Twitchin' Knight Parrots

On the 30th of October at 3:50pm, Henry, Nathan and I arrived at Pitt Town Lagoon, staking out the area so that we could tick as many birds as possible at 4:00 and then leave. For those who don’t know it, we were about to start the annual NSW BASNA Twitchathon – a race to see or hear as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. None of us had participated in the Twitchathon before, and after having our most experienced birder, Max, snatched away from us by Grant for his team, the Dodgy Drongos (see The Twitcher blog), it was up to us, the Knight Parrots! As we were in the junior division, getting a big list of 200+ wasn’t really a priority, or even a possibility, considering we were only staying in Sydney (as opposed to others like the Macquarie Marshes to Hunter team).

So, back at Pitt Town, we found ourselves waiting with apprehension for 4:00. While walking down, we noticed a dark morph White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike (which flew off) and with 5 minutes to four, Henry and I both heard what we both immediately guessed to be a Stubble Quail. It only called twice, so our ID was unsure. With 2 minutes to go, we saw a Swamp Harrier, and hoped it would fly in circles for another 2 minutes. It didn’t. 4:00 arrived and I madly ticked off all the birds we could see on the lagoon. The Stubble didn’t call and the Harrier didn’t come back, so our list was devoid of them. Just before we got to the car, Henry saw the WBCShrike in a tree, so we added that to our list. We stopped off for a few minutes at the Wood Sandpiper spot, which we had checked out earlier on the way in. We couldn’t locate it again, but did add Black-fronted Dotterels.

We drove to Wilberforce Park, which had been put on our travel route by Max when he was still with us. Not sure why it was on there, because all we added was a Currawong and a Little Corella flying over… Bushell’s Lagoon was next, where we added Restless Flycatcher just after we got out of the car, as well as Goldfinches (lifer), Double-bars, Silvereyes, etc, etc.

On to the turf farms, which gave us some pretty good species, some of which we didn’t see for the rest of the twitch. Some good views of a Peregrine, a pipit and getting kicked off a private property trying to get into Bakers Lagoon were the highlights.

The travel times we had planned on where a bit long, so we finished at the turf farms about an hour early. We decided to go back to the Pitt Town area. We quickly got the Wood Sandpiper at his little pond, then drove over to Pitt Town Lagoon again, where we added Royal Spoonbill.

We drove back to our campsite (set up earlier at about 3:00), and tallied up the ticks to 69 species. We had a quick dinner (halfway through we heard a Kookaburra, which made us very excited) and headed off to Mitchell Park for some spotlighting.

On the way, we got Max’s text message, which told us they were on 110 species, which we laughed at, assuming that it would be close to our end total for the next day. At Mitchell, we walked all the way to the end of the park without seeing or hearing anything (despite my best Owlet Nightjar impersonations) Henry had more luck, as when he tried his best White-throated Nightjar impersonation, a Powerful Owl responded! We moved towards it, and despite about 30 minutes of coaxing it refused to come into a tree where we could see it, much to our disappointment. We moved away, thoroughly sick of not having seen anything and only getting 1 tick for the list. We then decided to “screw the Twitchathon” and use playback to try and bring in a White-throated Nightjar (not to add to the list, just to see because we all wanted that as a lifer). Unfortunately, no White-throated, but after playing the call a few times, we all got great views of an Owlet Nightjar, which didn’t fly off even when we were all within touching distance! We left it and walked back to the car, thoroughly pleased with our sighting, when another Owlet-nightjar called without the aid of callback. TICK!

We woke up at 5:15 the next morning, when it was still dark, and headed over to Mitchell Park again for the dawn chorus. Luckily, the gates were open (unlike the night before) so we could drive all the way to the end where the habitat was more interesting. After getting out of the car, we quickly ticked off (mainly be call) WTGerygone, Wonga Pigeon, Common Bronzewing, Pallid Cuckoo, Cicadabird, Brown Gerygone, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (finally!), Brown Cuckoo-dove, Scarlet HE, etc, etc. We also heard a Brush Cuckoo, which I would have loved to get my bins on, but the light was still low and we couldn’t locate it. I can’t complain though, I think Nathan heard about 5 lifers throughout the twitch. Heading back to Cattai to pack up the tents, Henry spotted us a male Satin Bowerbird. This was a surprise, as we didn’t think we would see them anywhere.

At Scheyville NP, we quickly got number 100, a calling Shining Bronze-cuckoo. Shortly after, a Crimson Rosella flew over, and I saw a Rufous Fantail while the others were having breakfast (I was the only one who saw it because Henry and Nathan were too slow getting over, so it wasn’t ticked until we saw one later). We added a few birds for our list including Crested Shrike-tit, Little Lorikeet, Fuscous HE, and more. Unfortunately, we left without seeing a couple of key birds, which we would have to catch up later (our first big dips).

Off to Castlereagh NR, which ended up not being such a good idea. All we added here was Variegated Wren, Speckled Warbler, Buff-rumped Thornbill and Mistletoebird. Luckily, on the way back along the main road next to the reserve, I spotted a Chough. No-one else saw it, so we convinced my dad to do a U-turn so we could add them. Later on, passing Kuringai Chase, Henry spotted some YTBCockatoos, and we had to do two U-turns to add them to the list.

Long Reef added us the common coastal waders plus some Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, but we dipped on Tattler and Gannet. Deep Creek was good, getting a few more birds including Leaden Flycatcher, Brush Bronzewing, Channel-billed Cuckoo and a completely unexpected Striated Heron plus two Figbirds. Here, we achieved our target of 130, with another couple of places to still visit!!! Warriewood Wetlands netted us Black-faced Monarch, White-cheeked HE and Brush Turkey – and it was here we changed our original plans and headed off to the Chiltern Trail to get some Honeyeaters. We got all three targets, which were New Holland, White-eared and Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. Off to Sydney Olympic Park and with our total at 135, we changed our target to 140.

At SOP, we added Coot, Godwit (lifer), Stilt, and fluked a Sea Eagle flying over. We found a couple of flowering trees and added Mangrove Gerygone (lifer) and Brown Honeyeater, our last new bird for the twitch, even though we drove quickly to Mason Park to try and get some Red-kneed Dotterels and Snipe. Finishing at the Birds Australia Discovery Centre, we tallied up or total to 141, thoroughly pleased with ourselves.

Before I end, I wish to thank a two people;
1: The biggest thankyou goes to my dad, for putting up with our insane twitch and driving us 270km in 24 hours, stopping for any bird that we could add to our list.
2: Thanks Max for helping us in the early stages of planning, but not for ditching us for the Drongos…

Stats
141 birds seen between 4pm and 4pm
271km driven
Rarest Bird – Wood Sandpiper
Biggest Dip – King Parrot

On the 30th of October at 3:50pm, Henry, Nathan and I arrived at Pitt Town Lagoon, staking out the area so that we could tick as many birds as possible at 4:00 and then leave. For those who don’t know it, we were about to start the annual NSW BASNA Twitchathon – a race to see or hear as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. None of us had participated in the Twitchathon before, and after having our most experienced birder, Max, snatched away from us by Grant for his team, the Dodgy Drongos (see The Twitcher blog), it was up to us, the Knight Parrots! As we were in the junior division, getting a big list of 200+ wasn’t really a priority, or even a possibility, considering we were only staying in Sydney (as opposed to others like the Macquarie Marshes to Hunter team).

So, back at Pitt Town, we found ourselves waiting with apprehension for 4:00. While walking down, we noticed a dark morph White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike (which flew off) and with 5 minutes to four, Henry and I both heard what we both immediately guessed to be a Stubble Quail. It only called twice, so our ID was unsure. With 2 minutes to go, we saw a Swamp Harrier, and hoped it would fly in circles for another 2 minutes. It didn’t. 4:00 arrived and I madly ticked off all the birds we could see on the lagoon. The Stubble didn’t call and the Harrier didn’t come back, so our list was devoid of them. Just before we got to the car, Henry saw the WBCShrike in a tree, so we added that to our list. We stopped off for a few minutes at the Wood Sandpiper spot, which we had checked out earlier on the way in. We couldn’t locate it again, but did add Black-fronted Dotterels.

We drove to Wilberforce Park, which had been put on our travel route by Max when he was still with us. Not sure why it was on there, because all we added was a Currawong and a Little Corella flying over… Bushell’s Lagoon was next, where we added Restless Flycatcher just after we got out of the car, as well as Goldfinches (lifer), Double-bars, Silvereyes, etc, etc.

On to the turf farms, which gave us some pretty good species, some of which we didn’t see for the rest of the twitch. Some good views of a Peregrine, a pipit and getting kicked off a private property trying to get into Bakers Lagoon were the highlights.

The travel times we had planned on where a bit long, so we finished at the turf farms about an hour early. We decided to go back to the Pitt Town area. We quickly got the Wood Sandpiper at his little pond, then drove over to Pitt Town Lagoon again, where we added Royal Spoonbill.

We drove back to our campsite (set up earlier at about 3:00), and tallied up the ticks to 69 species. We had a quick dinner (halfway through we heard a Kookaburra, which made us very excited) and headed off to Mitchell Park for some spotlighting.

On the way, we got Max’s text message, which told us they were on 110 species, which we laughed at, assuming that it would be close to our end total for the next day. At Mitchell, we walked all the way to the end of the park without seeing or hearing anything (despite my best Owlet Nightjar impersonations) Henry had more luck, as when he tried his best White-throated Nightjar impersonation, a Powerful Owl responded! We moved towards it, and despite about 30 minutes of coaxing it refused to come into a tree where we could see it, much to our disappointment. We moved away, thoroughly sick of not having seen anything and only getting 1 tick for the list. We then decided to “screw the Twitchathon” and use playback to try and bring in a White-throated Nightjar (not to add to the list, just to see because we all wanted that as a lifer). Unfortunately, no White-throated, but after playing the call a few times, we all got great views of an Owlet Nightjar, which didn’t fly off even when we were all within touching distance! We left it and walked back to the car, thoroughly pleased with our sighting, when another Owlet-nightjar called without the aid of callback. TICK!

