurs in New Guinea and the Aru Islands, and hasbeen introduced into New Zealand and Indonesia.

Frequently kept as a pet by Australian families.

Quotes of the Week

“I once refused to feed a cockatoo that showed up on my third-floor balcony and tapped the window with a distinct air of entitlement. In retaliation it slowly – and with constant eye contact – picked up my shoes one by one and threw them over the edge. Cockatoos are arseholes – HD.” [Guardian Staff at The Guardian, 24 October 2017]


“After losing the prime ministership, Tony Abbott bunkered himself in the prime minister's office for three days and three nights without emerging. To Malcolm Turnbull and his team, increasingly frustrated as they tried to move into the prime ministerial suite and establish an executive government, it was evidence of a mad king who couldn't accept the reality of his downfall.” [Journalist Peter Hartcher writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 October 2017]

“It's not the cost, the annoyance of a byelection, the stupidity of people not knowing their own citizenship status or the uncertainty over who should be in Parliament. In the end, it's the arrogance of our MPs that really gets you. The sheer sense of entitlement that takes your breath away.” [Journalist Judith Ireland writing in The Sydney Morning Herald on the MP dual citizenship issue, 2 November 2017]

Be a hero - save an endangered Swift Parrot family today

Swift Parrot

Lathamus discolor
Psittacidae

Critically endangered (Australian federal listing)

IUCN Red List

Image: Geoffrey Dabb/ Canberra Birds

Swift Parrots breed only in Tasmania and then fly across Bass Strait to forage on the flowering eucalypts in open box–ironbark forests of the Australian mainland. While on the mainland, they are nomadic, spending weeks or months at some sites and only a few hours at others, determined by the supply of nectar. [Birdlife Australia]

                                     

https://youtu.be/s0vQKseZfgs

Go to https://pozible.com/project/operation-pko to donate

ABC News, 18 October 2017:

The parrots are nomadic and eat nectar, travelling in flocks to nest near flowering eucalypts.

"This year, all their food is on the east coast of Tasmania, and that area is full of sugar gliders," Dr Stojanovic said.

"We're very concerned that all the birds we bred on predator-free islands last year, will end up nesting on the mainland in sugar glider habitat and be eaten."

With the help of an electrician, Dr Stojanovic has designed "a possum-keeper-outer" nest boxes, with a door to close behind the parrot once darkness fell.

"Effectively, it's just a little motor and a light sensor," he said.

"As soon as it's daytime the sensor automatically detects that there's ambient light and it will open to release the parrot to go about their business….

Dr Stojanovic said previous research had shown the possums could eat parrots "within a couple of days" of the bird laying its eggs.

"About half of the female swift parrots that nest on the mainland of Tasmania each year end up being eaten by sugar gliders," he said.

"It can be a really severe rate of predation."

Dr Stojanovic said the crowd-funding protection measures were needed due to ongoing deforestation of the swift parrot habitat, by logging.

Just because it is beautiful.........(32)

Gang-gang Cockatoo

Callocephalon fimbriatum

(male)

Found from southern Victoria through south- and central-eastern New South Wales

Vulnerable species in NSW

Image via @theleast

Just because it is beautiful......... (28)

Raven Rendezvous 2016

by

Shane Lamb

FineArtAmerica

Common Raven

Corvus corax

Found across the Northern Hemisphere

Croak and deep, gurgling call

Australian Swift Parrots Update

https://youtu.be/YctKVI7Yr7E

Look at the birdie. Smile!

Photograph by ABC News journalist Nick Wiggins

The Bush Stone-curlew, or Bush Thick-knee, is a large, slim, mainly nocturnal, ground-dwelling bird. It is mostly grey-brown above, streaked with black and rufous. It is whitish below with clear, vertical black streaks. The bill is small and black, and the eye is large and yellow, with a prominent white eyebrow. Both sexes are similar. Young Bush Stone-curlews are similar in appearance to the adults, but are paler, and a little browner in colour. Bush Stone-curlews are nocturnal birds (night birds), doing all their feeding and other activities at night. 

If Bush Stone-curlews are nearby you may hear their eerie, high-pitched wailing at night. This ghost-like call is their contact call, and may be given by several birds in a chorus. Rendered as weer-lo, it is repeated four or five times, sometimes culminating in a trilled, screeching crescendo. It is sometimes also heard during the day, when stone-curlews are usually inactive, standing quietly in the shade with their eyes half-closed, or squatting on the ground where their cryptic plumage makes them difficult to see among the leaf litter. 

