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The Australia Birding List

Updated on Tuesday, November 27 at 09:01 AM ET
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We tried scanning slides on our Epson Perfection 1250 which has a slide 
scanning attachment (one at a time). The maximum resolution was 1200 dpi. The 
results were not satisfactory either for resolution or colour rendition. The 
pictures looked "odd" and no amount of playing around in Adobe seemed to make 
them look right. 


We are just about to try scanning with a (borrowed) Epson Perfection V700. This 
will scan at up to 6400 dpi and will do 12 slides at a time, but 12 slides 
takes 85 minutes if you are scanning at 4800 dpi with dust and scratch removal 
etc. Its going to take a long time to do our slide collection ........ 


Will let you know how we get on. 

Rosemary

Wales, UK

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Peteriw 
  To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au 
  Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 11:56 PM
  Subject: [Birding-Aus] slide scanners and/or services


  Hi all
 Slightly off-topic (but not entirely, as most of my slides are of birds) - I 
have close to 10,000 slides and was thinking of converting them to digital 
images. I've started investigating slide scanners but the thought of the amount 
of work involved is slightly offputting. 

 Is there anyone who has used and is prepared to comment on a commercial slide 
scanning service? A simple google lists many australian-based services with 
vastly varying prices. 

 Alternatively, is there anyone who has recently purchased a good quality slide 
scanner and can provide feedback? 

  Thanks in advance,

  cheers
  Peter Waanders
  Waikerie, SA



  ________________________________________________

  This message was sent using Dodo Webmail - www.dodo.com.au



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==============================

There's alot more to it than resolution. A dedicated slide scanner  
like the Nikon will give a much better scan plus alot of them have  
dust removal software in them which can save alot of time.
I tried to scan a whole bunch of transparencies on my mates Epson  
(might have been the 4870) a couple of years ago and gave up as the  
results were pretty ordinary. Nothing wrong with the file size, just  
couldn't get the tonal range etc.
As a photographer i am perhaps more picky than others though.
Make sure you test whichever model out before you buy it. Big waste  
of time buying a scanner and scanning a bunch of stuff only to find  
that the results are not what you were expecting and have to buy a  
more expensive one as well!

Cheers,
Dave



On 27/11/2007, at 5:31 PM, L&L Knight wrote:

> I bought an Epson Perfection 4870 photo [flatbed scanner] years  
> ago.  It does all sorts of positives [including 120 mm format],  
> negatives, photos, documents and can scan text.  It can do 8 slides  
> at a time [up to 1200 dpi] and cost about half the price of a  
> Coolscan V.
>
> Unless you intend to print A1 pictures, I'd ask why you'd want to  
> buy a dedicated slide scanner.
>
> Regards, Laurie.
>
> On Tuesday, November 27, 2007, at 04:08  PM, Russell Woodford wrote:
>
>> Hi Peter
>>
>> If you can afford to take that many slides to a professional lab  
>> it will be by far the easiest option and of course you'll get  
>> great results.  However, the costs are quite high, and may be  
>> prohibitive for such a large number of slides.  Other options  
>> include a slide scanning attachment for a flatbed scanner or a  
>> dedicated slide scanner (most of them will also do 35mm film).
>>
>> I've used a Nikon Coolscan V (around $1200) - fortunately my  
>> school has one that I can take home occasionally. They produce  
>> outstanding quality but you have to be prepared to spend a bit of  
>> time getting the settings right for your images and for the output  
>> you want.  If you are after high resolution digitals then make  
>> sure you have plenty of storage - at maximum resolution of 4000  
>> pixels per inch I was generating TIFF images at around 66Mb!
>> The main problem with this type of scanner is that you have to do  
>> each slide separately - again, the higher resolution scans take  
>> longer, and I'm not sure how many months you are planning to work  
>> on this > fulltime!
>> I can't remember how long it took to scan at about 300dpi, but I  
>> don't think you would be able to "rush" them through at more than  
>> about 50 an hour, if that.
>>
>> I haven't tried flatbed scanners for slides, but I guess you could  
>> scan several slides at once, and if so, get the job done in fewer  
>> years than with a dedicated slide scanner ...
>>
>> Russell
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Russell Woodford
>> Birding-Aus List Owner
>> russell AT birding-aus.org
>> Geelong   Victoria   Australia
>> http://www.birding-aus.org
>>
>>
>>
>> On 27/11/2007, at 10:56 AM, Peteriw wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all
>>> Slightly off-topic (but not entirely, as most of my slides are of  
>>> birds) - I have close to 10,000 slides and was thinking of  
>>> converting them to digital images. I've started investigating  
>>> slide scanners but the thought of the amount of work involved is  
>>> slightly offputting.
>>> Is there anyone who has used and is prepared to comment on a  
>>> commercial slide scanning service? A simple google lists many  
>>> australian-based services with vastly varying prices.
>>> Alternatively, is there anyone who has recently purchased a good  
>>> quality slide scanner and can provide feedback?
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>
>>> cheers
>>> Peter Waanders
>>> Waikerie, SA
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ________________________________________________
>>>
>>> This message was sent using Dodo Webmail - www.dodo.com.au
>>> ===============================
>>> www.birding-aus.org
>>> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>>>
>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>> send the message:
>>> unsubscribe
>>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>>> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
>>> ===============================
>>
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Perhaps you meant "Western O'Reilly's" Bristlebird

On Tuesday, November 27, 2007, at 04:53  PM, Fiona Anderson wrote:

>
> Yes sorry - of course I mean Eastern bristlebird.  I actually 
> corrected by original spelling which was half-way between!!!  OOPs
>
>
> From: jgraff2 AT hotmail.comTo: fea2003 AT hotmail.comSubject: RE: 
> [Birding-Aus] Lamington SEQ - thanksDate: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:49:34 
> +1030
>
>
>> From: fea2003 AT hotmail.com> To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au; 
>> susan.anderson AT dse.vic.gov.au; info AT kirrama.com.au; 
>> psheehan50 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:25:03 +1100> 
>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Lamington SEQ - thanks> We did not try for the 
>> Rufous Scrubbird and although we had a location for the Western 
>> Bristlebird we were unsuccessful. A trip to Barren Grounds will be 
>> called for!I assume you mean Eastern Bristlebird? CheersJohn Graff
>

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===============================

Gooday all
 
I have a flat bed scanner with a facility in the lid of the scanner in
which one can fit negatives or slides and scan them. The unit is a
popular name brand. The results are generally awful but occasionally
something scans OK. A friend has a dedicated slide scanner, Nikon I
think, that apparently gives excellent results.
 
Greg Little
 
Greg Little - Principal Consultant
General Flora and Fauna
PO Box 526
Wallsend, NSW, 2287, Australia
Ph    
Fx    
HYPERLINK "http://www.gff.com.au"www.gff.com.au
-----Original Message-----
From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
[mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Peteriw
Sent: Tuesday, 27 November 2007 10:56 AM
To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
Subject: [Birding-Aus] slide scanners and/or services
 
Hi all
Slightly off-topic (but not entirely, as most of my slides are of birds)
- I have close to 10,000 slides and was thinking of converting them to
digital images. I've started investigating slide scanners but the
thought of the amount of work involved is slightly offputting. 
Is there anyone who has used and is prepared to comment on a commercial
slide scanning service? A simple google lists many australian-based
services with vastly varying prices. 
Alternatively, is there anyone who has recently purchased a good quality
slide scanner and can provide feedback?
Thanks in advance,

cheers
Peter Waanders
Waikerie, SA


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Checked by AVG Free Edition.
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26/11/2007 10:50 AM

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Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
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===============================

russell and Peter,

A batch attachment is available for the Nikon Coolscan.

does batches of fifty.

Peter
On 27/11/2007, at 4:08 PM, Russell Woodford wrote:

> Hi Peter
>
> If you can afford to take that many slides to a professional lab it  
> will be by far the easiest option and of course you'll get great  
> results.  However, the costs are quite high, and may be prohibitive  
> for such a large number of slides.  Other options include a slide  
> scanning attachment for a flatbed scanner or a dedicated slide  
> scanner (most of them will also do 35mm film).
>
> I've used a Nikon Coolscan V (around $1200) - fortunately my school  
> has one that I can take home occasionally. They produce outstanding  
> quality but you have to be prepared to spend a bit of time getting  
> the settings right for your images and for the output you want.  If  
> you are after high resolution digitals then make sure you have  
> plenty of storage - at maximum resolution of 4000 pixels per inch I  
> was generating TIFF images at around 66Mb!
> The main problem with this type of scanner is that you have to do  
> each slide separately - again, the higher resolution scans take  
> longer, and I'm not sure how many months you are planning to work  
> on this fulltime!
> I can't remember how long it took to scan at about 300dpi, but I  
> don't think you would be able to "rush" them through at more than  
> about 50 an hour, if that.
>
> I haven't tried flatbed scanners for slides, but I guess you could  
> scan several slides at once, and if so, get the job done in fewer  
> years than with a dedicated slide scanner ...
>
> Russell
>
>
>
>
>
> Russell Woodford
> Birding-Aus List Owner
> russell AT birding-aus.org
> Geelong   Victoria   Australia
> http://www.birding-aus.org
>
>
>
> On 27/11/2007, at 10:56 AM, Peteriw wrote:
>
>> Hi all
>> Slightly off-topic (but not entirely, as most of my slides are of  
>> birds) - I have close to 10,000 slides and was thinking of  
>> converting them to digital images. I've started investigating  
>> slide scanners but the thought of the amount of work involved is  
>> slightly offputting.
>> Is there anyone who has used and is prepared to comment on a  
>> commercial slide scanning service? A simple google lists many  
>> australian-based services with vastly varying prices.
>> Alternatively, is there anyone who has recently purchased a good  
>> quality slide scanner and can provide feedback?
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> cheers
>> Peter Waanders
>> Waikerie, SA
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________________
>>
>> This message was sent using Dodo Webmail - www.dodo.com.au
>> ===============================
>> www.birding-aus.org
>> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>>
>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>> send the message:
>> unsubscribe
>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
>> ===============================
>
> -- 
> This email and any attachments may be confidential and if you are  
> not the intended recipient, you must
> not disclose or use the information in this email. If received in  
> error, please notify us immediately and
> delete the email and all copies. The College does not guarantee  
> that this email is virus or error free. The
> attached files are provided, and may only be used, on the basis  
> that the user assumes all responsibility for
> any loss, damage or consequence resulting directly from the use of  
> the attached files, whether caused by
> the negligence of the sender or not. The content and opinions in  
> this email are not necessarily those of
> the College.
> ===============================
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,send the message:
> unsubscribe(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
> ===============================