We woke up at 5:15 the next morning, when it was still dark, and headed over to Mitchell Park again for the dawn chorus. Luckily, the gates were open (unlike the night before) so we could drive all the way to the end where the habitat was more interesting. After getting out of the car, we quickly ticked off (mainly be call) WTGerygone, Wonga Pigeon, Common Bronzewing, Pallid Cuckoo, Cicadabird, Brown Gerygone, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (finally!), Brown Cuckoo-dove, Scarlet HE, etc, etc. We also heard a Brush Cuckoo, which I would have loved to get my bins on, but the light was still low and we couldn’t locate it. I can’t complain though, I think Nathan heard about 5 lifers throughout the twitch. Heading back to Cattai to pack up the tents, Henry spotted us a male Satin Bowerbird. This was a surprise, as we didn’t think we would see them anywhere.

At Scheyville NP, we quickly got number 100, a calling Shining Bronze-cuckoo. Shortly after, a Crimson Rosella flew over, and I saw a Rufous Fantail while the others were having breakfast (I was the only one who saw it because Henry and Nathan were too slow getting over, so it wasn’t ticked until we saw one later). We added a few birds for our list including Crested Shrike-tit, Little Lorikeet, Fuscous HE, and more. Unfortunately, we left without seeing a couple of key birds, which we would have to catch up later (our first big dips).

Off to Castlereagh NR, which ended up not being such a good idea. All we added here was Variegated Wren, Speckled Warbler, Buff-rumped Thornbill and Mistletoebird. Luckily, on the way back along the main road next to the reserve, I spotted a Chough. No-one else saw it, so we convinced my dad to do a U-turn so we could add them. Later on, passing Kuringai Chase, Henry spotted some YTBCockatoos, and we had to do two U-turns to add them to the list.

Long Reef added us the common coastal waders plus some Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, but we dipped on Tattler and Gannet. Deep Creek was good, getting a few more birds including Leaden Flycatcher, Brush Bronzewing, Channel-billed Cuckoo and a completely unexpected Striated Heron plus two Figbirds. Here, we achieved our target of 130, with another couple of places to still visit!!! Warriewood Wetlands netted us Black-faced Monarch, White-cheeked HE and Brush Turkey – and it was here we changed our original plans and headed off to the Chiltern Trail to get some Honeyeaters. We got all three targets, which were New Holland, White-eared and Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. Off to Sydney Olympic Park and with our total at 135, we changed our target to 140.

At SOP, we added Coot, Godwit (lifer), Stilt, and fluked a Sea Eagle flying over. We found a couple of flowering trees and added Mangrove Gerygone (lifer) and Brown Honeyeater, our last new bird for the twitch, even though we drove quickly to Mason Park to try and get some Red-kneed Dotterels and Snipe. Finishing at the Birds Australia Discovery Centre, we tallied up or total to 141, thoroughly pleased with ourselves.

Before I end, I wish to thank a two people;
1: The biggest thankyou goes to my dad, for putting up with our insane twitch and driving us 270km in 24 hours, stopping for any bird that we could add to our list.
2: Thanks Max for helping us in the early stages of planning, but not for ditching us for the Drongos…

Stats
141 birds seen between 4pm and 4pm
271km driven
Rarest Bird – Wood Sandpiper
Biggest Dip – King Parrot

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Ticks and Assorted Quail SW Qld P2

After leaving Bowra and stopping off in Cunnamulla to stock up on food, we were off to Kilcowera Station, which is south of Thargominda and west of Currawinya National Park for anyone that didn’t know Nothing much happened along the drive. I was continuously looking for Buzzards (but didn’t find any), and thought I saw a Wedgebill fly off from the side of the road at one stage (the colour and tail marking looked right, but we didn’t stop).

About 30km east of Thargominda, we stopped off for half and hour at Lake Bindegolly. This was amazing because the lake was pretty much full with all the rains this year, so water-birds were in abundance. Unfortunately, we couldn’t drive out to the bird hide because the road was flooded… I had a look around near the highway, and turned up some great species like Blue-billed Duck and Plumed-whistling Ducks. In the distance, there were two PINK-EARED DUCKS, and while I was looking at a Black-fronted Dotterel, I noticed a BLACK-TAILED NATIVE-HEN a few metres away from me! When the hen wandered off, I turned my attention to the various terns that were flying around. With the help of the camera and zoom button, I was able to ID some Caspian Terns, GULL-BILLED TERNS and WHISKERED TERNS.

On to Kilcowera (after stopping for fuel in Thargominda). One point to note if you’re going down this way – Bowra is within 10km Cunnamulla, so you can obtain fuel daily if you need to. Kilcowera on the other hand is 70km away from the nearest town, so you have to take a jerry can, and preferably a diesel car. Since we didn’t have a diesel, our driving was limited, so most of my birding at Kilcowera was done by walking.

On the way to the station, we past a huge swarm of locusts, the first large group that we had encountered on the trip. Every tree we drove past released a swarm of them! Also, there was an abundance of budgerigars (quite a sight considering there was only one at Bowra) Arriving at Kilcowera, I didn’t get anything in the way of lifers for the rest of the day (probably due to the fact I spent most of my time trying to get a good photo of a budgie)

I’ll give a bit of background on the property for those interested. Kilcowera is like Bowra, the owners have tried to clear as little of the vegetation as possible, while still farming cattle. It is still a working cattle station (unlike Bowra), but still holds an abundance of birds. The property is also MUCH bigger than Bowra, the length being around 40km, compared to Bowra which is closer to 20km. Its eastern edge borders Lake Wyara in Currawinya National Park. As I mentioned before, petrol was a problem, so the amount of driving on the property was limited. Before sunset, I managed to get one lifer, a MASKED WOODSWALLOW, which was not present at Bowra. This was another advantage to going to Kilcowera after Bowra – the nomadic birds that were not at Bowra were at Kilcowera. Also, Kilcowera offered a variety of more western birds that would not often be seen at Bowra.

I woke up the next morning to go and find a CRESTED BELLBIRD, which had been eluding me at Bowra. I would only ever hear them, and when I got within 20m they would stop calling. I finally got a great view of one here. I saw it perched atop a dead tree, calling its heart out. Of course, when I got too close it stopped and flew to the ground, not giving me a very good look. I decided to be patient and sit on the ground and wait for it to start calling again. To my surprise, it flew out of the dense scrub and landed on a bush a few metres away from me. I watched it for 5 WHOLE MINUTES before it got bored of calling and went back into the scrub to try and find some food. Again, I had no camera. On the trip, all my luck appeared when I didn’t have a camera!

We headed off to Lake Wyara at about 8:00 to look for Orange Chats. Down there, we met two birders who had visited Kilcowera 4 times over previous years. I was surprised to hear that the area we were standing in, looking for chats (see picture ^^^) was completely devoid of plant life in August 2008, which was there last visit. In fact, there had been so little vegetation then, that these two birders had had the luck of seeing a Gibberbird and a nesting pair of Inland Dotterels, right where the water was now covering. There was so much vegetation now though, that both those birds were pretty much unattainable, since they both prefer gibber plains with limited flora. While I’m on the topic, I’ll go through some other highlights of Kilcoweras bird list. It includes Cinnamon-breasted Quail-thrush, Freckled Duck, Grey Falcon, Chirruping Wedgebill and Slaty-backed Thornbill (not that I saw any of these…).

Getting back to birding, there were a few White-winged Fairy-wrens around, and it wasn’t long before I got a glimpse of a pipit like bird, which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a female ORANGE CHAT. I called Sandra (the other birder) over, and we watched it for a bit, hopping around the waters edge. It flew back into the vegetation and perched on top of a bush. I was looking at it through my binoculars when a stunning male landed next to the female. Within about 10 minutes, we’d tracked down 3 females and 2 males.

After half and hour of observation from a distance, I decided to try and get a bit closer to one of the males. It flew off before I got too close, but when I was walking back to everyone else, a male landed halfway in between us. I sat down and looked at it (being much closer than the others we had seen), and then decided to try some pishing (considering it seemed to work so well on the Black Honeyeater at Bowra) To my surprise, the male Orange Chat kept coming closer and closer until it was well within 3m of me!!! Then the female joined it and they hopped around for a bit. After five minutes or so, I realised they were actually gathering insects and not eating them, which told me they must have chicks somewhere nearby. When they had moved away from me, I got up and we all left so they could get back to raising their chicks in peace.

We left after a quick, unsuccessful, look for Inland Dotterels, and followed a different road back towards camp. I saw a pair of COCKATIELS fly over at one point, but that was it until we got to a small, dry creek with a Freckled Monitor in it. I’m all for reptiles as well as birds, so I rattled off a few shots, then realised the treecreeper I was hearing in the background was actually my elusive WHITE-BROWED TREECREEPER! I got some good views, then went back to the monitor when it had flown off.

A bit further up the road, I noticed a tree with a lot of flowering going on. I decided to try my luck with the Pied Honeyeaters that were supposedly everywhere on the property. When I stepped out of the car, I noticed a button-quail next to my foot (experience 3). This was the best view I got of a quail the whole trip, but I still couldn’t ID it 100%. I’m 90% sure it was a little-button, but it’s not ticked. There were no Pied Honeyeaters in the tree either.

The next morning, we headed out to a waterhole, which didn’t have anything in it except a distant HOARY-HEADED GREBE (finally!) On the way up though, I did finally see a BANDED LAPWING, a pair in fact. They were getting a bit cranky, so I decided they had a nest, and, not wanting to get swooped for the 3^rd time this trip (first was a Magpie in Bourke and second was a Little Friarbird at Bowra), I took a few shots and left them in peace.