Listed as Endangered in New South Wales and Victoria. [Birdlife Australia]

The story of how this photograph came about can be found here.

Just because it is beautiful........(20)

The lyrebird from Australia can mimic virtually any sound that it hears, including children's toys,chainsaws and the calls of other animals! pic.twitter.com/bg57Hlokz7

— Strange Animals (@Strange_Animals) November 26, 2016

Just because it is beautiful........(16)

Listen to the nocturnal solo song of a Pied Butcherbird (with another Pied Butcherbird and an Australian Magpie in the background), recorded by Hollis Taylor near Trephina Gorge in Western Australia in August 2016. [http://www.audubon.org/]

Click on link to listen: http://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/eathan_-_trephinagorgehollistaylor2016b-2.mp3

Just because it is beautiful......(10)

Male Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus)

Australia

Stocktake of waterbirds in eastern Australia has shown the lowest breeding level on record

ABC News 27 December 2015:

A stocktake of waterbirds in eastern Australia has shown the lowest breeding level on record.

The annual aerial survey, conducted by the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of NSW, confirmed a dramatic long-term decline in the number of waterbirds.

Director Richard Kingsford said that over 33 years of counting, average numbers had fallen more than 60 per cent.

The trend continued in 2015 with a further drop compared to the previous three-to-five-year period.

"This is the second lowest number of waterbirds we've seen in that 33-year period and it's symptomatic of the real impacts of this drought that's occurring across the eastern half of the continent," Professor Kingsford said.

The survey covered all the major rivers, lakes and wetlands from Queensland down through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, including the Murray-Darling Basin and the Riverina.

The team found the Macquarie Marshes and Lowbidgee wetlands were only partially filled, most rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin were also relatively dry, with little wetland habitat on their floodplains, and all the large lakes in the Menindee system were dry.

The Lake Eyre and Cooper Creek wetlands were mostly dry except for a small area to their east, while important wetlands in the Lake Eyre Basin including Lakes Galilee, Yamma Yamma, Torquinnie and Mumbleberry were dry.

Waterbirds were concentrated in relatively few important sites, with only four wetland systems holding more than 5,000 birds: Lake Killapaninna, Lake Allallina, Paroo overflow Lakes and Coolmunda Dam.

Most alarmingly, the total breeding index of all 50 species combined was the lowest on record and well below the long-term average……

Professor Kingsford said climate change also needed to be taken into account.

"For these wetlands, they rely on that water staying around so animals and plants can go through their life cycles, but if you've got less of the water actually coming in at the top end and when it gets to the wetland there's a high evaporation rate then it's really challenging in the long term as well," he said.

"So a whole series of targets have been set and the big challenge is: did we get enough water for the environment over the next 15 to 20 years?"

He warned that if the regulators did not find the right balance, the wider community would pay a hefty price.

"We know in the millennium drought, for example, when there wasn't enough water for the Lower Lakes and the Coorong, governments had to put their hands in their pockets to spend $2 billion to actually rescue that system," Professor Kingsford said.

"We currently have a dredge parked in the mouth of the River Murray which is trying to keep it open — a service that the environment used to do for nothing, and that's costing taxpayers up to $100,000 a week."

He said the birds were a barometer, indicating declining health of the whole ecosystem.

University of NSW, Centre for Ecosystem Science, Aerial Survey of Wetland Birds in Eastern Australia - October 2014 Annual Summary Report

Blogging the 2015 Aerial Survey.

Click on the survey route to read a blog post or the arrow button on the top lefthand side to access the list of blogs.

The lowdown on Frogmouths

Painting of Tawny Frogmouth by Prue Sailer

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner on 15 September 2014:

Frogmouth, not owl

THERE have been a couple of photographs of tawny frogmouths on page 2 of The Daily Examiner in recent days with them being called owls.

Frogmouths are not owls, despite their nocturnal habits and when examined closely can be seen to be quite different to owls.

Owls catch their prey with their feet (talons), frogmouths have weak feet and catch their prey with their large broad bills.

Their large mouths are similar to the large mouths of frogs, hence the name frogmouth.

The scientific name of the tawny frogmouth, our local representative (there are other species in Australia and other parts of the world), is Podargus strigoides. 'Pod' means foot and 'argus' means weak.

So if they were owls they would starve because they wouldn't be able to use their feet to catch prey.

They are like nocturnal kookaburras in the way that they hunt.

The broad mouth is a throwback to a time when their ancestors hunted for flying prey, hence the broad mouth like those of swallows and dollarbirds.

Other differences with owls are that frogmouths have longer tails and the eyes are set more to the sides of the head, unlike owls which are at the front of the head.

