Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Wednesday 21 November 2012
Black-necked Stalkers Twitchathon Report (part 2)
One spinoff from searching for nocturnal birds
is that you often see other fauna especially mammals. The only drawback
is that you can’t add them to the tally. We had great views of a
Long-nosed Potoroo at the base of the Gibraltar Range and two Rufous Bettongs
between the Range and Grafton. A young Parma Wallaby in the Washpool and
a third Rufous Bettong on the way to the coast were others seen. Dodging
large alpha male Eastern Grey Kangaroos on the road was also an entertaining
pastime which kept us on our guard. It was still dark when we left the
house on the coast north-west of Grafton the next morning. As we climbed
into the Land Cruiser we heard a Brush Cuckoo, our first bird of the day.
Off to the coastal heath where it was still very dark due to heavy cloud
cover. It wasn’t long though until we heard a Ground Parrot and also
ticked off White-cheeked and Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. Then to the
estuary where we were welcomed by a vociferous Leaden Flycatcher as we were
trying to identify a flock of small terns that weren’t right to be Little or
Common Terns. It turned out that they were Whiskered Terns, more common
in freshwater wetlands than estuaries in our area. A grey morp Eastern
Reef Egret, a Striated Heron and a diversity of shorebirds were added to the
list. Two small plump shorebirds took some time to identify as the
overcast weather made them look darker than normal. They were
Sanderlings, a species not usually found in this estuary. As we left the
estuary an Eastern Osprey flew over the road and brought the total to 141 at
6.17 am. At a small lake nearby a Swamp Harrier was observed and a pair
of Pied Oystercatchers was at their nest and at a rock platform two
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were the first seen by us for the season. A
large raft of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were foraging off the rocks but the
Australasian Gannet was nowhere to be seen. Four Coastal Emus were in a
cane paddock on the trip back to the Pacific Highway. As we disembarked
from the vehicle at the Iluka Nature Reserve we heard a monarch. Someone
called out Spectacled Monarch and we all agreed at first but then I the
realised that it was a White-eared Monarch and not a Spectacled Monarch.
We did add Spectacled Monarch as well as Regent Bowerbird and Large-billed
Scrubwren before leaving the rainforest for the estuary. At an inlet we
heard Mangrove Honeyeater and then on to Woody Head. The extremely high
tide meant that all of the shorebirds and terns were clustered together on rocks,
making it relatively easy to check them off. There were Greater and
Lesser Sand Plovers and Little and Common Terns, making 180 species at 9.39
am. To be continued.
Greg Clancy
Head Stalker
Black-necked Stalkers Twitchathon Team
Labels:
birds,
Clarence Valley,
environment,
flora and fauna
Friday 16 November 2012
Black-necked Stalkers Twitchathon Report (part 1)
Well Twitchathon time is never dull and this
year was no different. One scratching a few days before the race as our
scribe, Annette Harrison, became ill and a bushfire in the Gibraltar Range were
the only apparent negative issues. Everything else looked good.
There were birds everywhere and the weather was predicted to be cool, a relief
from the sometimes oppressive dry heat typical of Sunday afternoons on Twitch
weekends. The team comprised Russell Jago, Gary Eggins and myself.
Gary took over the role as scribe but was a participating scribe, meaning he
could call birds as well. We only needed two members to call each
species. We had agreed to stay completely within the Clarence Valley this
year which can be limiting. Three-thirty saw us standing at a wetland
near Grafton watching a Black-fronted Dotterel and two Comb-crested
Jacanas. Ten minutes before start time a male White-winged Triller lobbed
into a flowering Silky Oak. Russell was allocated to keep it in
sight. White-winged Trillers have been absent from the valley for a
couple of years so we wanted this one on our list. Four o’clock arrived
and we called Black-fronted Dotterel and Comb-crested Jacana but the Triller
had completely vanished. By the time we left this wetland eighteen
minutes later we had notched up 31 species. A good start. Wedge-tailed
Eagle was seen next followed by Plumed Whistling-duck and Musk Lorikeet.
The Musk Lorikeet was a real bonus as they had been absent from the Clarence
Valley for many months. They had only returned the week before the
Twitch. At Eatonsville we added 6 species including Grey-crowned Babbler
then back to the Gwydir Highway notching up Rainbow Bee-eater and Peaceful Dove
on the way. Between Eatonsville and the Gibraltar Range we added 23
species including Spangled Drongo, Little Lorikeet and Channel-billed
Cuckoo. Gibraltar Range was interesting with a shroud of smoke but
surprisingly we heard Paradise Riflebird and Wompoo Fruit-Dove in an area that
had been back burnt. The back burn was in a rather moist area and was
relatively cool and low so the damage to vegetation was limited. A stop
to confirm Brown Cuckoo-Dove also produced Green Catbird, Satin Bowerbird and
White-headed Pigeon and others. A toilet stop at a lookout added Bassian
Thrush as two were at the entrance to the toilet block. Our regular
Rufous Scrub-bird did not disappoint and a Superb Lyrebird was foraging on the
roadside nearby. The Noisy Pitta also called on cue and after a few
nervous minutes of waiting the two Glossy Black-Cockatoos turned up at their
usual location. We arrived at the Emu-wren site but the sun was
setting and the cool weather meant that most birds had shut down for the
night. Despite this we ticked off Southern Emu-wren, Variegated
Fairy-wren and New Holland Honeyeater. As darkness fell we heard
Australian Logrunner and shortly after a Southern Boobook was calling.
Nocturnal species are difficult to get but we were happy with Southern Boobook,
Eastern Barn Owl, White-throated Nightjar, Australian Owlet-nightjar, Masked
Owl, Bush Stone-curlew and Tawny Frogmouth as well as Eastern Koel and Latham’s
Snipe. By the time we went to bed at 1.30 am we had recorded 117
species. To be continued.
Greg Clancy
Head Stalker
Black-necked Stalkers Twitchathon Team
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Labels:
birds,
Clarence Valley,
environment,
flora and fauna
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