Mid-morning, we headed out along a different track to a different paddock. This was to be our last drive or we wouldn’t have enough petrol to make it to our refueling town. This paddock was famous for its Cinnamon-breasted Quail-thrush, which we did not see. I was walking along a fence at one point, and noticed a quail a metre or so away from me (experience 4). It’s head was behind a bush, otherwise I would have been able to ID it. When I yelled out quail to my mum so she would stop (it was less than 30cm away from her foot) she didn’t know where it was, and made a move to tell my dad and sister to stop, which made the quail flush. It was at about this point that I was starting to hate quails.

I kept walking along the fence when I noticed a red finch fly from the wire in front of me to some more wire a bit further up the fence line. I was surprised, since the only finches I had seen this trip were Zebra Finches. I then realised it was much too red for a Diamond Firetail, and got my binoculars on it to reveal a stunning male CRIMSON CHAT and his two females. After chasing them around for a few minutes until they were out of sight, we all headed back to the car. At the same spot as the last quail experience, I flushed 2 more (experience 5). This made me quite cranky, having not seen them before they flushed, so I rushed over to where they had landed. I flushed one for a second time, but still couldn’t get an identifiable view. One upside was that I got a photo (a pretty bad one) of a Crested Bellbird while I was chasing the quails.

For the rest of the day, I contented myself with walks around the camp. I finally managed to get fantastic views of a pair of Cockatiels (of course I didn’t have the camera), but I did find them again later when I did have the camera, along with a male Mulga Parrot, all feeding in the same tree.

Walking back to camp from the after all the parrots had flown off, I flushed another quail (experience 6) and raced back to get my iPod and speakers. Unfortunately, the quail (which I thought was a little-button) was not obliging enough to come out to the sound of callback. While over at the shower block, I found some birders who had been at Bowra with us, and the told me they had seen 3 Pied Honeyeaters less than 5 minutes before. I raced off to this spot (after telling them where the Banded Lapwings were, because they were looking for them), and followed the call until it stopped. While I was madly chasing this Pied Honeyeater, I flushed another quail (experience 7), but didn’t chase it, because I was still on the honeyeater trail. I finally got a brief, distant glimpse in the fading light (it was already 6:00), but not really well enough to tick.

I was dropped off there the next morning for an hour, and spent 30 minutes trying to find a call, then 15 minutes following the call until I finally got a fantastic view of a male PIED HONEYEATER. He preened himself while calling, and then did and aerial display (I’m guessing some kind of mating related dance) I left Kilcowera feeling pretty good, having got almost every one of my main target species for the trip, except for Painted Honeyeater and Spotted Nightjar. On the way out of the station, I noticed a female Bustard in some long grass, and everyone got some good looks at it (my dad’s favourite bird for the trip after the Orange Chats ;) ), and I got some photos (pretty bad because of the distance and the sun, which was behind the Bustard), but got a passable one when she took off and flew, clumsily into the distance.

Nothing happened on the drive to Nyngan (except the fact that Hungerford, population 20, had a sports carnival on, and we almost missed the petrol station manager, as he was about to leave to go and watch the sports day) Nyngan Riverside Caravan Park was pretty good, but I didn’t spend much time birding there, as we arrived at about 5:00 and left at 8:00 the next day. I did see some AUSTRALIAN REED-WARBLERS (yes, I have seen these before, but not well enough to tick…), and the STW was a bit of a letdown, revealing only Hardheads, Grey Teals and one Aussie Grebe.

Overall, this was a fantastic trip, and I highly recommend it to anyone!

Stats

39 lifers

132 species seen

After leaving Bowra and stopping off in Cunnamulla to stock up on food, we were off to Kilcowera Station, which is south of Thargominda and west of Currawinya National Park for anyone that didn’t know Nothing much happened along the drive. I was continuously looking for Buzzards (but didn’t find any), and thought I saw a Wedgebill fly off from the side of the road at one stage (the colour and tail marking looked right, but we didn’t stop).

About 30km east of Thargominda, we stopped off for half and hour at Lake Bindegolly. This was amazing because the lake was pretty much full with all the rains this year, so water-birds were in abundance. Unfortunately, we couldn’t drive out to the bird hide because the road was flooded… I had a look around near the highway, and turned up some great species like Blue-billed Duck and Plumed-whistling Ducks. In the distance, there were two PINK-EARED DUCKS, and while I was looking at a Black-fronted Dotterel, I noticed a BLACK-TAILED NATIVE-HEN a few metres away from me! When the hen wandered off, I turned my attention to the various terns that were flying around. With the help of the camera and zoom button, I was able to ID some Caspian Terns, GULL-BILLED TERNS and WHISKERED TERNS.

On to Kilcowera (after stopping for fuel in Thargominda). One point to note if you’re going down this way – Bowra is within 10km Cunnamulla, so you can obtain fuel daily if you need to. Kilcowera on the other hand is 70km away from the nearest town, so you have to take a jerry can, and preferably a diesel car. Since we didn’t have a diesel, our driving was limited, so most of my birding at Kilcowera was done by walking.

On the way to the station, we past a huge swarm of locusts, the first large group that we had encountered on the trip. Every tree we drove past released a swarm of them! Also, there was an abundance of budgerigars (quite a sight considering there was only one at Bowra) Arriving at Kilcowera, I didn’t get anything in the way of lifers for the rest of the day (probably due to the fact I spent most of my time trying to get a good photo of a budgie)

I’ll give a bit of background on the property for those interested. Kilcowera is like Bowra, the owners have tried to clear as little of the vegetation as possible, while still farming cattle. It is still a working cattle station (unlike Bowra), but still holds an abundance of birds. The property is also MUCH bigger than Bowra, the length being around 40km, compared to Bowra which is closer to 20km. Its eastern edge borders Lake Wyara in Currawinya National Park. As I mentioned before, petrol was a problem, so the amount of driving on the property was limited. Before sunset, I managed to get one lifer, a MASKED WOODSWALLOW, which was not present at Bowra. This was another advantage to going to Kilcowera after Bowra – the nomadic birds that were not at Bowra were at Kilcowera. Also, Kilcowera offered a variety of more western birds that would not often be seen at Bowra.

I woke up the next morning to go and find a CRESTED BELLBIRD, which had been eluding me at Bowra. I would only ever hear them, and when I got within 20m they would stop calling. I finally got a great view of one here. I saw it perched atop a dead tree, calling its heart out. Of course, when I got too close it stopped and flew to the ground, not giving me a very good look. I decided to be patient and sit on the ground and wait for it to start calling again. To my surprise, it flew out of the dense scrub and landed on a bush a few metres away from me. I watched it for 5 WHOLE MINUTES before it got bored of calling and went back into the scrub to try and find some food. Again, I had no camera. On the trip, all my luck appeared when I didn’t have a camera!

We headed off to Lake Wyara at about 8:00 to look for Orange Chats. Down there, we met two birders who had visited Kilcowera 4 times over previous years. I was surprised to hear that the area we were standing in, looking for chats (see picture ^^^) was completely devoid of plant life in August 2008, which was there last visit. In fact, there had been so little vegetation then, that these two birders had had the luck of seeing a Gibberbird and a nesting pair of Inland Dotterels, right where the water was now covering. There was so much vegetation now though, that both those birds were pretty much unattainable, since they both prefer gibber plains with limited flora. While I’m on the topic, I’ll go through some other highlights of Kilcoweras bird list. It includes Cinnamon-breasted Quail-thrush, Freckled Duck, Grey Falcon, Chirruping Wedgebill and Slaty-backed Thornbill (not that I saw any of these…).

Getting back to birding, there were a few White-winged Fairy-wrens around, and it wasn’t long before I got a glimpse of a pipit like bird, which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a female ORANGE CHAT. I called Sandra (the other birder) over, and we watched it for a bit, hopping around the waters edge. It flew back into the vegetation and perched on top of a bush. I was looking at it through my binoculars when a stunning male landed next to the female. Within about 10 minutes, we’d tracked down 3 females and 2 males.

After half and hour of observation from a distance, I decided to try and get a bit closer to one of the males. It flew off before I got too close, but when I was walking back to everyone else, a male landed halfway in between us. I sat down and looked at it (being much closer than the others we had seen), and then decided to try some pishing (considering it seemed to work so well on the Black Honeyeater at Bowra) To my surprise, the male Orange Chat kept coming closer and closer until it was well within 3m of me!!! Then the female joined it and they hopped around for a bit. After five minutes or so, I realised they were actually gathering insects and not eating them, which told me they must have chicks somewhere nearby. When they had moved away from me, I got up and we all left so they could get back to raising their chicks in peace.

We left after a quick, unsuccessful, look for Inland Dotterels, and followed a different road back towards camp. I saw a pair of COCKATIELS fly over at one point, but that was it until we got to a small, dry creek with a Freckled Monitor in it. I’m all for reptiles as well as birds, so I rattled off a few shots, then realised the treecreeper I was hearing in the background was actually my elusive WHITE-BROWED TREECREEPER! I got some good views, then went back to the monitor when it had flown off.

A bit further up the road, I noticed a tree with a lot of flowering going on. I decided to try my luck with the Pied Honeyeaters that were supposedly everywhere on the property. When I stepped out of the car, I noticed a button-quail next to my foot (experience 3). This was the best view I got of a quail the whole trip, but I still couldn’t ID it 100%. I’m 90% sure it was a little-button, but it’s not ticked. There were no Pied Honeyeaters in the tree either.

The next morning, we headed out to a waterhole, which didn’t have anything in it except a distant HOARY-HEADED GREBE (finally!) On the way up though, I did finally see a BANDED LAPWING, a pair in fact. They were getting a bit cranky, so I decided they had a nest, and, not wanting to get swooped for the 3^rd time this trip (first was a Magpie in Bourke and second was a Little Friarbird at Bowra), I took a few shots and left them in peace.