===============================
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===============================

Yes sorry - of course I mean Eastern bristlebird. I actually corrected by 
original spelling which was half-way between!!! OOPs 



From: jgraff2 AT hotmail.comTo: fea2003 AT hotmail.comSubject: RE: [Birding-Aus] 
Lamington SEQ - thanksDate: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:49:34 +1030 



> From: fea2003 AT hotmail.com> To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au; 
susan.anderson AT dse.vic.gov.au; info AT kirrama.com.au; psheehan50 AT hotmail.com> 
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:25:03 +1100> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Lamington SEQ - 
thanks> We did not try for the Rufous Scrubbird and although we had a location 
for the Western Bristlebird we were unsuccessful. A trip to Barren Grounds will 
be called for!I assume you mean Eastern Bristlebird? CheersJohn Graff 


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==============================

I bought an Epson Perfection 4870 photo [flatbed scanner] years ago.  
It does all sorts of positives [including 120 mm format], negatives, 
photos, documents and can scan text.  It can do 8 slides at a time [up 
to 1200 dpi] and cost about half the price of a Coolscan V.

Unless you intend to print A1 pictures, I'd ask why you'd want to buy a 
dedicated slide scanner.

Regards, Laurie.

On Tuesday, November 27, 2007, at 04:08  PM, Russell Woodford wrote:

> Hi Peter
>
> If you can afford to take that many slides to a professional lab it 
> will be by far the easiest option and of course you'll get great 
> results.  However, the costs are quite high, and may be prohibitive 
> for such a large number of slides.  Other options include a slide 
> scanning attachment for a flatbed scanner or a dedicated slide scanner 
> (most of them will also do 35mm film).
>
> I've used a Nikon Coolscan V (around $1200) - fortunately my school 
> has one that I can take home occasionally. They produce outstanding 
> quality but you have to be prepared to spend a bit of time getting the 
> settings right for your images and for the output you want.  If you 
> are after high resolution digitals then make sure you have plenty of 
> storage - at maximum resolution of 4000 pixels per inch I was 
> generating TIFF images at around 66Mb!
> The main problem with this type of scanner is that you have to do each 
> slide separately - again, the higher resolution scans take longer, and 
> I'm not sure how many months you are planning to work on this > fulltime!
> I can't remember how long it took to scan at about 300dpi, but I don't 
> think you would be able to "rush" them through at more than about 50 
> an hour, if that.
>
> I haven't tried flatbed scanners for slides, but I guess you could 
> scan several slides at once, and if so, get the job done in fewer 
> years than with a dedicated slide scanner ...
>
> Russell
>
>
>
>
>
> Russell Woodford
> Birding-Aus List Owner
> russell AT birding-aus.org
> Geelong   Victoria   Australia
> http://www.birding-aus.org
>
>
>
> On 27/11/2007, at 10:56 AM, Peteriw wrote:
>
>> Hi all
>> Slightly off-topic (but not entirely, as most of my slides are of 
>> birds) - I have close to 10,000 slides and was thinking of converting 
>> them to digital images. I've started investigating slide scanners but 
>> the thought of the amount of work involved is slightly offputting.
>> Is there anyone who has used and is prepared to comment on a 
>> commercial slide scanning service? A simple google lists many 
>> australian-based services with vastly varying prices.
>> Alternatively, is there anyone who has recently purchased a good 
>> quality slide scanner and can provide feedback?
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> cheers
>> Peter Waanders
>> Waikerie, SA
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________________
>>
>> This message was sent using Dodo Webmail - www.dodo.com.au
>> ===============================
>> www.birding-aus.org
>> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>>
>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>> send the message:
>> unsubscribe
>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
>> ===============================
>
> -- 
> This email and any attachments may be confidential and if you are not 
> the intended recipient, you must
> not disclose or use the information in this email. If received in 
> error, please notify us immediately and
> delete the email and all copies. The College does not guarantee that 
> this email is virus or error free. The
> attached files are provided, and may only be used, on the basis that 
> the user assumes all responsibility for
> any loss, damage or consequence resulting directly from the use of the 
> attached files, whether caused by
> the negligence of the sender or not. The content and opinions in this 
> email are not necessarily those of
> the College.
> ===============================
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,send the message:
> unsubscribe(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
> ===============================
>

===============================
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===============================

Hi Peter

If you can afford to take that many slides to a professional lab it  
will be by far the easiest option and of course you'll get great  
results.  However, the costs are quite high, and may be prohibitive  
for such a large number of slides.  Other options include a slide  
scanning attachment for a flatbed scanner or a dedicated slide  
scanner (most of them will also do 35mm film).

I've used a Nikon Coolscan V (around $1200) - fortunately my school  
has one that I can take home occasionally. They produce outstanding  
quality but you have to be prepared to spend a bit of time getting  
the settings right for your images and for the output you want.  If  
you are after high resolution digitals then make sure you have plenty  
of storage - at maximum resolution of 4000 pixels per inch I was  
generating TIFF images at around 66Mb!
The main problem with this type of scanner is that you have to do  
each slide separately - again, the higher resolution scans take  
longer, and I'm not sure how many months you are planning to work on  
this fulltime!
I can't remember how long it took to scan at about 300dpi, but I  
don't think you would be able to "rush" them through at more than  
about 50 an hour, if that.

I haven't tried flatbed scanners for slides, but I guess you could  
scan several slides at once, and if so, get the job done in fewer  
years than with a dedicated slide scanner ...

Russell





Russell Woodford
Birding-Aus List Owner
russell AT birding-aus.org
Geelong   Victoria   Australia
http://www.birding-aus.org



On 27/11/2007, at 10:56 AM, Peteriw wrote:

> Hi all
> Slightly off-topic (but not entirely, as most of my slides are of  
> birds) - I have close to 10,000 slides and was thinking of  
> converting them to digital images. I've started investigating slide  
> scanners but the thought of the amount of work involved is slightly  
> offputting.
> Is there anyone who has used and is prepared to comment on a  
> commercial slide scanning service? A simple google lists many  
> australian-based services with vastly varying prices.
> Alternatively, is there anyone who has recently purchased a good  
> quality slide scanner and can provide feedback?
> Thanks in advance,
>
> cheers
> Peter Waanders
> Waikerie, SA
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
>
> This message was sent using Dodo Webmail - www.dodo.com.au
> ===============================
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
> ===============================

-- 
This email and any attachments may be confidential and if you are not the 
intended recipient, you must 


not disclose or use the information in this email. If received in error, please 
notify us immediately and 


delete the email and all copies. The College does not guarantee that this email 
is virus or error free. The 


attached files are provided, and may only be used, on the basis that the user 
assumes all responsibility for 


any loss, damage or consequence resulting directly from the use of the attached 
files, whether caused by 


the negligence of the sender or not. The content and opinions in this email are 
not necessarily those of 


the College.
===============================
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===============================

Hello Danny,

I did not "file" a report, but 24/10 to 31/10 I spent a great week with my 
in-laws from Botswana at Bowra Station, just out of Cunnamulla.
One of our superb views was of a Painted Snipe (male) by a series of narrow 
pools (part of a creekbed), on just the one occasion, an area with also a 
large 'mob' of Black-tailed Native Hen. By the time we left, quite a bit of 
the water was already gone. I believe they have had rain since, but don't 
know how much. Others before us had seen a couple of P S along a bore-drain, 
which had flooded a small area.

((We had all up on the property itself 103 species, including ones nesting 
or with young. None of the "special" raptors, whatever that may mean, but 
they are around, and no Redthroat. Among others, M.M. Cockatoo, Mulga 
Parrot, Bourke's Parrot (including a flock of 28, with 1 Budgerigar in tow), 
Chestnut-crowned and Hall's Babbler, Crimson Chat, Spotted Bowerbird (one 
resident with it's active bower), Red-backed Kingfisher, Crested Bellbird, 
Red-capped and Hooded Robin, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, White-browed 
Tree-creeper, Red-browed Pardalote, Spotted and Owlet Nightjar, and Ground 
Cuckoo-shrike. Ian and Julie Mclaren most helpful. Must return early 
Spring!))
Lots og Grey and some Red Kangaroo, plus Feral pigs and goats :-(

Best wishes,
Peter Madvig


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Danny Rogers" 
To: "Jill Dening" ; "birding-aus" 

Cc: "Chris Tzaros" 
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 12:11 PM
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Re: Are the Painted Snipe still at Cove Rd, 
Woodford,SEQld?