Frogmouths don't 'hoot' or call like the southern boobook's 'boo-book', but make a machine-like repeated 'oom'.

Dr Greg P. Clancy

Coutts Crossing

The Great Coastal Emu Hunt 6-7 September 2014 Clarence Valley & Bungawlbin

Birdlife Australia’s NSW and ACT Twitchathon - 26-27 October 2013

NEWS RELEASE

 Birdlife Australia’s NSW and ACT Twitchathon  - 26-27 October  2013

Founded in 1901, Birds Australia, now Birdlife Australia, is Australia's oldest national conservation organisation, dedicated to the study and conservation of native birds and their habitats.   To assist the organisation in raising some of its funds, it conducts a Twitchathon on the last weekend of October each year.

Over the past sixteen years, birdwatchers all over NSW and the ACT have formed into teams and raced about NSW and the ACT to find as many species of birds as possible over the 24 hour Twitchathon period. Each member of the team has found sponsorship from friends, family, colleagues or corporations for each species of bird seen or heard by each team.  It has become an extremely competitive race and enormous fun!   Team members have won some fantastic prizes, which have been sponsored by very supportive corporations and individuals.  They have raised funds for projects associated with endangered species such as the purchase of trailer and watering units for the Capertee Regent Honeyeater Volunteer Operations Group, as well as equipment for both the Educational Units at Gluepot Reserve SA & the Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park.  Funds have been provided for the Hunter Shorebird Roost Site Protection Project, Gosford’s Friends of the Bush Stone-curlew, the Kangaroo Island SA Glossy Black Cockatoo Conservation Project and the Murray Valley Bush Stone-curlew Captive Release Project, and monitoring by volunteers of the NSW Important Bird Areas.  Last year we provided funds for a project to increase both the area and connectivity of native habitats in the Cowra District, which is located on the Central Tablelands of NSW, c.100 km south west of Orange NSW and 317 km west of Sydney.  In the last three years, approximately $24,500 was raised each year for the projects outline.

This year’s Twitchathon aims to continue the support given in the 2011 Twitchathon to the Powerful Owl Project.  It is intended that the additional funds will enable Birdlife Southern NSW to extend the project for a third breeding season.  The Powerful Owl Project features the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)  in the Greater Sydney region, with new information collected, analysed and displayed on the new, interactive Birds in Backyards (BIBY) website.  The Powerful Owl serves as a focal point for the collection of new information on all nocturnal bird species.  The aims of this project are to stimulate and harness community interest in this iconic Australian species so that, for the first time, an accurate assessment can be made of its population size, distribution and breeding success in the Sydney region.  Project Officer, David Bain, advises that the Powerful Owls are now well into breeding season with a number of owls known to be on the nest with eggs.  Chicks will be starting to emerge soon and with over 120 volunteers between Wollongong and Newcastle now involved with the Project, he expects that we should get a greater understanding of what is happening this season.  Excitingly the project is partnering with Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre and Taronga Zoo to provide a Powerful Owl education program to schools in the northern suburbs of Sydney.  In other exciting news there is a nestCAM up and running – check it out at http://birdsinbackyards.net/Powerful-Owl-NestCAM.

Twitchathon 2013 aims to raise about $30,000 to assist this project.

So watch out for your local Twitchathon team and follow them through this fun event – watch them “twitch” about in rainforests, swamps, grasslands, woodlands, sewerage works, backyards and river estuaries, intensely listening, and desperately searching, for the most or the rarest species.  Experience the excitement of “ticking” and “dipping” on the birds, the desperation to win, the thrills, the spills of this great weekend adventure!   The teams could be competing in 40° temperatures or during a thunder storm but they will stick firmly to the Twitchathon Rules! They’ll never give up the thrill of the chase during the race because so many $’s are at stake!  Teams are not just competing for the highest score, but for the most dollars raised prizes or even the Lucky Twitcher’s Prize. 

You can also sponsor a few dollars to your local team by contacting:

Alan Morris     Tel (02) 43342776  Email: a.morris42@optusnet.com.au

Your local Twitchathon team is the Black-necked Stalkers (Greg Clancy, Gary Eggins, Russell Jago).                  

Their local bird club is the Clarence Valley Birdos

See you on the Twitchathon trail???

For further information contact : Alan Morris, Twitchathon Coordinator

Birdlife Australia Southern NSW Group Sydney

Tel 02 4334 2776

Email: southernnsw@birdlife.org.au

Black-necked Stalkers Twitchathon Report (part 3 - final)

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 

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak AT gmail.com.au for consideration.