Mid-morning, we headed out along a different track to a different paddock. This was to be our last drive or we wouldn’t have enough petrol to make it to our refueling town. This paddock was famous for its Cinnamon-breasted Quail-thrush, which we did not see. I was walking along a fence at one point, and noticed a quail a metre or so away from me (experience 4). It’s head was behind a bush, otherwise I would have been able to ID it. When I yelled out quail to my mum so she would stop (it was less than 30cm away from her foot) she didn’t know where it was, and made a move to tell my dad and sister to stop, which made the quail flush. It was at about this point that I was starting to hate quails.

I kept walking along the fence when I noticed a red finch fly from the wire in front of me to some more wire a bit further up the fence line. I was surprised, since the only finches I had seen this trip were Zebra Finches. I then realised it was much too red for a Diamond Firetail, and got my binoculars on it to reveal a stunning male CRIMSON CHAT and his two females. After chasing them around for a few minutes until they were out of sight, we all headed back to the car. At the same spot as the last quail experience, I flushed 2 more (experience 5). This made me quite cranky, having not seen them before they flushed, so I rushed over to where they had landed. I flushed one for a second time, but still couldn’t get an identifiable view. One upside was that I got a photo (a pretty bad one) of a Crested Bellbird while I was chasing the quails.

For the rest of the day, I contented myself with walks around the camp. I finally managed to get fantastic views of a pair of Cockatiels (of course I didn’t have the camera), but I did find them again later when I did have the camera, along with a male Mulga Parrot, all feeding in the same tree.

Walking back to camp from the after all the parrots had flown off, I flushed another quail (experience 6) and raced back to get my iPod and speakers. Unfortunately, the quail (which I thought was a little-button) was not obliging enough to come out to the sound of callback. While over at the shower block, I found some birders who had been at Bowra with us, and the told me they had seen 3 Pied Honeyeaters less than 5 minutes before. I raced off to this spot (after telling them where the Banded Lapwings were, because they were looking for them), and followed the call until it stopped. While I was madly chasing this Pied Honeyeater, I flushed another quail (experience 7), but didn’t chase it, because I was still on the honeyeater trail. I finally got a brief, distant glimpse in the fading light (it was already 6:00), but not really well enough to tick.

I was dropped off there the next morning for an hour, and spent 30 minutes trying to find a call, then 15 minutes following the call until I finally got a fantastic view of a male PIED HONEYEATER. He preened himself while calling, and then did and aerial display (I’m guessing some kind of mating related dance) I left Kilcowera feeling pretty good, having got almost every one of my main target species for the trip, except for Painted Honeyeater and Spotted Nightjar. On the way out of the station, I noticed a female Bustard in some long grass, and everyone got some good looks at it (my dad’s favourite bird for the trip after the Orange Chats ;) ), and I got some photos (pretty bad because of the distance and the sun, which was behind the Bustard), but got a passable one when she took off and flew, clumsily into the distance.

Nothing happened on the drive to Nyngan (except the fact that Hungerford, population 20, had a sports carnival on, and we almost missed the petrol station manager, as he was about to leave to go and watch the sports day) Nyngan Riverside Caravan Park was pretty good, but I didn’t spend much time birding there, as we arrived at about 5:00 and left at 8:00 the next day. I did see some AUSTRALIAN REED-WARBLERS (yes, I have seen these before, but not well enough to tick…), and the STW was a bit of a letdown, revealing only Hardheads, Grey Teals and one Aussie Grebe.

Overall, this was a fantastic trip, and I highly recommend it to anyone!

Stats

39 lifers

132 species seen

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Ticks and Assorted Quail SW Qld P1

Thought I'd start my blog with this trip report for South West Queensland. It was a great trip in Octboer over 10 days, including 3 days at Bowra Station and 3 at Kilcowera Station.

Leaving on the Friday afternoon straight after the last day of school for Term 3, my family and I drove to Bathurst, and the next day, straight to Bourke. Not a lot was seen on the drive to Bourke, mainly Kestrels, Black-shouldered Kites and a few Brown Falcons. At one point I did see two Superb Parrots though, so that was cool. At Bourke, we stayed at Kidman’s Camp, which I recommend for any birders travelling up this way. It was here that I started to see some of the species not found in Sydney. Some of the birds around the camp included YELLOW-THROATED MINERS, Blue-faced Honeyeaters, Little Friarbirds, a solitary RED-BACKED KINGFISHER, Apostlebirds and a few water birds, since it was on the river (Yellow-billed Spoonbill and a juvenile Nankeen Night-heron being the highlights).

After packing up the camper-trailer the next morning, I got a good glimpse of a HORSFIELD’S BRONZE-CUCKOO, and straight after leaving the campsite, a BLACK FALCON on the roadside. Not a lot of action for the rest of the drive… until we got to Barrigun on the border. Within 3km, I saw no less than 6 SPOTTED HARRIERS! These are amazing birds, and I got some amazing views. The photos aren’t so good though, because it was about 12:00 and there was a lot of heat haze.

Arriving at Bowra in the early afternoon, I quickly added DIAMOND DOVE, CHESTNUT-CROWNED BABBLER and SPOTTED BOWERBIRD to my life list by walking around the camping area for 5 minutes or so. After setting up our campsite, my mum revealed that Graham (the current volunteer from Birds Queensland that was managing Bowra) had told her while I was off looking at bowerbirds that there was a GROUND-CUCKOO SHRIKE nest in the western paddock. I convinced her to drive me over there, and got some great views, and some not so good photos. On the way back, we stopped at Sandy Creek to look at some BLACK-FACED WOODSWALLOWS, when I noticed some CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILLS in a small bush a few metres to my right. When they moved away from me, I tried a bit of pishing to bring them back. To my surprise, the bird that landed on the bush less than a metre in front of me was not a Thornbill but a BLACK HONEYEATER! It stayed more or less in the same spot for 30 seconds (unfortunately I didn’t have the camera), and then flew off to a distant tree. Before jumping back in the car I also ticked off a male WHITE-WINGED TRILLER.

The next morning, waking up at 6:00, proved to be one of my favourite parts of the trip. Arriving at Stony Lookout at 6:30 (a bit late in my opinion ;) ) to look for quail-thrush, my mum heard a crunching noise, which we followed to reveal a stunning pair or Red-winged Parrots (which I have seen before, but not this well). A male SPLENDID FAIRY-WREN was seen for a few minutes, then I headed off towards the calling CHESTNUT-BREASTED QUAIL-THRUSH, which was found without too much trouble. Also saw some INLAND THORNBILLS, but unfortunately no Spotted Nightjar, which turned out to be the biggest dip for the whole trip.

That afternoon, I convinced my mum to take me out again (this time the whole family came though, much to the disgust of my non-birdwatcher-sister) to look for Halls Babblers and White-browed Treecreepers. I missed both of these species, but got some great views of an adult PALLID CUCKOO and a juvenile which was not far away. At one point, when the trees started to get larger, I decided it would be a good spot to try for treecreepers. I got out of the car, and noticed next to my foot a quail (probably a Stubble) that ran into the thick grass on the left of the road and could not be located again. This was quail experience 1 of the trip. I ended up with a heap of quail sightings, with not one confident ID for the whole trip!!! As a consequence, my list is still devoid of any quail or button-quail.

Arriving back at the campsite, I was dropped off at the start of the bore drain track, which runs alongside the homestead for a km or so. After about 5 seconds of the rest of my family driving off, I flushed a BUDGERIGAR, which flew up to a branch at eye level. I found out that night that it was the first record of a budgie at Bowra for the whole month! Anyway, I continued along the bore drain after it had flown off and noticed a male WHITE-WINGED FAIRY WREN fly into a small shrub a few metres from me. While trying to locate it, a Brown Goshawk landed on the bush! It flew off after a minute, and the White-winged Fairy-wren came out of the bush unharmed and gave some great views.

One great attribute of Bowra that I had not known about before arriving there was the nightly bird count. This was an event at 6:15 (when all the birds had gone for the night) where Graham went through the bird list and everyone said what they had seen that day. This was fantastic for getting some good locations. I asked some other birders where they had seen Hall’s Babblers and Bourke’s Parrots, which ended up being my targets for the next day.

Early, I woke up and went for a walk with my dad to look for the group of 8 Bourke Parrots reported less than 500m from our camp the day before. We missed the Bourke’s, but saw some Blue Bonnets, two SINGING HONEYEATERS and the pair of Brolgas, who owned the nest in a little swamp just off the track.

As another family trip, around 2:00, we went out to find Hall’s Babblers and White-browed Treecreepers again (using the locations I’d picked up the previous night). I had another look for Spotted Nightjar (failing again) and then headed up to the northern end of the property. I dipped on the Treecreeper, but got great views of a small group of HALLS BABBLERS. We headed back to camp, and my mum and I headed out along the bore drain again for a last attempt at finding some Bourke’s Parrots. Just before giving up, I noticed two birders looking at something in a tree. While walking over, one of them came over and told me that there were two BOURKE’S PARROTS in a tree about 5 metres away. He was a photographer, and had spent the last 5 minutes taking photos. He was now done and off to find some Red-browed Pardalotes, and said the parrots were “all yours”!!!. I snuck up within about 3 metres and got some great views, and again some not-so-good photos. On the way back to our tent, I flushed two quails (experience 2), which were probably Brown.

The next morning before packing up the tent I showed my mum a picture of a Painted Honeyeater, and she agreed to take me to try and find one that was reported the previous day (she liked the look of it and became her target for the trip, but we didn’t find any). After that monumental fail (seeing nothing but Little Friarbirds), I went for a last walk along the bore drain where I got my best ever views of Striped Honeyeater and White-necked Heron. Now it was off to Kilcowera Station, which should be more interesting to everyone still reading because it is not as well known for birding as Bowra.

Thought I'd start my blog with this trip report for South West Queensland. It was a great trip in Octboer over 10 days, including 3 days at Bowra Station and 3 at Kilcowera Station.