> Hi Jill,
>
> Many thanks for the extra details on those Painted Snipe.
>
> I wouldn't be surprised if the recent rain and rise in water levels has 
> caused the birds to move on. I think shorebirds of inland wetlands are 
> quite sensitive to water level rises; if the water goes up 3 cm or so, 
> then the feeding areas they've been using are suddenly too deep to be 
> accessible, and it takes benthos a little while to colonise the new 
> flooded areas at the edges.
>
> Best wishes, Danny
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jill Dening" 
> To: "birding-aus" 
> Cc: "Chris Tzaros" ; "Danny Rogers" 
> 
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:38 AM
> Subject: Are the Painted Snipe still at Cove Rd, Woodford, SEQld?
>
>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> I was at the Cove Road site of Painted Snipe yesterday with friends, and 
>> despite four birders searching with two scopes for, I suppose, almost an 
>> hour, we didn't see the Painted Snipe. We thought we might have found 
>> them when we saw five lumps in the grass, but after much waiting, each 
>> time a lump surfaced, it turned out to be a Latham's Snipe.
>>
>> There has been more rain in the district (no complaints, I assure you) 
>> and the water level in the dam now covers the spot (near the base of the 
>> single tree by the left hand fence) favoured previously by the Painted 
>> Snipe, leaving only vegetation stalks sticking out of the water. The dam 
>> is large and of course the snipe may have relocated, but I ask locals to 
>> check out the site and advise if you see the Painted Snipe. I know this 
>> is important to the Threatened Species people at BA.
>>
>> Please be aware that the owners of the property are reported to be sick 
>> of people training their telescopes onto their property, and feel like 
>> fish in a fishbowl. They will certainly not allow you to go into the 
>> property. I am concerned in case they take action which may not be in the 
>> interests of the birds. I have no reason to assume this, but one wonders.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Jill
>
> ===============================
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>
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Hi there,

Check out Sydney Uni Campus - especially around No.1 Oval, No.2 Oval and St. 
John's Oval. 

Here's the map:
http://db.auth.usyd.edu.au/directories/map/largemap00a.html

Nikolas
 
----------------
Nikolas Haass
nhaass AT yahoo.com
Sydney, NSW


----- Original Message ----
From: Peter Shute 
To: Bill Stent ; birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:07:05 PM
Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD

Did you hear any?  I'll be in Manly over the weekend, and I'd like to at
least hear one.

Peter Shute

birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au wrote on Tuesday, 27 November 2007
12:41 PM:

> Well, I dipped in the Sydney botanical gardens yesterday.
> The currawongs were there, but the cuckoos weren't.
> 
> Bill the dipper (back in Melbourne where the humidity isn't so
> oppressive) 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
> [mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of michael hunter
> Sent: Tuesday, 27 November 2007 12:00 PM
> To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
> Subject: Fw: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "michael hunter" 
> To: "Nikolas Haass" 
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
> 
> 
>> Yes Nikolas, they are all over the place, from Mulgoa to Scone last
>>                                    weekend as well. Cheers
>>                                                Michael -----
>> Original Message ----- From: "Nikolas Haass" 
>> To: "michael hunter" 
>> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:12 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
>> 
>> 
>>> I have been hearing CBCs almost everyday this month in Leichhardt,
>> Camperdown and Newtown. Same thing last year when I visited the area
>> for a week in mid-December.
>>> 
>>> Nikolas
>>> 
>>> ----------------
>>> Nikolas Haass
>>> nhaass AT yahoo.com
>>> Sydney, NSW
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: michael hunter 
>>> To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
>>> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 9:01:23 AM
>>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
>>> 
>>> There was a Channel-billed Cuckoo in Sydney's Botanic Gardens
>>> yesterday. They are all over the place, quite an irruption.
>>> 
>>>                                Cheers
>>>                                      Michael
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Michael Hunter
>>> Mulgoa Valley
>>> 50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge
>>> 
>>> ===============================
>>> www.birding-aus.org
>>> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>>> 
>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>> send the message:
>>> unsubscribe
>>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>>> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
>>> ===============================
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> __________ ____
>> ________
>>> Be a better pen pal.
>>> Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.
>> http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/
>> 
> 
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==============================


 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Be a better sports nut!  Let your teams follow you 
with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now. 
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Hi birders,
 
Thanks for all the help I got from birders re our trip last week to Lamington. 
We were able to get a reasonable bird list and 4 snakes. The highlight by far 
was the male Paradise riflebird displaying to 2 females/juveniles. We watched 
him for about 10 mins as he was really close and very excited. No trouble 
finding logrunners - there were heaps down Python Rock Track. Lots of Eastern 
Whipbirds, Fantails and Monarchs as well as great views of a lovely male Rose 
Robin and a Noisy Pitta. And of course it would be difficult to miss the Regent 
Bowerbirds that are fed at O'Reillys. But very disappointingly we didn't see 
Albert's Lyrebird even although we went to all the great locations (Python Rock 
Track and Border Track) very early in the morning. We did not try for the 
Rufous Scrubbird and although we had a location for the Western Bristlebird we 
were unsuccessful. A trip to Barren Grounds will be called for! 

 
But many thanks to all, who took the trouble to give us great locations and 
tips. 

 
Cheers,
 
Fiona
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Did you hear any?  I'll be in Manly over the weekend, and I'd like to at
least hear one.

Peter Shute

birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au wrote on Tuesday, 27 November 2007
12:41 PM:
 
> Well, I dipped in the Sydney botanical gardens yesterday.
> The currawongs were there, but the cuckoos weren't.
> 
> Bill the dipper (back in Melbourne where the humidity isn't so
> oppressive) 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
> [mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of michael hunter
> Sent: Tuesday, 27 November 2007 12:00 PM
> To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
> Subject: Fw: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "michael hunter" 
> To: "Nikolas Haass" 
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
> 
> 
>> Yes Nikolas, they are all over the place, from Mulgoa to Scone last
>>                                     weekend as well. Cheers
>>                                                Michael -----
>> Original Message ----- From: "Nikolas Haass" 
>> To: "michael hunter" 
>> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:12 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
>> 
>> 
>>> I have been hearing CBCs almost everyday this month in Leichhardt,
>> Camperdown and Newtown. Same thing last year when I visited the area
>> for a week in mid-December.
>>> 
>>> Nikolas
>>> 
>>> ----------------
>>> Nikolas Haass
>>> nhaass AT yahoo.com
>>> Sydney, NSW
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: michael hunter 
>>> To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
>>> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 9:01:23 AM
>>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
>>> 
>>> There was a Channel-billed Cuckoo in Sydney's Botanic Gardens
>>> yesterday. They are all over the place, quite an irruption.
>>> 
>>>                                 Cheers
>>>                                       Michael
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Michael Hunter
>>> Mulgoa Valley
>>> 50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge
>>> 
>>> ===============================
>>> www.birding-aus.org
>>> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>>> 
>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>> send the message:
>>> unsubscribe
>>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>>> to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
>>> ===============================
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> __________ ____
>> ________
>>> Be a better pen pal.
>>> Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.
>> http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/
>> 
> 
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A CICADABIRD up on Mayfair Rd on friday last, also a KESTREL, once common in
the valley, rerely seen of late.
                                  Cheers
                                      Michael
Michael Hunter
Mulgoa Valley
50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge

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A flock of six +  Zebra Finches in a garden west of Scone Airport on
Saturday.
                        Cheers
                                    Michael
Michael Hunter
Mulgoa Valley
50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge

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Hi Laurie,
Over the past 20 years of virtually living in Lamington NP I have been 
lucky enough to see many Tiger Snakes and they have varied from nearly 
black to the most beautiful golden colour. Stephen's Banded Snake is 
also reasonable common in Lamington so it might be worth checking that 
as a possibility. Could you please email me a photo.
Today I was lucky enough to see a Rufous Scrub-bird in Lamington about 4 
km from Binna Burra . As always it was in dense, almost impenetrable, 
vegetation but I was able to attract it to me with an Audubon bird 
caller. It was about 5m away for about 5 minutes but it never showed 
itself completely. I got 4 ticks for my year list but only one was for 
the bird.
Regards,
Barry Davies,
Gondwana Guides,
Beechmont.

L&L Knight wrote:
> We normally return from our visits to Lamington via Duck Ck Rd - a 
> "rough" unsealed route that descends from the Plateau towards 
> Beaudesert.  As is often the case, we passed more than a dozen 
> aspiring 4WD drivers travelling up the plateau in convoys yesterday.  
> Of course you don't have to be in a 4WD to traverse the road, as was 
> demonstrated by a "chopped" Honda Accord [probably had less than 10 cm 
> ground clearance] feeling its way at the halfway mark.
>
> The thing that struck me at Green Mts this time was the tameness of 
> many birds - not just the parrots and turkeys round the feeders, but 
> also the birds well into the rainforest.  There was an Eastern 
> Whipbird foraging in the open less than two metres from us, a 
> Yellow-throated Scrub-wren that hopped round our feet, a Rufous 
> Fantail that flew past our heads and a King Parrot that almost landed 
> on my head - 2 km from the feeder.
>
> Of greater interest, I got some good photographs of a pale banded 
> snake that we flushed from the edge of the track - most likely a Tiger 
> Snake and the first pale "morph" that I've come across.
>
> Regards, Laurie.
> ===============================
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Well, I dipped in the Sydney botanical gardens yesterday.  The
currawongs were there, but the cuckoos weren't.

