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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