Leaving on the Friday afternoon straight after the last day of school for Term 3, my family and I drove to Bathurst, and the next day, straight to Bourke. Not a lot was seen on the drive to Bourke, mainly Kestrels, Black-shouldered Kites and a few Brown Falcons. At one point I did see two Superb Parrots though, so that was cool. At Bourke, we stayed at Kidman’s Camp, which I recommend for any birders travelling up this way. It was here that I started to see some of the species not found in Sydney. Some of the birds around the camp included YELLOW-THROATED MINERS, Blue-faced Honeyeaters, Little Friarbirds, a solitary RED-BACKED KINGFISHER, Apostlebirds and a few water birds, since it was on the river (Yellow-billed Spoonbill and a juvenile Nankeen Night-heron being the highlights).

After packing up the camper-trailer the next morning, I got a good glimpse of a HORSFIELD’S BRONZE-CUCKOO, and straight after leaving the campsite, a BLACK FALCON on the roadside. Not a lot of action for the rest of the drive… until we got to Barrigun on the border. Within 3km, I saw no less than 6 SPOTTED HARRIERS! These are amazing birds, and I got some amazing views. The photos aren’t so good though, because it was about 12:00 and there was a lot of heat haze.

Arriving at Bowra in the early afternoon, I quickly added DIAMOND DOVE, CHESTNUT-CROWNED BABBLER and SPOTTED BOWERBIRD to my life list by walking around the camping area for 5 minutes or so. After setting up our campsite, my mum revealed that Graham (the current volunteer from Birds Queensland that was managing Bowra) had told her while I was off looking at bowerbirds that there was a GROUND-CUCKOO SHRIKE nest in the western paddock. I convinced her to drive me over there, and got some great views, and some not so good photos. On the way back, we stopped at Sandy Creek to look at some BLACK-FACED WOODSWALLOWS, when I noticed some CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILLS in a small bush a few metres to my right. When they moved away from me, I tried a bit of pishing to bring them back. To my surprise, the bird that landed on the bush less than a metre in front of me was not a Thornbill but a BLACK HONEYEATER! It stayed more or less in the same spot for 30 seconds (unfortunately I didn’t have the camera), and then flew off to a distant tree. Before jumping back in the car I also ticked off a male WHITE-WINGED TRILLER.

The next morning, waking up at 6:00, proved to be one of my favourite parts of the trip. Arriving at Stony Lookout at 6:30 (a bit late in my opinion ;) ) to look for quail-thrush, my mum heard a crunching noise, which we followed to reveal a stunning pair or Red-winged Parrots (which I have seen before, but not this well). A male SPLENDID FAIRY-WREN was seen for a few minutes, then I headed off towards the calling CHESTNUT-BREASTED QUAIL-THRUSH, which was found without too much trouble. Also saw some INLAND THORNBILLS, but unfortunately no Spotted Nightjar, which turned out to be the biggest dip for the whole trip.

That afternoon, I convinced my mum to take me out again (this time the whole family came though, much to the disgust of my non-birdwatcher-sister) to look for Halls Babblers and White-browed Treecreepers. I missed both of these species, but got some great views of an adult PALLID CUCKOO and a juvenile which was not far away. At one point, when the trees started to get larger, I decided it would be a good spot to try for treecreepers. I got out of the car, and noticed next to my foot a quail (probably a Stubble) that ran into the thick grass on the left of the road and could not be located again. This was quail experience 1 of the trip. I ended up with a heap of quail sightings, with not one confident ID for the whole trip!!! As a consequence, my list is still devoid of any quail or button-quail.

Arriving back at the campsite, I was dropped off at the start of the bore drain track, which runs alongside the homestead for a km or so. After about 5 seconds of the rest of my family driving off, I flushed a BUDGERIGAR, which flew up to a branch at eye level. I found out that night that it was the first record of a budgie at Bowra for the whole month! Anyway, I continued along the bore drain after it had flown off and noticed a male WHITE-WINGED FAIRY WREN fly into a small shrub a few metres from me. While trying to locate it, a Brown Goshawk landed on the bush! It flew off after a minute, and the White-winged Fairy-wren came out of the bush unharmed and gave some great views.

One great attribute of Bowra that I had not known about before arriving there was the nightly bird count. This was an event at 6:15 (when all the birds had gone for the night) where Graham went through the bird list and everyone said what they had seen that day. This was fantastic for getting some good locations. I asked some other birders where they had seen Hall’s Babblers and Bourke’s Parrots, which ended up being my targets for the next day.

Early, I woke up and went for a walk with my dad to look for the group of 8 Bourke Parrots reported less than 500m from our camp the day before. We missed the Bourke’s, but saw some Blue Bonnets, two SINGING HONEYEATERS and the pair of Brolgas, who owned the nest in a little swamp just off the track.

As another family trip, around 2:00, we went out to find Hall’s Babblers and White-browed Treecreepers again (using the locations I’d picked up the previous night). I had another look for Spotted Nightjar (failing again) and then headed up to the northern end of the property. I dipped on the Treecreeper, but got great views of a small group of HALLS BABBLERS. We headed back to camp, and my mum and I headed out along the bore drain again for a last attempt at finding some Bourke’s Parrots. Just before giving up, I noticed two birders looking at something in a tree. While walking over, one of them came over and told me that there were two BOURKE’S PARROTS in a tree about 5 metres away. He was a photographer, and had spent the last 5 minutes taking photos. He was now done and off to find some Red-browed Pardalotes, and said the parrots were “all yours”!!!. I snuck up within about 3 metres and got some great views, and again some not-so-good photos. On the way back to our tent, I flushed two quails (experience 2), which were probably Brown.

The next morning before packing up the tent I showed my mum a picture of a Painted Honeyeater, and she agreed to take me to try and find one that was reported the previous day (she liked the look of it and became her target for the trip, but we didn’t find any). After that monumental fail (seeing nothing but Little Friarbirds), I went for a last walk along the bore drain where I got my best ever views of Striped Honeyeater and White-necked Heron. Now it was off to Kilcowera Station, which should be more interesting to everyone still reading because it is not as well known for birding as Bowra.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

My Blog

OK, it seems most birders have their own blog - I think it's time I start one myself!

My name is Josh, a student in Sydney, Australia. I got into birds at a very young age, then discovered the joys of list-making in April 2009. From there on - it became an obsession... This blog is to be about my attempts to tick off as many bird species as possible, and my love of our fantastic avian friends. For the love of Birds!

Enjoy!

OK, it seems most birders have their own blog - I think it's time I start one myself!

My name is Josh, a student in Sydney, Australia. I got into birds at a very young age, then discovered the joys of list-making in April 2009. From there on - it became an obsession... This blog is to be about my attempts to tick off as many bird species as possible, and my love of our fantastic avian friends. For the love of Birds!

Enjoy!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

THE COMMON SNIPE IN SPAIN: NEW PUBLICATION

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago). Galisteo Lake, Cáceres. 06-10-2004 (J. Prieta).

As part of its "monitoring birds" series, SEO/BirdLife has just brought out a new booklet on the shy Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), one of many species that are all too often overlooked by government authorities and researchers and receive attention only from a few stalwart (and almost always unpaid) amateur sleuths. This interesting booklet can now be downloaded in PDF version. Only a hundred-odd pairs of Snipe breed in Spain. About ten are still hanging on in Ourense, hitherto the Spanish population's stronghold before Antelas Lake dried up, and there are about 60-105 pairs in hay meadows in the Avila sierras, just behind the now snowy Gredos peaks in the north of Extremadura. This magnificent fieldwork is still underway for the authors have unearthed new pairs in 2010 in zones of Ávila where the book had previously cited them (M. Lorenzo, pers. comm.). From here we want to add our own pennyworth, because although the book records the Snipe as absent from the Sierra de Guadarrama, César Clemente (SEO-Cáceres) has proven their presence in Navas del Marqués (Ávila), where he was lucky enough to watch the magnificent drumming display flight in spring 2008.

- Lorenzo, M. and Planelles, P. 2010. La agachadiza común en España. Población en 2009 y método de censo. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
[in Spanish, with English abstract]

Download: click on the image of the book cover

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago). Galisteo Lake, Cáceres. 06-10-2004 (J. Prieta).

As part of its "monitoring birds" series, SEO/BirdLife has just brought out a new booklet on the shy Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), one of many species that are all too often overlooked by government authorities and researchers and receive attention only from a few stalwart (and almost always unpaid) amateur sleuths. This interesting booklet can now be downloaded in PDF version. Only a hundred-odd pairs of Snipe breed in Spain. About ten are still hanging on in Ourense, hitherto the Spanish population's stronghold before Antelas Lake dried up, and there are about 60-105 pairs in hay meadows in the Avila sierras, just behind the now snowy Gredos peaks in the north of Extremadura. This magnificent fieldwork is still underway for the authors have unearthed new pairs in 2010 in zones of Ávila where the book had previously cited them (M. Lorenzo, pers. comm.). From here we want to add our own pennyworth, because although the book records the Snipe as absent from the Sierra de Guadarrama, César Clemente (SEO-Cáceres) has proven their presence in Navas del Marqués (Ávila), where he was lucky enough to watch the magnificent drumming display flight in spring 2008.

- Lorenzo, M. and Planelles, P. 2010. La agachadiza común en España. Población en 2009 y método de censo. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
[in Spanish, with English abstract]

Download: click on the image of the book cover

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

3 Types of Pipits

With a nice still morning i decided to place a 30ft net down at the rocks in Ramsey Harbour for Rock Pipits. We are individually colour ringing them and have been using spring traps and call to catch the birds. As the seasons change so does the behaviour with hardly any response to call now and what it seems is a dominate male at most sights which as soon as he hears the call he chases all the other birds that come near out of the area. 

So no wind and a mist net was the way to go. 

2 Rock Pipits bounced out the net with in the first 10 minutes .

I decided to walk down the beach away and walk back towards the net as i got close there in the net was the Water Pipit which has been about for over 3 weeks now.