Bill the dipper (back in Melbourne where the humidity isn't so
oppressive)
 

-----Original Message-----
From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
[mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of michael hunter
Sent: Tuesday, 27 November 2007 12:00 PM
To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
Subject: Fw: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD


----- Original Message -----
From: "michael hunter" 
To: "Nikolas Haass" 
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD


> Yes Nikolas, they are all over the place, from Mulgoa to Scone last
weekend
> as well.
>                                     Cheers
>                                                Michael
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Nikolas Haass" 
> To: "michael hunter" 
> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
>
>
> > I have been hearing CBCs almost everyday this month in Leichhardt,
> Camperdown and Newtown. Same thing last year when I visited the area
for a
> week in mid-December.
> >
> > Nikolas
> >
> > ----------------
> > Nikolas Haass
> > nhaass AT yahoo.com
> > Sydney, NSW
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: michael hunter 
> > To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
> > Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 9:01:23 AM
> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
> >
> > There was a Channel-billed Cuckoo in Sydney's Botanic Gardens
yesterday.
> > They are all over the place, quite an irruption.
> >
> >                                 Cheers
> >                                       Michael
> >
> >
> > Michael Hunter
> > Mulgoa Valley
> > 50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge
> >
> > ===============================
> > www.birding-aus.org
> > birding-aus.blogspot.com
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> > send the message:
> > unsubscribe
> > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> > to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
> > ===============================
> >
> >
> >
>
________________________________________________________________________
____
> ________
> > Be a better pen pal.
> > Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.
> http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/
>

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==============================

Sean

I saw the Powerful Owl in Flagstaff Gardens 6 weeks ago; I checked 
the same tree yesterday and there was no bird, possum, pellets or 
white-wash. I havent checked other trees in the gardens nor heard of 
any other owls seen recently in central Melbourne.

guy

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Hi Jill,

Many thanks for the extra details on those Painted Snipe.

I wouldn't be surprised if the recent rain and rise in water levels has 
caused the birds to move on. I think shorebirds of inland wetlands are quite 
sensitive to water level rises; if the water goes up 3 cm or so, then the 
feeding areas they've been using are suddenly too deep to be accessible, and 
it takes benthos a little while to colonise the new flooded areas at the 
edges.

Best wishes, Danny

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jill Dening" 
To: "birding-aus" 
Cc: "Chris Tzaros" ; "Danny Rogers" 

Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:38 AM
Subject: Are the Painted Snipe still at Cove Rd, Woodford, SEQld?


> Hi Everyone,
>
> I was at the Cove Road site of Painted Snipe yesterday with friends, and 
> despite four birders searching with two scopes for, I suppose, almost an 
> hour, we didn't see the Painted Snipe. We thought we might have found them 
> when we saw five lumps in the grass, but after much waiting, each time a 
> lump surfaced, it turned out to be a Latham's Snipe.
>
> There has been more rain in the district (no complaints, I assure you) and 
> the water level in the dam now covers the spot (near the base of the 
> single tree by the left hand fence) favoured previously by the Painted 
> Snipe, leaving only vegetation stalks sticking out of the water. The dam 
> is large and of course the snipe may have relocated, but I ask locals to 
> check out the site and advise if you see the Painted Snipe. I know this is 
> important to the Threatened Species people at BA.
>
> Please be aware that the owners of the property are reported to be sick of 
> people training their telescopes onto their property, and feel like fish 
> in a fishbowl. They will certainly not allow you to go into the property. 
> I am concerned in case they take action which may not be in the interests 
> of the birds. I have no reason to assume this, but one wonders.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jill 

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Simon,
           I'm not sure that I agree re the impossibility of seeing half the
birds in Australia in say three weeks. There are about 350 possibles within
100km of Cairns as I recall, and with a good individual guide you can pick
up all the Cape Yorkers in two or three days, in the right season of course.
           The second half is what takes the time.

Cheers

Michael
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Simon Mustoe" 
To: "Margaret Joan Wharton" ;

Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 1:01 PM
Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Few birds in Madagascar



Margaret,

I'm not sure I agree. It is little different from any country. Even in
Australia, only a limited number of species can be seen without going to
specific places and 90% of the country has been destroyed by cattle grazing
and other agriculture.

In travel terms Madagascar is large - the size of France - its position in
the world though means it has a very varied climate and a wealth of macro
and micro-environmental mosaic. The over-riding matter is that despite being
one of a few mega-diversity countries (along with Australia) it doesn't
actually have that many birds. It is more notable for its plants. Levels of
endemism amongst birds are still high though and to see a large variety of
species you have to travel to all corners of the country. Because travel in
Madagascar is hardly quick, it amounts to more of a task than over
equivalent areas of a more developed country.

For instance, BirdLife International records 749 species for Australia (give
or take) and only 253 (one third) for Madagascar. Madgascar including the
Indian Ocean Islands has about 58% bird endemism and Austrlaia, about 45%.
Because most birders target endemics, measure of birding success is usually
to see as many as possible of these birds in a single visit.

To try and see half the birds in Australia in a single visit would be
considered almost out of the question. The travel distances alone would put
most people off and would require a tally of 370+ species and encounters
with some quite rare and unusual species seen only occasionally by locals.
Similarly, in Madagascar there are a number of species that are very
difficult but every 'tick' is probably not a dissimilar percentage of the
total number of endemics the country holds.

I would say that your disappointment (if that is the right word) is that for
such a small country - relative to Australia - you don't see that much
without working really hard. But I doubt this has to do with them being
inaccessible due to forest destruction any more than birds are
'inaccessible' in Australia or other countries of the world for the same
reason. Quite a number of the species you look for in Madagascar require
travel to particular spots - Mahajunga region for Van Dam's Vanga, the NE
for Helmet Vanga, the SW for Subdesert Mesite, Zombitse-Vohibasia for
Appert's Greenbul. In Australia this would be like trying to see Blue-faced
Parrotfinch, Red-capped Parrot, Rock Parrot, Orange-bellied Parrot,
Malleefowl, Plum-headed Finch, Squatter Pigeon, Palm Cockatoo and Regent
Parrot all in one go.

I'd be interested to know how many endemic birds you actually saw and what
percentage of the total bird fauna of Madagascar that was. Compare this to
the percentage of endemics you have seen in Australia in total and I bet
you'd be surprised - especially as you live in Australia and only visited
Madagascar (presumably) for a short time.

All the best,

Simon.




> To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au> From: m.joan AT bigpond.com> Date: Thu, 22 Nov
2007 15:09:28 +1100> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Few birds in Madagascar> > I
passed on to Greg Calvert, a biologist and birdwatcher from > Townsville,
the question about why there are so few readily accessible > birds in
Madagascar. He replied, " I have also been birding in > Madagascar. The
reason that Madagascar has so few birds is that 90% of > their forests have
been burnt and chopped down and the remaining 10% is > being hacked down as
we speak."> > Happy birding,> Joan Wharton (Cherrybrook, Sydney)>
===============================> www.birding-aus.org>
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "michael hunter" 
To: "Nikolas Haass" 
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD


> Yes Nikolas, they are all over the place, from Mulgoa to Scone last
weekend
> as well.
>                                     Cheers
>                                                Michael
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Nikolas Haass" 
> To: "michael hunter" 
> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
>
>
> > I have been hearing CBCs almost everyday this month in Leichhardt,
> Camperdown and Newtown. Same thing last year when I visited the area for a
> week in mid-December.
> >
> > Nikolas
> >
> > ----------------
> > Nikolas Haass
> > nhaass AT yahoo.com
> > Sydney, NSW
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: michael hunter 
> > To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
> > Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 9:01:23 AM
> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] CBC in CBD
> >
> > There was a Channel-billed Cuckoo in Sydney's Botanic Gardens yesterday.
> > They are all over the place, quite an irruption.
> >
> >                                 Cheers
> >                                       Michael
> >
> >
> > Michael Hunter
> > Mulgoa Valley
> > 50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge
> >
> > ===============================
> > www.birding-aus.org
> > birding-aus.blogspot.com
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> > send the message:
> > unsubscribe
> > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> > to: birding-aus-request AT vicnet.net.au
> > ===============================
> >
> >
> >
>
____________________________________________________________________________
> ________
> > Be a better pen pal.
> > Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.
> http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/
>

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 Three of us have planned a trip to attempt to see this bird and there is room 
available for person or persons to join us. If interested please contact me 
ASAP directly preferably on the phone number given below. 

 We meet at Broome airport at 12.25 this Friday 30 November. The three of us 
will be on a plane QF1074 arriving from Perth at that time. Connecting flights 
are available from Melbourne and Sydney leaving at 06.10 that morning. We drive 
immediately to the site and should arrive at high tide, the best time to find 
the bird. If we find it that afternoon we will return to Broome that night. If 
we don't, we will stay in a house nearby and search again on the rising and 
full tide next day returning to Broome that evening, Saturday 1 December. At 
least 2 of us will fly back to Melbourne on the direct flight leaving Broome at 
12.15 next day, Sunday 2 December. Accommodation in Broome will be your 
responsibility, hopefully sharing. Your share of the cost Broome to Broome is 
not expected to exceed $200.00 not including food. 

 
Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mount Eliza  VIC 3930
Tel  (
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Hi Everyone,

I was at the Cove Road site of Painted Snipe yesterday with friends, and 
despite four birders searching with two scopes for, I suppose, almost an 
hour, we didn't see the Painted Snipe. We thought we might have found 
them when we saw five lumps in the grass, but after much waiting, each 
time a lump surfaced, it turned out to be a Latham's Snipe.

There has been more rain in the district (no complaints, I assure you) 
and the water level in the dam now covers the spot (near the base of the 
single tree by the left hand fence) favoured previously by the Painted 
Snipe, leaving only vegetation stalks sticking out of the water. The dam 
is large and of course the snipe may have relocated, but I ask locals to 
check out the site and advise if you see the Painted Snipe. I know this 
is important to the Threatened Species people at BA.

Please be aware that the owners of the property are reported to be sick 
of people training their telescopes onto their property, and feel like 
fish in a fishbowl. They will certainly not allow you to go into the 
property. I am concerned in case they take action which may not be in 
the interests of the birds. I have no reason to assume this, but one 
wonders.

Cheers,

Jill
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G�day all,

 

Just a request from a new to birding friend asking whether the Powerful Owl
that was seen at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne recently? Or if not, has
anyone got one in any of the other inner-city parks lately?

 

Thanks in advance, Sean


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I was delighted to see a Powerful Owl in an almost identical spot to 
where it was 2 years ago almost to the day. Same owl?

Don't stand under an owl looking up with your mouth open! A near miss. 
Applies to most things really.

-- 
John Reidy
Sydney
Phone 
Fax 



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Never been there but from all accounts Morisset would be a small puddle by
comparison with WTP.

Colin
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Gregory Little [mailto:gjlgff AT bigpond.net.au] 
Sent: Monday, 26 November 2007 9:14 PM
To: 'Colin Driscoll'; birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
Subject: [!! SPAM] RE: [Birding-Aus] Morisset treatment works

Colin

Does it rival the famed WTP?

Greg Little

Greg Little - Principal Consultant
General Flora and Fauna
PO Box 526
Wallsend, NSW, 2287, Australia
Ph    
Fx    
www.gff.com.au

-----Original Message-----
From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
[mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Colin Driscoll
Sent: Monday, 26 November 2007 8:36 PM
To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Morisset treatment works


This evening on the pond at Morisset treatment works (Marconi Rd)- Central
Coast NSW.

30-40 Hardheads
2 Pink-eared Duck
2 Blue-billed Duck males & possibly one female
6 Australasian Shoveler non-breading males plus females plus Black Duck,
Wood Duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Australasian Grebe, Eurasian Coot.

It is a very difficult pond to get a good look at but worth the try.

Colin Driscoll




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Colin

Does it rival the famed WTP?

Greg Little

Greg Little - Principal Consultant
General Flora and Fauna
PO Box 526
Wallsend, NSW, 2287, Australia
Ph    
Fx    
www.gff.com.au

-----Original Message-----
From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
[mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Colin Driscoll
Sent: Monday, 26 November 2007 8:36 PM
To: birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Morisset treatment works


This evening on the pond at Morisset treatment works (Marconi Rd)-
Central
Coast NSW.

30-40 Hardheads
2 Pink-eared Duck
2 Blue-billed Duck males & possibly one female
6 Australasian Shoveler non-breading males plus females
plus Black Duck, Wood Duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Australasian
Grebe,
Eurasian Coot.

It is a very difficult pond to get a good look at but worth the try.

Colin Driscoll




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We normally return from our visits to Lamington via Duck Ck Rd - a 
"rough" unsealed route that descends from the Plateau towards 
Beaudesert.  As is often the case, we passed more than a dozen aspiring 
4WD drivers travelling up the plateau in convoys yesterday.  Of course 
you don't have to be in a 4WD to traverse the road, as was demonstrated 
by a "chopped" Honda Accord [probably had less than 10 cm ground 
clearance] feeling its way at the halfway mark.

The thing that struck me at Green Mts this time was the tameness of 
many birds - not just the parrots and turkeys round the feeders, but 
also the birds well into the rainforest.  There was an Eastern Whipbird 
foraging in the open less than two metres from us, a Yellow-throated 
Scrub-wren that hopped round our feet, a Rufous Fantail that flew past 
our heads and a King Parrot that almost landed on my head - 2 km from 
the feeder.

Of greater interest, I got some good photographs of a pale banded snake 
that we flushed from the edge of the track - most likely a Tiger Snake 
and the first pale "morph" that I've come across.

Regards, Laurie. 

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This evening on the pond at Morisset treatment works (Marconi Rd)- Central
Coast NSW.

30-40 Hardheads
2 Pink-eared Duck
2 Blue-billed Duck males & possibly one female
6 Australasian Shoveler non-breading males plus females
plus Black Duck, Wood Duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Australasian Grebe,
Eurasian Coot.

It is a very difficult pond to get a good look at but worth the try.

Colin Driscoll




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I was under the impression that the original poster was finding it hard
to both see and hear birds.  I have no experience with this type of
habitat - is it usual for birds to be silent as well as hard to see?

Peter Shute

birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au wrote on :
 
> Hi all, I've always been under the impression it's a lot more
> difficult detecting birds in the typically high canopy of a
> rainforest type habitat, and this may be affecting the number
> of birds you are seeing, though I could be wrong?
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Hi all 

 

A good hour spent at Eastlakes, Sydney yesterday evening from about 6pm,
accessing the ponds from Cowper St. A lot of activity with many species
feeding young. Most impressive was a fine adult male Swamp Harrier who
kindly put up a group of 12 Latham's Snipe, then a further 2 single
birds, which I would not have seen without his assistance. Another good
sighting was a beautiful Bar-shouldered Dove which I have not seen in
inner Sydney before. Sacred Kingfishers were feeding young still in
their nest hollow. Red-browed Finch were also feeding juveniles just out
of the nest. Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Blackbird were all vocal and
common, lending a bit of a European feel to the scene. A Royal Spoonbill
was feeding beside Great Egret and Aust Pelican. Many Clamorous
Reed-Warblers were feeding out in the open on floating vegetation, the
cisticolas and Little Grassbirds were harder to see. 

 
Eric Finley



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Hi all, I've always been under the impression it�s a lot more difficult
detecting birds in the typically high canopy of a rainforest type habitat,
and this may be affecting the number of birds you are seeing, though I could
be wrong?

Simon Muirhead

-----Original Message-----
From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
[mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Rosemary Royle
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 9:59 PM
To: Wim Vader; birding-aus
Cc: sabirdnet AT lists.ukzn.ac.za; info AT rockjumpers.ac.za; Franz Krapp;
birdchat; ebn AT physis.pnw.fi
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] madagascar once more

Hi Wim and Birding Aussers,

We were in Madagascar at the same time as you - (we were in Perinet at the
same time as the Rockjumpers group and actually watched Pygmy Kingfisher
with you!) - and I concur entirely with your impressions of the Madagascar
forest being low on bird density.We have also birded all over the world in
rainforest and had exactly the same impression that you did. Why were there
so few birds?? The only theory we could come up with was that it could be
because there is quite a high density of lemurs and reptiles and any patch
of forest can only support a certain biomass of wildlife irrespective of
what form it takes??  

Interestingly we found the dry forest at Ankaranfantsika (Ampirijoa) to have
more birds and they weren't all skulkers. And the dry desolate-looking spiny
forest was higher in bird density than you might expect. It was really the
rainforest which was such a puzzle. 

The Madagascar Bird Guide does not help either - it describes a number of
birds as "common" which we only saw once or in one case (Common Sunbird
Asity) not at all, even though we spent long periods in suitable habitat. 

All a bit of a mystery. 

Our total for the 4 week trip was 178 and like you we missed only really
difficult birds (except for the one mentioned above!). But it was certainly
very hard work - it was useful that there were lemurs and chameleons to look
at when the going got tough! I think to fully enjoy a trip to Madagascar you
need to go for more than just the birds.

Rosemary Royle

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Wim Vader 
  To: birding-aus 
  Cc: sabirdnet AT lists.ukzn.ac.za ; birdchat ; Franz Krapp ;
info AT rockjumpers.ac.za ; ebn AT physis.pnw.fi 
  Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 9:01 AM
  Subject: [Birding-Aus] madagascar once more





   As the person who set the ball rolling, I now maybe need to rephrase my
queries once more, since part of the discussion (which I have followed with
great interest) has meandered away from the original questions. These were:
1. Why is the density of birds so low in the Madagascar forests?, and 2. Why
are so very many birds on Madagascar extreme skulkers, compared to other
areas?. Question nr 2 has remained unanswered and virtually undiscussed,
apart from some jokers who suggested that all the non-skulkers had been
exterminated by now. (Several of the most common birds on Madagascar are
conspicuous and unafraid, so that can't be the answer.) Question 1 HAS been
discussed, but many people seem to be under the impression that I asked
about the low biodiversity on Madagascar---our trip tallied 185 species in
almost a month of birding all over the island. But that was not my question,
as I feel I understand that. Madagascar, though large, is a long isolated
island, and it therefore OUGHT TO have low diversity, and it follows this
rule nicely. In the same way, the very high degree of endemism is easily
understood, and again is a function from the long isopaltion of the island
and the considerable distance to mainland Africa. Only a few species have
managed to reach Madagascar, and in some case there has afterwards been a
modest local radiation, of which the couas and the vangas are the best
examples. In the case of later influxes---one tends to think-- the
madagascar birds have diverged from the mainland forms into a new species.
Examples are the local drongo, kingfisher, Cisticola, lark, gymnogene,
cuckoo-hawk etc etc. And still later immigrants also exist, and in those
cases the Malagasy representatives are either well-marked subspecies (some
herons, the roller), or even not clearly different at all.
  Somebody asked how many of the endemic species we have seen on the trip,
and the answer there is: almost all, except some notoriously rare ones, such
as the Red Owl, the Serpent Eagle,berneir's Vanga, or the recently
rediscovered Mad. Pochard. personally I missed three more: Pollen's Vanga,
the yellow-bellied Sunbird-Asity, and the White-throated Oxylabes, but all
three were seen by at least a few of our group. As I said before, both the
Rockjumpers guides and the local guides are highly competent!

  So my original question was not: Why are there so few bird species?, but:
Why are there so few birds?  The answers I have got fall into two
categories: 'All rainforests are like that', or 'The people have destroyed
the area'. I feel that both contain a grain of truth, but neither can be the
entire answer. there is no doubt about the sad fact, that Madagascar has
suffered greatly from unwise agricultural methods, and recently (although
with 22 million people the country is not really overpopulated as yet) from
too great fecundity and too many people. It is a very sad sight to watch
from a plane and see all the denuded hills with deep erosion gullies, and
all the red- or brown-coloured sluggish rivers transporting all the good
topsoil into the sea. Or all the sacks with charcoal being sold along the
roads and stemming from continued onslaughts on the remaining forest areas,
especially the fantastic spiny forest and other dry fiorests (Zombitse!) And
of course that must have had repercussions for the birds, and what we do
now, when on a birding trip, is trek from one forest remnant to another, and
pass over the large denuded areas as quickly as the often atrocious roads
permit. But: many of the se remaining areas are still very large indeed,
especially in the wet rainforest covered eastern part of the island. So
large, that I can not quite believe that the low density of birds there is
primarily a function of the destruction of other areas on the island.