Nice result and a bonus.

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Tail feathers T6 T5 showing white wedge characteristics of Water Pipit

Rock Pipit Tail

Water Pipit underparts bright and clean with lighter legs

Rock Pipit underparts very diffuse streaking 

Rock Pipit Colour Ringed

Meadow Pipit

 As the tide was coming in i packed up and went down to Port Mooar where i set up a 40ft 2 shelve net

4 Rock Pipits colour ringed 3 were retraps from August so colour rings added

2 Meadow Pipits  Ringed as well which i think bring this species total to over a hundred this year.

So a great day for getting you eye in on Pipits

With a nice still morning i decided to place a 30ft net down at the rocks in Ramsey Harbour for Rock Pipits. We are individually colour ringing them and have been using spring traps and call to catch the birds. As the seasons change so does the behaviour with hardly any response to call now and what it seems is a dominate male at most sights which as soon as he hears the call he chases all the other birds that come near out of the area. 

So no wind and a mist net was the way to go. 

2 Rock Pipits bounced out the net with in the first 10 minutes .

I decided to walk down the beach away and walk back towards the net as i got close there in the net was the Water Pipit which has been about for over 3 weeks now.

Nice result and a bonus.

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Tail feathers T6 T5 showing white wedge characteristics of Water Pipit

Rock Pipit Tail

Water Pipit underparts bright and clean with lighter legs

Rock Pipit underparts very diffuse streaking 

Rock Pipit Colour Ringed

Meadow Pipit

 As the tide was coming in i packed up and went down to Port Mooar where i set up a 40ft 2 shelve net

4 Rock Pipits colour ringed 3 were retraps from August so colour rings added

2 Meadow Pipits  Ringed as well which i think bring this species total to over a hundred this year.

So a great day for getting you eye in on Pipits

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Winter Sparrow

Nice Morning yesterday with 22 more Linnets ringed (273 ringed so far)  and a Young Male Stonechat up at 

The Point Of Ayre.

In the afternoon i set up in the garden 

6 Goldfinch   (133 ringed in garden in 2010)

3 Blue Tits  ( 59 ringed in garden in 2010)

2 House Sparrows (106 ringed in garden 2010)

2 Siskin (121 ringed in garden in 2010)

1 Chaffinch (54 ringed in garden in 2010)

1 Robin ( 11 ringed in garden in 2010) 

1 Gt Tit  (25 ringed in garden in 2010)

1 Coal Tit (16 ringed in garden in 2010)

This morning i was waiting in for a delivery so opened the nets again 

another 15 birds caught,   as i walked up the garden towards the net i got a flash of white on the head of one of the birds i thought Snow Bunting as i ran up the garden.

Then i saw a Partial albinism House Sparrow d'oh, 

nice looking winter Sparrow.

Nice Morning yesterday with 22 more Linnets ringed (273 ringed so far)  and a Young Male Stonechat up at 

The Point Of Ayre.

In the afternoon i set up in the garden 

6 Goldfinch   (133 ringed in garden in 2010)

3 Blue Tits  ( 59 ringed in garden in 2010)

2 House Sparrows (106 ringed in garden 2010)

2 Siskin (121 ringed in garden in 2010)

1 Chaffinch (54 ringed in garden in 2010)

1 Robin ( 11 ringed in garden in 2010) 

1 Gt Tit  (25 ringed in garden in 2010)

1 Coal Tit (16 ringed in garden in 2010)

This morning i was waiting in for a delivery so opened the nets again 

another 15 birds caught,   as i walked up the garden towards the net i got a flash of white on the head of one of the birds i thought Snow Bunting as i ran up the garden.

Then i saw a Partial albinism House Sparrow d'oh, 

nice looking winter Sparrow.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

THE CORMORANT AND THE CATFISH

Subadult Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) catching a Black Bullhead Catfish (Ameiurus melas). Galisteo, Cáceres. 02-11-2010 (J. Prieta).

The above sequence of photos shows a Black Bullhead Catfish (Ameiurus melas) being caught and eaten by a Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). The photos would obviously win no prizes; neither is the observation anything out of the ordinary, since Cormorants are skilful fishers. The surprising factor is the place, a recently opened and shallow gravel pit where you wouldn't expect to find fish of this size yet. And the worrying aspect is that this gravel pit should already be occupied by an invasive species that is quickly spreading in native waters. In every single visit to this gravel pit we have seen successful Cormorant captures of Black Bullhead Catfish, which is also a prey species of Little Grebe and several heron species (Grey Heron, Little Egret, Great White Egret).

The Black Bullhead Catfish, native to North America belongs to the siluriformes order, which does not exist naturally on the Iberian Peninsula. Its biggest Extremadura populations are in the catchment areas of the rivers Tiétar and Alagón. As in so many other cases it has been introduced deliberately and also as the accidental result of escaped livebait. There are also records of another introduced North American catfish in Extremadura, the Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) dating from the 1990s in the Badajoz reservoirs of Zújar and La Serena. Luckily there have been no more recent records. Lastly a third siluriforme, the European Catfish, also called Wels Catfish or Sheatfish (Silurus glanis), has also found its way into some Extremadura reservoirs. In Cedillo there was a one-off record from the 1990s and another was caught in Alcántara reservoir in 2008, this time within the Monfragüe National Park. In this case we are not talking about any old fish but a species that can grow 2.5 metres long and weigh over 100 kg! Native to the large rivers of Central Europe, it is a rapacious predator that has become highly prized by some fishermen, who insist on introducing it illegally wherever they can. Something akin to releasing lions or tigers in our dehesas.

The boom in introduced species contrasts sharply with the lamentable situation of our native species. Largely overlooked, these small denizens of our rivers often turn out to be surprisingly diverse. The latest studies continue to differentiate new species with tiny ranges; endemics have been discovered for Salamanca, Guadalajara and Málaga. In Extremadura the most similar case is the ray-finned species Cobitis vettonica, called Vettonian Spined-loach (Cobitis vettonica) in Spanish. It is exclusive to the catchment area of the river Alagón from which it takes its name, straddling the provinces of Salamanca and Cáceres, with its biggest populations in the rivers Alagón, Jerte and Ambroz.

References: - Pérez-Bote, J. L. 2006. Peces introducidos en Extremadura. Análisis histórico y tendencias de futuro. Revista de Estudios Extremeños 1:485-494 [PDF] - Pérez-Bote, J. L. & Roso, R. 2009. First record of the European catfish Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758 (Siluriformes, Siluridae) in the Alcántara reservoir (Tagus basin, Spain). Anales de Biología, 31:59-60. [PDF] - Leunda, P. M. et al. 2009. International Standardization of Common Names for Iberian Endemic Freshwater Fishes. Limnetica, 28:189-202. [PDF]

Subadult Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) catching a Black Bullhead Catfish (Ameiurus melas). Galisteo, Cáceres. 02-11-2010 (J. Prieta).

The above sequence of photos shows a Black Bullhead Catfish (Ameiurus melas) being caught and eaten by a Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). The photos would obviously win no prizes; neither is the observation anything out of the ordinary, since Cormorants are skilful fishers. The surprising factor is the place, a recently opened and shallow gravel pit where you wouldn't expect to find fish of this size yet. And the worrying aspect is that this gravel pit should already be occupied by an invasive species that is quickly spreading in native waters. In every single visit to this gravel pit we have seen successful Cormorant captures of Black Bullhead Catfish, which is also a prey species of Little Grebe and several heron species (Grey Heron, Little Egret, Great White Egret).

The Black Bullhead Catfish, native to North America belongs to the siluriformes order, which does not exist naturally on the Iberian Peninsula. Its biggest Extremadura populations are in the catchment areas of the rivers Tiétar and Alagón. As in so many other cases it has been introduced deliberately and also as the accidental result of escaped livebait. There are also records of another introduced North American catfish in Extremadura, the Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) dating from the 1990s in the Badajoz reservoirs of Zújar and La Serena. Luckily there have been no more recent records. Lastly a third siluriforme, the European Catfish, also called Wels Catfish or Sheatfish (Silurus glanis), has also found its way into some Extremadura reservoirs. In Cedillo there was a one-off record from the 1990s and another was caught in Alcántara reservoir in 2008, this time within the Monfragüe National Park. In this case we are not talking about any old fish but a species that can grow 2.5 metres long and weigh over 100 kg! Native to the large rivers of Central Europe, it is a rapacious predator that has become highly prized by some fishermen, who insist on introducing it illegally wherever they can. Something akin to releasing lions or tigers in our dehesas.

The boom in introduced species contrasts sharply with the lamentable situation of our native species. Largely overlooked, these small denizens of our rivers often turn out to be surprisingly diverse. The latest studies continue to differentiate new species with tiny ranges; endemics have been discovered for Salamanca, Guadalajara and Málaga. In Extremadura the most similar case is the ray-finned species Cobitis vettonica, called Vettonian Spined-loach (Cobitis vettonica) in Spanish. It is exclusive to the catchment area of the river Alagón from which it takes its name, straddling the provinces of Salamanca and Cáceres, with its biggest populations in the rivers Alagón, Jerte and Ambroz.

References: - Pérez-Bote, J. L. 2006. Peces introducidos en Extremadura. Análisis histórico y tendencias de futuro. Revista de Estudios Extremeños 1:485-494 [PDF] - Pérez-Bote, J. L. & Roso, R. 2009. First record of the European catfish Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758 (Siluriformes, Siluridae) in the Alcántara reservoir (Tagus basin, Spain). Anales de Biología, 31:59-60. [PDF] - Leunda, P. M. et al. 2009. International Standardization of Common Names for Iberian Endemic Freshwater Fishes. Limnetica, 28:189-202. [PDF]

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Starlings | Wordless Wednesday

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Last Few Days

I was Back up at Tholt e Will Plantation on Monday no Redpolls or Crossbills seen.

First bird in the net was a female Goldcrest a Control with a BTO ring on. Straight away i thought great it will be a bird ringed on the East Coast moving through. 