  My experiences with other rainforests are modest. I have been quite a lot
in Australian rainforests, and otherwise in New Zealand, Costa Rica and
Ecuador. in these areas I have of course noted the 'feast or famine' regime
that they offer to birders: long periods with little to see, and then
suddenly a large mixed flock with almost too much to choose from. Still, in
my (I agree very limited) experience this was still different from what I
experienced in Madagascar (Although New Zealand comes closest), here one
could walk for e.g. half an hour in wonderful climax rain forest, while all
the sounds one heard were the occasional frog call, and the evocative
whistles of the Cuckoo-Roller far overhead. And when we finally came across
a mixed flock (which happened to me only twice), they were maybe 10-15
vangas , a cuckoo-shrike and a paradise flycatcher. I definitely had the
impression that there were fewer birds here than in the other rainforests I
have visited. And interestingly enough this impression was strongest during
our Masoala-extension, when wevisited the largest remaining almost
undisturbed forest on the island!

  So my questions still stand: Why are there so few birds in the island's
rain forests, and Why are so disproportionally many birds on Madagascar
extreme skulkers?

  Wim Vader, Troms� Museum
  9037 Troms�, Norway
  wim.vader AT tmu.uit.no
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Many thanks to those who replied to my request for clarification of the names 
of ponds at WTP Werribee. I found a Ruff yesterday, on the north shore of 
Paradise Lagoon (the pond north of the east end of Paradise Road, which is 
shown on both the Melbourne Water birdwatchers map and the pond numbering 
plan). It was amongst a group of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, just where the pond 
becomes narrower at the east end. 

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birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au wrote on Monday, 26 November 2007
10:29 AM:
 
> This is a REPOST from Dec 2006. Please, don't waste your
> money buying a GPS these days. Get yourself a PDA with a
> built in GPS - it's also your phone and everything else. If
> you want simple mapping software, use Oziexplorer. Amongst
> other things, I run all the Australian 1:250,000 scale maps
> on mine.   ___Hi,I've refrained from commenting on this
> thread until now but since it overlaps with another recent
> thread about bird and animal lists, I will do so now. For my
> part, I use a Bluetooth GPS with my PDA. Although my Ipaq has
> a built-in GPS, this drains batteries quickly. I use a BT338
> which boasts a battery life in excess of 9 hours continual
> use but 20+ hours on battery saver mode. It clips nearly to
> my binocular strap and from a warm start, gets a fix within a
> few seconds. More recently I have been toying with customised
> databases for storing wildlife records in the field. There is
> a fantastic piece of freeware called Cybertracker
> (http://www.cybertracker.co.za) which was developed for South
> African game researchers using EU funding. You just download
> it and register.

Having used a phone with GPS I would agree that it's handy having it
built in.  The result is that it's always with me.  I guess one dowside
of this is that if the battery goes flat you can't tell where you are
*or* call for help!

I doubt that this software would work on my phone - a Blackberry - not
much does.  It would be possible to write such software for it, but,
perhaps because they aren't as widespread as PalmOS and PocketPC devices
there just isn't as much around.  I consider myself lucky that I could
find even basic track logging software for it.

Peter Shute
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Hi,

There was an English guy on the August SOSSA Pelagic at Wollongong who had
been in Australia for 3 months and was over 500.... (dog!!)

As said before. AUSTRALIA RULES!! 
(Although my brother did once get 214 in a day at Nairobi National Park les
than an hour from the airport!!)

Steve Potter
Blackwood SA

Simon said, "
To try and see half the birds in Australia in a single visit would be
considered almost out of the question." 

I am currently guiding a couple who have achived over 400 in ten weeks in
Australia. Only got them one new one on each of the last two days:
Blue-faced Parrot-Finch and Golden Bowerbird. Trying for Fernwren and Rufous
owl tomorrow so wish us luck. 
Regards,
alan 
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birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au wrote on Monday, 26 November 2007
10:29 AM:
 
> of processing the written word**. *Incidentally, I have had
> no luck finding an electronic list of birds from BA including
> BA Atlas codes. BA have seemed reluctant to provide this,

Bob Forsyth's list at
http://www.birdsqueensland.org.au/downloads/bird_codes_rhf_master.xls
includes BA codes.

Peter Shute
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Hi all,

A friend of mine is coming to Melbourne on the weekend and wants to go
to the WTP.  Unfortunately I can't take him as I'll be away.  Is there
anyone who is planning on going to the WTP on Sunday 2nd December and
would be happy to take a birder from Albury with them?  Please reply
off list.

Regards,
Chris
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Hi,

We participated on both Wollongong pelagics this past weekend.
The best two birds were a (probable) Cook's Petrel and a Westland Petrel (both 
birds were photodocumented, the images will be discussed and reports will be 
submitted to BARC). 

Moreover, we had: Little Penguins, Great-winged (Gray-faced) Petrels (some of 
which with brown faces), Wedge-tailed, Flesh-footed, Sooty, Short-tailed, 
Fluttering and Hutton's Shearwaters; Wandering Albatross complex: 1 Wandering, 
1 possible Tristan, 1 possible Antipodean, several Gibson's; Black-browed and 
Campbell Albatrosses; Shy and White-capped Albatrosses; Wilson's Storm-petrels; 
Australasian Gannets; Little Pied and Great Cormorants; Australian Pelicans; 
Sooty Oystercatcher; Pomarine, Arctic and Long-tailed Jaegers; Kelp and Silver 
Gulls, Crested Terns; Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins (offshore); Short-beaked 
Common Dolphins; Risso's Dolphins; an unidentified big whale, an unidentified 
Fur-Seal, Short-finned Sunfish and an unidentified Shark. 


on shore: Black-shouldered Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel, 
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo; Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins (inshore) 


Thanks a lot to the SOSSA team!

Nikolas
 
----------------
Nikolas Haass
nhaass AT yahoo.com
Sydney, NSW


 
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Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
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This is a REPOST from Dec 2006. Please, don't waste your money buying a GPS 
these days. Get yourself a PDA with a built in GPS - it's also your phone and 
everything else. If you want simple mapping software, use Oziexplorer. Amongst 
other things, I run all the Australian 1:250,000 scale maps on mine. ___Hi,I've 
refrained from commenting on this thread until now but since it overlaps with 
another recent thread about bird and animal lists, I will do so now. For my 
part, I use a Bluetooth GPS with my PDA. Although my Ipaq has a built-in GPS, 
this drains batteries quickly. I use a BT338 which boasts a battery life in 
excess of 9 hours continual use but 20+ hours on battery saver mode. It clips 
nearly to my binocular strap and from a warm start, gets a fix within a few 
seconds. More recently I have been toying with customised databases for storing 
wildlife records in the field. There is a fantastic piece of freeware called 
Cybertracker (http://www.cybertracker.co.za) which was developed for South 
African game researchers using EU funding. You just download it and register. 
It is amazingly versatile, althoug somewhat difficult to learn as a beginner. 
[NOTE - SEE MY RECENT POSTING ON A CYBERTRACKER PELAGIC DATABASE I HAVE 
WRITTEN] They include various simple formats but the real benefits are in the 
customised databases. For instance, I have produced a database for recording 
seabird and cetacean sightings offshore, which includes a moving map and logs 
all information with time, date and position. It is amazingly easy and 
sychronises with my PC enabling me to download and produce maps and reports in 
minutes. I have done the same for dragonflies in Victoria and would like to do 
the same for birds in due course. It would take no more than a couple of hours 
for instance, to build a database that records data in BA Atlas format*. Since 
I travel everywhere with my PDA / phone, I can turn on and log data anytime any 
place. Previously I have depended on having a notebook available and then 
finding the time later to record data in electronic format. Ninety percent of 
what I collect never sees the light of day but that is changing thanks to 
taking the effort out of processing the written word**. *Incidentally, I have 
had no luck finding an electronic list of birds from BA including BA Atlas 
codes. BA have seemed reluctant to provide this, although it would make me much 
more likely to regularly submit records. An regularly updated list codes would 
be a useful resource. Similarly, I can't believe that there are not complete 
lists of species available for other groups. For instance, who keeps the 
current formal list of mammal taxonomy in Australia? And herps, butterflies 
etc.?**For those of you about to being a tawdry thread about the relative 
merits of notebooks vs PDAs, please don't. It doesn't replace a field notebook, 
it merely augments the process. My notebook is no longer full of lats and lons, 
enabling me to use the space for sketches and descriptions instead. I could 
continue on this topic for ages but won't. If anyone is interested in getting 
into this themselves, then I would strongly recommend starting with 
Cybertracker. You will however need to be familar with database design and 
patiently work through various help and FAQ files. This and a lot of trial and 
error and you will shortly be able to build a database that does anything you 
need. I have only just scraped the surface of its uses to now. For general 
mapping, Oziexplorer is cheap and incredibly versatile. You can georeference 
any map - easily done with reasonable accuracy by pinning locations in Google 
Earth (edit the properties of your pins and it gives you the lat and lon) and 
using these as your geo-reference points in Oziexplorer. Alternatively, you can 
scan and georeference any map whatsoever or simply buy the CSIRO 1:250000 maps 
on CD. For the PDA you need a $10 add-on for Oziexplorer and you have to save 
maps in a separate format before using them. ______________> From: 
steve AT frontier.org.au> To: pshute AT nuw.org.au; birding-aus AT vicnet.net.au; 
worland AT mmnet.com.au> Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:24:46 +1030> Subject: 
[Birding-Aus] GPS units> > Hi Debbie/Peter etc> > Although it doesn't help the 
original question re GPS units, if you do have> one that runs like Peters on a 
blackberry or PDA, there is a great program> available on the net called GPS 
Tuner (V5).> > It allows you to load maps into it so even if you are out of 
phone range it> works. It comes with an other program called Map Calibrator 
that enables you> to calibrate any map in Jpeg format. These can be saved off 
the net as> pictures.> > Look around as it is available from various sites. I 
picked it up online for> around $23.> > Now I just have to find a decent 
Bluetooth receiver that is a little more> sensitive..> > Cheers> > Steve 
Potter> Blackwood SA> > > No virus found in this outgoing message.> Checked by 
AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database:  - Release Date: 
22/11/2007 12:00> AM> > ===============================> www.birding-aus.org> 
birding-aus.blogspot.com> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, > send the 
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The Black Shouldered Kite seem to nest around the Parramatta Park area close to
the river. On my frequent visits to Auburn and watching footy at Parra. 
stadium, 

I have observed at least 2 pair that seem to be feeding on fish and life from
the edge of the Parramatta River around the area of the stadium. Hope they stay
away from the M4!!!!

Terry B


-----Original Message-----
From: birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au
[mailto:birding-aus-bounces AT vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Tom and Mandy Wilson
Sent: Sunday, 25 November 2007 8:19 PM
To: birding-aus
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Black Shouldered Kite, Parramatta

Hi all
I saw a single Black Shouldered Kite yesterday (24 Nov) at approx 3:30pm right
next to the M4 at Parramatta, in Sydney's west.  The bird was seen just off the
south side of M4 near the Parramatta Church St Exit.  It was circling around a
tree, just higher than the noise reducing panels. It is quite an urban
situation, with the motorway and lots of industrial development, so I was quite
surprised to see one there!
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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Try http://www.printablebirdchecklists.homestead.com/ - not sure what
formats they have available.
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/avibase/checklist.jsp?lang=EN is also good but I
don't think you can get anything other than a web page list

On 26/11/2007, McGowan, John  wrote:
>
> G'day Birders
> I don't suppose anyone out there has a list of British birds on Excel or
> similar?
>
> In hopeful anticipation.....
>
> John Mc
> Melbourne
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
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G'day Birders
I don't suppose anyone out there has a list of British birds on Excel or 
similar? 

 
In hopeful anticipation.....
 
John Mc
Melbourne
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For information of the list, I surveyed Birding-Aus members back in 2005 
on the GPS units they used/owned.

Am happy to provide a copy (word document) of my 2005 findings to those 
interested ... just email me.

I personally have a Garmin Gecko 201 (purchased at Johnny Appleseed in 
Melbourne) and use it for all my birding surveys.  It meets all my needs 
and has a number of features that I do NOT use ... a common thing with 
this sort of gadget.

Martin O'Brien
Melbourne


Garmin Gecko can be seen at Johnny Appleseed -> http://www.ja-gps.com.au/






















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We travelled to Perth from Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup "long weekend" -
departing Melbourne on Friday 2nd November and returning on Tuesday 6th
November, 2007. I was keen to see the Red Bull Air Race and while we were
there, we thought we could fit in a few solid days' birding. We stayed at
the Esplanade Hotel in Freemantle (opposite the Esplanade Reserve). On
Saturday we got up reasonably early and checked out the Esplanade area in
the vicinity of the hotel. Within a few minutes we'd picked up our first
endemic - the Western Spinebill. We saw plenty of Feral Pigeons/Rock Doves
and Spotted Turtledoves but surprisingly no Laughing Turtledoves. In the
Cypress Pines along the roadside we saw a bunch of roosting Nankeen Night
Herons. Willie Wagtails were busy seeing off Red Wattlebirds and Australian
Ravens (presumably the Willie Wagtails were nesting, but we didn't see any
nests there).

After breakfast we headed to Wungong Gorge - recommended on Frank O'Connor's
website. We were after some more endemics - in particular the Long-billed
and Short-billed Black Cockatoos. We followed Frank's instructions on his
website almost to the letter. We got Australian Ringneck and Red-capped
Parrot before leaving the carpark. Within another minute or two we had
Western Thornbill and Western Gerygone. Surprisingly on this visit, there
was nothing on the "lawn" area but as soon as we got to the end of the lawn
near the large pipe we saw Splendid Fairy-wren. We headed off along the
track to find the orchard and creek. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and
wound up at the dam. We hunted for a while for Red-winged Fairy-wren and
White-breasted Robin but didn't see them. Eventually we realised we were in
the wrong place and bush-bashed up the hill near the dam to regain the
track. Once on the track we followed it to the orchard and creek crossing.
Almost immediately we came across a flock of eight Red-tailed Black
Cockatoos. Still no Long-billed or Short-billed and no Fairy-wrens or
Robins. However we did see a Wedge-tailed Eagle carrying half a wallaby or
kangaroo joey in its talons.

After spending about two hours at Wungong Gorge, we headed up the road to
Bungendore Park looking for the Rufous Treecreeper. No sign of that, but we
did see Red-capped Parrots again and several Scarlet Robins. Off the main
tracks and onto one of the walking loops we came across Brown Honeyeaters
and White-cheeked Honeyeaters. We also saw both Western and Inland
Thornbills and saw our first Western Rosella of the trip.

>From Bungendore Park we decided to head west to the Rockingham area so we
could hop over to Penguin Island. We stopped off at Forrestdale Lake, but
without a scope we really couldn't see anything. We stopped off at Point
Peron on the Rockingham Scenic Drive but nothing but Silver Gulls. We
finally saw a Laughing Turtledove on the telegraph wires on the road from
Point Peron to Rockingham. We also picked up a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
nearby. By the time we got to the Penguin Island ferry, we were ten minutes
too late for the last ferry of the day. From the shore we could see the
Pelican rookery, but there was no way we could see any penguins! Abandoning
that, we headed to the nearby Richmond Lake where we were greeted by an
immature Straw-necked Ibis - it was strange seeing just this one. We picked
up Great-crested Grebe which was a first for us. There were plenty of
Black-winged Stilts and countless Silver Gulls. Several Musk Ducks and a
Pacific Black Duck family were also seen. As we were heading back to the car
we saw a Collared Sparrowhawk being seen off by an Australian Raven.

By now it was late afternoon and we decided to head back to the hotel,
stopping at Thomsons Lake on the way. We started at the western entrance but
soon realised that the water was a long way from the path. We did see
White-necked Herons and Black Swans in the distance, but it was pretty hard
going so we decided to try the southern entrance. On the way we saw Banded
Lapwings in a field which was a first for us too (though we had intended to
pick them up on Rottnest Island). At the southern carpark we immediately saw
a pair of Rainbow Bee-eaters. Along the path from the carpark to the lake we
saw more Bee-eaters and Red-capped Parrots. From the lake path at this point
we could easily see the water and the waterbirds. We saw Great Egret,
Intermediate Egret, Australian Shelduck, Australian White Ibis and
Straw-necked Ibis.

The next day, Sunday, was spent at the Red Bull Air Race. A great deal of
fun and highly recommended to anyone that has the slightest interest in
aeroplanes or motorsport. We did manage a little informal birding, whilst
sitting in our seats - a Darter spent the best part of  an hour in front of
the grandstand. Also a Caspian Tern flew back and forth a few times!

On Monday we headed over to Rottnest Island to see if we could pick up Rock
Parrot and Common Pheasant, amongst others. We caught the first ferry of the
day from Freemantle (at 7am) and within a few minutes of arriving at the
island we had the Rottnest Island variety of the Singing Honeyeater. This
variety is not a distinct race, but there are some physical differences
between the Island birds and the mainland birds. Once again we followed
Frank O'Connor's very detailed guide from his website. We walked to the
lakes and immediately saw Red-capped Plover and Red-necked Avocet. As we got
to the causeway we saw the Crested Tern and Caspian Tern rookery. The
Caspian Tern young are almost the size of the Crested Terns! Beyond this
rookery on a seperate islet is a Fairy Tern rookery. Along the shore of the
lakes we saw a single Ruddy Turnstone. Over the causeway we kept on walking
until we got to the crossroads with the north-south road that heads past
Pink Lake towards Parakeet Bay. Before the crossroads we saw an Osprey on a
large radio mast. At the crossroads we saw a Sacred Kingfisher. Heading
north past Pink Lake we saw a flock of hundreds and hundreds of Banded
Stilt. At one point we were setting our cameras up to catch a Welcome
Swallow that kept on landing at the same dead branch. As the bird landed we
realised that it wasn't the Welcome Swallow, but rather a very nice
Red-capped Robin that stayed long enough for quite a few photos. Eventually
we got to the road that headed towards Parakeet Bay (named after the Rock
Parrots on the island). As we headed along the road we heard a call we
didn't recognise. Looking to the left we say a Common Pheasant putting on a
show for us. From Parakeet Bay we headed back towards the settlement, via
the golf course. On the golf course we saw Banded Lapwing. Back at the
settlement we saw the obiquitous Indian Peafowl. The only other "must see"
bird we had on our list was the Rock Parrot. Someone had told us that this
bird was particularly difficult to see, so we weren't particularly hopeful.
Frank O'Connor's instructions say to head to the tennis courts to see them.
We got to the tennis courts and couldn't see the parrots, of course. We did
see a juvenile Australian Raven and watched this for a while. Eventually it
wandered off underneath a large eucalypt where we saw that a Rock Parrot had
been watching US for ages! It conveniently posed while we snapped the
necessary photographs. From the tennis courts we headed to the sewerage
treatment plant - one of the sightseeing highlights of the island (NOT!) We
noticed the gate to the plant open so walked in, and were almost immediately
confronted by the caretaker. He was most bemused that a pair of camera
festooned tourists should find the sewerage plant of interest, but once we
told him that we were interested in birds and one of the best places to find
birds was sewerage plants he relaxed. In fact I had the distinct impression
that he had spoken to no-one all day and was happy to have the human
contact! He told us that he'd seen a pair of Rainbow Bee-eaters on the fence
earlier in the day. As we walked around the perimeter of the plant we
immediately saw the Bee-eaters and on the surface of the pond itself we saw
Pacific Black Ducks. Around the edge of the pond we saw several more Rock
Parrots AND a Common Pheasant! We had just enough time to get back to the
settlement to catch our ferry back to the mainland.