I text Kev to check to see if it was one of the Bird Observatory ring strings on the Calf of Man, these are separate to the Manx ringing group.

He came back later in the day to say yes it was ringed on the Calf on the 12 October this year so bang goes my theory. Never mind nice little movement of 19 Miles.

8 Long Tail Tits

1 Coal Tit

also ringed

On Sunday i drop Niki of shopping at St Johns and went down to Peel to try for some Gulls

in the big Moudry spring  trap

3 Herring Gulls Ringed

Yesterday started of at Ramsey harbour, it was very quite

1 Rock Pipit Colour ringed

I then went back to Peel

1 Female Mallard Ringed

2 More Herring Gulls colour ringed 

over 60 Herring Gulls now with Yellow Black Darvics on left leg

I was Back up at Tholt e Will Plantation on Monday no Redpolls or Crossbills seen.

First bird in the net was a female Goldcrest a Control with a BTO ring on. Straight away i thought great it will be a bird ringed on the East Coast moving through. 

I text Kev to check to see if it was one of the Bird Observatory ring strings on the Calf of Man, these are separate to the Manx ringing group.

He came back later in the day to say yes it was ringed on the Calf on the 12 October this year so bang goes my theory. Never mind nice little movement of 19 Miles.

8 Long Tail Tits

1 Coal Tit

also ringed

On Sunday i drop Niki of shopping at St Johns and went down to Peel to try for some Gulls

in the big Moudry spring  trap

3 Herring Gulls Ringed

Yesterday started of at Ramsey harbour, it was very quite

1 Rock Pipit Colour ringed

I then went back to Peel

1 Female Mallard Ringed

2 More Herring Gulls colour ringed 

over 60 Herring Gulls now with Yellow Black Darvics on left leg

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

De-Ice Water for Garden Birds

The last few days in our part of Staffordshire, England have started with cold and frosty mornings. One of the first jobs to be done by either Mrs Pecker or myself, is to de-ice the water for our Garden Birds.
It is essential in all weathers and throughout the year, that the birds have access to water both for drinking and for bathing. Dipping ourselves into a bath of cold water on these cold

The last few days in our part of Staffordshire, England have started with cold and frosty mornings. One of the first jobs to be done by either Mrs Pecker or myself, is to de-ice the water for our Garden Birds.
It is essential in all weathers and throughout the year, that the birds have access to water both for drinking and for bathing. Dipping ourselves into a bath of cold water on these cold

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

THE JOURNEY OF "SAHEL", AN EGYPTIAN VULTURE

Bird migration is a fascinating subject. We watch with awe as birds of all sizes clock up journeys of thousands of kilometres under their own steam in only a few days, living each year in two (or sometimes even three) different continents. The new technologies, especially satellite tracking, have revolutionised our knowledge of migration. We can now keep abreast of it day by day, find out the routes used, the speed and height flown at, the stopover points, etc. All you need to do is drop into a website. Sitting comfortably in front of a PC screen, anyone nowadays can thrill to the epic journeys, not always with a happy outcome, of storks, raptors, gulls and waders, courtesy of generous promoters who furnish us with the information. In Spain, unfortunately, this information is not always so forthcoming. It's easier to keep track of birds marked in Holland, Estonia or even Australia than others born in our own country. As always, happily, there are exceptions. WWF and Fundación Biodiversidad have set up a magnificent website we can dip into at will to marvel at the odyssey of four Segovia Egyptian Vultures, one immature male and three adults (two females and one male). This is the second year of the project. Unfortunately, one of the stars of the first journey, the male Atlas, died poisoned in Siruela (Badajoz). The female Vega survived and is once more being spied on this second time around.

We recommend dropping into the website "el viaje del alimoche" before reading the following nutshell account of the journey of Sahel, the only inmature of these four Egyptian Vultures and the only one that passed through Extremadura. All of them are now in Mauritania, in the same zone where they wintered in 2009, after clocking up 3000 km, sometimes flying at 95 km/hour at a height of 2000 metres. Sahel was the first to leave the Hoces de Riaza (Segovia) on 30 August, the three adults then following suit on 12 and 15 September. It first headed west for Salamanca, where it spent some time near Ciudad Rodrigo. The real journey begun on 5 September when it headed south through the Sierra de Gata (Descargamaría, Santibáñez el Alto), the Cáceres plains (Coria, Portaje, Garrovillas, Cáceres) and the province of Badajoz (Mérida and Zafra). On 7 September Sahel entered Andalucía; after overflying Sevilla it reached the Straits of Gibraltar on 8 September. In two days it had crossed the whole 400 km of Extremadura and needed only four to leave Spain completely. On 9 September its stepped up its pace, arriving at the Moroccan Atlas mountains after crossing the strait in a nonstop 500 km stage. Here it rested up a while to gird its loins for the Sahara crossing. On 12 September it entered the great desert, passing through Algeria and Mali before reaching its final destination in the Mauritanian Sahel on 20 September. A sixteen-day voyage. Its virtual companions took a little longer, reaching the same destination between 27 and 30 September. Best of luck to all of them. We'll see you next spring.

Read other Egyptian Vulture entries in Birds of Extremadura.

Bird migration is a fascinating subject. We watch with awe as birds of all sizes clock up journeys of thousands of kilometres under their own steam in only a few days, living each year in two (or sometimes even three) different continents. The new technologies, especially satellite tracking, have revolutionised our knowledge of migration. We can now keep abreast of it day by day, find out the routes used, the speed and height flown at, the stopover points, etc. All you need to do is drop into a website. Sitting comfortably in front of a PC screen, anyone nowadays can thrill to the epic journeys, not always with a happy outcome, of storks, raptors, gulls and waders, courtesy of generous promoters who furnish us with the information. In Spain, unfortunately, this information is not always so forthcoming. It's easier to keep track of birds marked in Holland, Estonia or even Australia than others born in our own country. As always, happily, there are exceptions. WWF and Fundación Biodiversidad have set up a magnificent website we can dip into at will to marvel at the odyssey of four Segovia Egyptian Vultures, one immature male and three adults (two females and one male). This is the second year of the project. Unfortunately, one of the stars of the first journey, the male Atlas, died poisoned in Siruela (Badajoz). The female Vega survived and is once more being spied on this second time around.

We recommend dropping into the website "el viaje del alimoche" before reading the following nutshell account of the journey of Sahel, the only inmature of these four Egyptian Vultures and the only one that passed through Extremadura. All of them are now in Mauritania, in the same zone where they wintered in 2009, after clocking up 3000 km, sometimes flying at 95 km/hour at a height of 2000 metres. Sahel was the first to leave the Hoces de Riaza (Segovia) on 30 August, the three adults then following suit on 12 and 15 September. It first headed west for Salamanca, where it spent some time near Ciudad Rodrigo. The real journey begun on 5 September when it headed south through the Sierra de Gata (Descargamaría, Santibáñez el Alto), the Cáceres plains (Coria, Portaje, Garrovillas, Cáceres) and the province of Badajoz (Mérida and Zafra). On 7 September Sahel entered Andalucía; after overflying Sevilla it reached the Straits of Gibraltar on 8 September. In two days it had crossed the whole 400 km of Extremadura and needed only four to leave Spain completely. On 9 September its stepped up its pace, arriving at the Moroccan Atlas mountains after crossing the strait in a nonstop 500 km stage. Here it rested up a while to gird its loins for the Sahara crossing. On 12 September it entered the great desert, passing through Algeria and Mali before reaching its final destination in the Mauritanian Sahel on 20 September. A sixteen-day voyage. Its virtual companions took a little longer, reaching the same destination between 27 and 30 September. Best of luck to all of them. We'll see you next spring.

Read other Egyptian Vulture entries in Birds of Extremadura.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Out and about this week

No Ringing news but its been a good week for birding with a Black Redstart down at Ramsey Harbour

this week and a Water Pipit as well.

Black Redstart

Water Pipit

Nice drive round today with 6 Red Throated Divers up at The Point of Ayre

and 14 Goldeneye in Ramsey Bay

Red Throated Diver

14 Goldeneye Ramsey Bay

No Ringing news but its been a good week for birding with a Black Redstart down at Ramsey Harbour

this week and a Water Pipit as well.

Black Redstart

Water Pipit

Nice drive round today with 6 Red Throated Divers up at The Point of Ayre

and 14 Goldeneye in Ramsey Bay

Red Throated Diver

14 Goldeneye Ramsey Bay

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Sand Martin Control

Kev sent me the details of the Sandmartin i controlled at the point of Ayre back on the 29 July this year 

interesting stuff

Sand Martin L159213 was originally ringed at Carey's Sand Pit, Ballycon Edenderry, Offaly, EIRE on 05th June 2010. It was caught at a breeding colony and was an adult female with a brood patch indicating it was nesting.

It was then caught by me near the Point of Ayre at a breeding colony on 29th July and 8th August 2010. It was still showing a brood patch and was believed to be nesting there. A distance of 223km and 55 days between captures.

A very interesting movement mid-season. Had its nesting attempt failed at the first colony in Eire and moved on, locating the colony near the Point of Ayre?

See Kev's Blog for some details on the Storm Petrel Controls from this year.

Kev sent me the details of the Sandmartin i controlled at the point of Ayre back on the 29 July this year 

interesting stuff

Sand Martin L159213 was originally ringed at Carey's Sand Pit, Ballycon Edenderry, Offaly, EIRE on 05th June 2010. It was caught at a breeding colony and was an adult female with a brood patch indicating it was nesting.

It was then caught by me near the Point of Ayre at a breeding colony on 29th July and 8th August 2010. It was still showing a brood patch and was believed to be nesting there. A distance of 223km and 55 days between captures.

A very interesting movement mid-season. Had its nesting attempt failed at the first colony in Eire and moved on, locating the colony near the Point of Ayre?

See Kev's Blog for some details on the Storm Petrel Controls from this year.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

ARE RESERVOIRS GOOD OR BAD FOR BIRDS?

Sierra Brava Reservoir, Zorita, Cáceres (Ángel Sánchez)

Every month this blog publishes a list of the most notable observations of the previous month. Even the most cursory glance at one of these monthly lists shows a striking fact: the sheer number of these observations that are made in reservoirs. The percentage was particularly high last October, at about 80% of the total. As ecologists, however, we always come out strongly against any new reservoir project. Why the paradox? If reservoirs are so bad why do we spend so much time birdwatching in them? This begs a question we cannot afford to shirk.

The answer is at once very simple and very difficult, simple in principle and difficult as it actually pans out in practice. Basically, reservoirs might be good wintering and passage sites but they are very poor breeding grounds. The huge sheet of water seen from the air pulls down many migrating birds for a pit-stop, especially wildfowl and other aquatic birds like ducks, geese and waders. On winter nights these reservoirs can also be excellent roosting sites, especially for such an iconic Extremadura bird as the Crane, and we all flock to reservoirs like Rosarito and Sierra Brava to watch gobsmacked the huge incoming flocks of these magnificent birds. As breeding sites, however, reservoirs are pretty hopeless. The everchanging banks give lakeside vegetation no chance to take hold, making it very difficult or impossible for any phragmites reedbeds to build up, a sine qua non for typical wetland species to breed there. There are exceptions of course. Arrocampo, due to its particular purpose of cooling the Almaráz nuclear power plant, has to hold its water levels fairly steady. This has allowed at least a substantial reedmace bed to grow there, if not a phragmites reedbed. This has now become home to breeding species like Purple Heron and Purple Swamphen, scarce elsewhere in the region. In Rosarito Reservoir, straddling the Cáceres-Toledo border, there is now a large and stable Cormorant colony. Little Terns sometimes try to breed there, without much success. In general, however, reservoirs provide few birds with breeding territory but they wipe out huge swathes of it for others. The amount of breeding grounds that are lost by such a sudden and aggressive act as flooding a whole river valley is incalculable and irreversible.

Hence the dichotomy: reservoirs can be great wintering sites (by day and night) and migration stopover points, but at what cost to the birds that previously bred in the area? The huge rafts of ducks floating on the Sierra Brava reservoir are a staggering sight. But most of them don't even feed there, simply resting up there before winging out to feed on the surrounding rice fields. The Cranes that nowadays roost in our reservoirs have almost certainly been roosting in the general area for centuries; it's just that nowadays they are concentrated in an area that, well managed, offers them greater security. (Badly managed, reservoirs might even turn out to be harmful for them. Take the case of Rosarito. Even though it is a SPA site, fishermen are allowed to drive their cars right to the water's edge and quads and motorbikes scramble on the sand when water levels are low, precisely when the Cranes are arriving tired from their autumn odyssey and are in greatest need of rest). The rare waders that turn up on the muddy edges of our reservoirs, however interesting they might be (and we all might twitch for them as a once-in-a-lifetime event) are largely irrelevant. They could almost certainly have rested up equally well in thousands of other sites. But the Great and Little Bustards that have been driven out for good?

Neither is it all about birds. Damning rivers has dire effects for fish-life; hence Extremadura's rather poor ichtyofauna. Fish are in fact the most threatened group of vertebrates in the region. Our otters are probably also hard put to deal with all the shifting water levels and changes in the region's water courses. The biggest known heronry in Extremadura was drowned for ever beneath the waters of the Sierra Brava reservoir, now a paradoxical birdwatching Mecca.

The damage is particularly severe when a reservoir project involves a site of great importance for a threatened species, like the Monteagudo project in the River Tiétar (Ávila), which would destroy breeding territory of Imperial Eagle. If, god forbid, it should go ahead, I guess that in 10 or 20 years, like the fallible mortals we are, always looking for the quick fix, we would all wend our way there to tick off the latest rarity that turns up on spring or autumn passage. But I'm equally sure that all of us, put on the spot, would gladly swap this juicy but one-off sighting for the Imperial Eagle or even the buzzard or scores of scrub warblers that bred there in the past and have now had to look for other outlets in an ever-dwindling range of possibilities.

Dave Langlois. Villanueva de la Vera

Sierra Brava Reservoir, Zorita, Cáceres (Ángel Sánchez)

Every month this blog publishes a list of the most notable observations of the previous month. Even the most cursory glance at one of these monthly lists shows a striking fact: the sheer number of these observations that are made in reservoirs. The percentage was particularly high last October, at about 80% of the total. As ecologists, however, we always come out strongly against any new reservoir project. Why the paradox? If reservoirs are so bad why do we spend so much time birdwatching in them? This begs a question we cannot afford to shirk.

The answer is at once very simple and very difficult, simple in principle and difficult as it actually pans out in practice. Basically, reservoirs might be good wintering and passage sites but they are very poor breeding grounds. The huge sheet of water seen from the air pulls down many migrating birds for a pit-stop, especially wildfowl and other aquatic birds like ducks, geese and waders. On winter nights these reservoirs can also be excellent roosting sites, especially for such an iconic Extremadura bird as the Crane, and we all flock to reservoirs like Rosarito and Sierra Brava to watch gobsmacked the huge incoming flocks of these magnificent birds. As breeding sites, however, reservoirs are pretty hopeless. The everchanging banks give lakeside vegetation no chance to take hold, making it very difficult or impossible for any phragmites reedbeds to build up, a sine qua non for typical wetland species to breed there. There are exceptions of course. Arrocampo, due to its particular purpose of cooling the Almaráz nuclear power plant, has to hold its water levels fairly steady. This has allowed at least a substantial reedmace bed to grow there, if not a phragmites reedbed. This has now become home to breeding species like Purple Heron and Purple Swamphen, scarce elsewhere in the region. In Rosarito Reservoir, straddling the Cáceres-Toledo border, there is now a large and stable Cormorant colony. Little Terns sometimes try to breed there, without much success. In general, however, reservoirs provide few birds with breeding territory but they wipe out huge swathes of it for others. The amount of breeding grounds that are lost by such a sudden and aggressive act as flooding a whole river valley is incalculable and irreversible.

Hence the dichotomy: reservoirs can be great wintering sites (by day and night) and migration stopover points, but at what cost to the birds that previously bred in the area? The huge rafts of ducks floating on the Sierra Brava reservoir are a staggering sight. But most of them don't even feed there, simply resting up there before winging out to feed on the surrounding rice fields. The Cranes that nowadays roost in our reservoirs have almost certainly been roosting in the general area for centuries; it's just that nowadays they are concentrated in an area that, well managed, offers them greater security. (Badly managed, reservoirs might even turn out to be harmful for them. Take the case of Rosarito. Even though it is a SPA site, fishermen are allowed to drive their cars right to the water's edge and quads and motorbikes scramble on the sand when water levels are low, precisely when the Cranes are arriving tired from their autumn odyssey and are in greatest need of rest). The rare waders that turn up on the muddy edges of our reservoirs, however interesting they might be (and we all might twitch for them as a once-in-a-lifetime event) are largely irrelevant. They could almost certainly have rested up equally well in thousands of other sites. But the Great and Little Bustards that have been driven out for good?

Neither is it all about birds. Damning rivers has dire effects for fish-life; hence Extremadura's rather poor ichtyofauna. Fish are in fact the most threatened group of vertebrates in the region. Our otters are probably also hard put to deal with all the shifting water levels and changes in the region's water courses. The biggest known heronry in Extremadura was drowned for ever beneath the waters of the Sierra Brava reservoir, now a paradoxical birdwatching Mecca.

The damage is particularly severe when a reservoir project involves a site of great importance for a threatened species, like the Monteagudo project in the River Tiétar (Ávila), which would destroy breeding territory of Imperial Eagle. If, god forbid, it should go ahead, I guess that in 10 or 20 years, like the fallible mortals we are, always looking for the quick fix, we would all wend our way there to tick off the latest rarity that turns up on spring or autumn passage. But I'm equally sure that all of us, put on the spot, would gladly swap this juicy but one-off sighting for the Imperial Eagle or even the buzzard or scores of scrub warblers that bred there in the past and have now had to look for other outlets in an ever-dwindling range of possibilities.

Dave Langlois. Villanueva de la Vera

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Something X tra Special

After 3 days of Gale force winds today was a belter. I started down at Ramsey for Rock Pipits  with no joy at all. I then thought no wind lets get a net up for Redpoll at one of the Plantations. 

3 hours later and only 4 Goldcrests and a Gt Tit ringed :-(    7 Crossbill flew into the area :-)

They perched high up about 50ft from the net, now me and Andy back in Yorkshire have tried to catch these birds so many times. They have been sat right by the nets on many an occasion and never gone in.

I had my big lens with me today so i decided to get some shots of them.

As i got closer and closer i realized i was near the net . I walked away

as i looked back 2 males and 2 females flew towards net.

i waited for a couple of minutes and saw 2 males and 1 female fly away.

As i walked to the net there in the top shelve was the 2nd female. 

what a bird

see more at www.grayimages.co.uk

After 3 days of Gale force winds today was a belter. I started down at Ramsey for Rock Pipits  with no joy at all. I then thought no wind lets get a net up for Redpoll at one of the Plantations. 

3 hours later and only 4 Goldcrests and a Gt Tit ringed :-(    7 Crossbill flew into the area :-)

They perched high up about 50ft from the net, now me and Andy back in Yorkshire have tried to catch these birds so many times. They have been sat right by the nets on many an occasion and never gone in.

I had my big lens with me today so i decided to get some shots of them.

As i got closer and closer i realized i was near the net . I walked away

as i looked back 2 males and 2 females flew towards net.

i waited for a couple of minutes and saw 2 males and 1 female fly away.

As i walked to the net there in the top shelve was the 2nd female. 

what a bird

see more at www.grayimages.co.uk

reade more... Résuméabuiyad