Tuesday was our final day and we still hadn't seen the Short-billed and
Long-billed Black Cockatoos, so we got up particularly early and decided to
head back to Wungong Gorge again. This time we immediately saw Western
Rosellas on the lawn and as we got to the large pipe we saw the western race
of the Silvereye (Gouldi). Once again we walked to the orchard and creek,
but didn't see the cockatoos (other than Red-tailed) or the Red-winged
Fairy-wren. We did see Western Corellas in flight. Back at the edge of the
lawn, we saw both Western and Inland Thornbills, Scarlet Robins, Spotted
Pardalotes, an immature Rufous Whistler, and finally a White-breasted Robin.
On the way out we dropped in to Bungendore Park again, but failed to see the
Rufous Treecreeper - we did see a Rufous Whistler, but not quite the same!
On the way out of the Park we came across an unusual bird - a single Rainbow
Lorikeet.

>From Bungendore Park, we headed back towards the city. First stop was Bibra
Lake where we saw a mixed flock of Long-billed, Little and Western Corellas
- we thought it possibly unusual to see such a mixed flock so took photos of
all the birds we could see. Another notable sighting was a single Tree
Martin flying with a small flock of Welcome Swallows. From Bibra Lake we
headed to Alfred Cove where we wanted to see the Buff-banded Rail that
inhabits the shore. Within a moment of walking out on the boardwalk to the
viewing platform we saw a bird we didn't recognise and initially thought
we'd seen the rail. After flicking though the field guides, we realised that
we had a Grey Plover - another tick for us. We also saw a Marsh Sandpiper in
one of the further ponds and a Caspian Tern flying overhead.

After Alfred Cove, it was time to head to Kings Park. We spent a couple of
hours there where we saw Wood Ducks and duckings (we'd never seen Wood Duck
ducklings before!) and Pacific Black Ducks and ducklings. We did the nature
walk and saw Rufous Whistler and Varied Sitella. Also seen in the park were
several Grey Butcherbirds and a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets. Time was running
out, so we decided to head to Lake Monger and Herdsman Lake before heading
to the airport.

As soon as we parked at Lake Monger we saw Australasian Shovellers. Then
Pink-eared Duck, Blue-billed Duck, Musk Duck, Grey Teal, Wood Duck,
Australian Shelduck - all along the shore. We'd never had such close views
of some of these ducks and never been able to get such clear and close
photographs! If anyone is missing some of these ducks from their list, then
this lake is a dead-cert! We also saw Great-crested Grebe again, in
particular one on the nest. As we walked past it came off the nest and went
foraging - giving us a great view of the four eggs in the nest. After
foraging for a few minutes it came back and settled back on the nest -
another amazing sight! Once again we saw both Little Corellas and Western
Corellas. Herdsman Lake is only a few minutes drive from Lake Monger and is
best known as the site of the Gouldian League in Perth. We stopped off there
and dropped into the office. We were told that they had seen a Swamp Harrier
earlier in the day and also a Buff-banded Rail. We wandered around the lake
for a little while and saw a pair of Swamp Harriers - but no Rail! We did
see Great Egret and Little Egret. The highlight was much simpler though - a
pair of Willie Wagtails had built a nest about a metre from the ground in a
small tree. There were three hatchlings in the nest and the parents were
taking it in turns to feed them. We got many photos of three little beaks
opening for the parents to stuff food in! Time was up - we were on the 6pm
flight to Melbourne and had to leave. Hopefully next time we'll get those
rotten Cockatoos!

Paul Dodd and Ruth Woodrow
Docklands, Melbourne


References
==========
Frank O'Connor's website: http://members.iinet.com.au/~foconnor/
Birds Australia (WA): http://www.birdswa.com.au/
Birding Sites Around Perth (Second Edition) - Ron Van Delft
Birds of Rottnest Island - Denis Saunders and Perry de Rebeira

Bird Lists
==========

Freemantle
----------
Welcome Swallow
* Western Spinebill
Rock Dove
Silver Gull
Magpie Lark
Australian Raven
Nankeen Night Heron
Red Wattlebird
Singing Honeyeater
Willie Wagtail
Spotted Turtledove

Wungong Gorge
-------------
Grey Fantail
Splendid Fairywren
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Australian Ringneck
Australian Magpie
* Western Thornbill
Magpie Lark
* Red-capped Parrot
New Holland Honeyeater
Laughing Kookaburra
* Western Rosella
Scarlet Robin
* Western Corella
Silvereye (race Gouldi)
* Western Gerygone
Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo
Spotted Pardalote
Golden Whistler
Australian Raven
Pacific Black Duck
Common Bronzewing
* Inland Thornbill
Rufous Whistler (immature)
Red Wattlebird
Galah
Willie Wagtail
Singing Honeyeater
* White-breasted Robin
Western Spinebill
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Bungendore Park
---------------
Red-capped Parrot
Australian Magpie
Scarlet Robin
Australian Raven
Magpie Lark
Red Wattlebird
Brown Honeyeater
* White-cheeked Honeyeater
Spotted Pardalote
Singing Honeyeater
Grey Fantail
Western Thornbill
Rainbow Lorikeet
Australian Ringneck
Western Rosella
Rufous Whistler
Inland Thornbill
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rockingham Area
---------------
Willie Wagtail
Silver Gull
Australian Pelican
Great Cormorant
Little Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
Australasian Grebe
Hoary-headed Grebe
* Great-crested Grebe
Eurasian Coot
Dusky Moorhen
Purple Swamphen
Musk Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Black-winged Stilt
Australian White Ibis
Rock Dove
* Laughing Turtledove
Australian Shelduck
Hardhead
Blue-billed Duck
Australian Magpie
Magpie Lark
Australian Raven
Black Swan
White-faced Heron
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Welcome Swallow
Straw-necked Ibis (immature)
Galah
Collared Sparrowhawk

Thomsons Lake
-------------
* Banded Lapwing
Black Swan
Great Egret
Intermediate Egret
White-necked Heron
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Galah
Rainbow Bee-eater
Australian Ringneck
Red-capped Parrot
Grey Butcherbird
Australian Raven
Australian Magpie
Magpie Lark
Australian Shelduck
Pacific Black Duck
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Laughing Turtledove
Rock Dove
Fairy Martin
Swamp Harrier
Rufous Songlark
Pied Cormorant
Welcome Swallow

South Perth
-----------
Silver Gull
Darter
Little Egret
Little Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
Caspian Tern
Rock Dove
Laughing Turtledove

Rottnest Island
---------------
Pied Butcherbird
Silver Gull
Welcome Swallow
Indian Peafowl
Australian Raven
Laughing Turtledove
Spotted Turtledove
Red-capped Robin
* Common Pheasant
* Rock Parrot
Pied Oystercatcher
Crested Tern
Caspian Tern
Fairy Tern
Red-capped Plover
Banded Stilt
Red-necked Avocet
Banded Lapwing
Black-winged Stilt
Red-necked Stint
Ruddy Turnstone
Australian Shelduck
Pacific Black Duck
Grey Teal
Rainbow Bee-eater
Osprey
Singing Honeyeater
White-fronted Chat
Silvereye
Galah
Sacred Kingfisher
Little-pied Cormorant

Bibra Lake
----------
Black Swan
Australian Wood Duck
Australian Shelduck
Eurasian Coot
Pacific Black Duck
Long Billed Corella
Western Corella
Little Corella
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Welcome Swallow
Magpie Lark
Tree Martin
Red Wattlebird
Dusky Moorhen
Purple Swamphen
Hoary-headed Grebe
Straw-necked Ibis
Silver Gull

Alfred Cove
-----------
Australian Pelican
* Grey Plover
Black-winged Stilt
Caspian Tern
Marsh Sandpiper
Little-black Cormorant

Kings Park
----------
Australian Magpie
Galah
Grey Butcherbird
Australian Ringneck
Rufous Whistler
Varied Sitella
Australian Wood Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Red Wattlebird
Rainbow Lorikeet
Singing Honeyeater
Laughing Turtledove
Rock Dove
Willie Wagtail
Silver Gull

Lake Monger
-----------
Australasian Shoveler
Pink-eared Duck
Blue-billed Duck
Black Swan
Great-crested Grebe
Silver Gull
Hoary-headed Grebe
Australasian Grebe
Australian Shelduck
Australian Wood Duck
Grey Teal
Hardhead
Musk Duck
Purple Swamphen
Dusky Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Clamorous Reed-warbler
Australian White Ibis
Willie Wagtail
Singing Honeyeater
Little Black Cormorant
Australian Pelican
Welcome Swallow
Laughing Turtledove
Western Corella
Little Corella

Herdsman Lake
-------------
White-faced Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
Dusky Moorhen
Willie Wagtail
Black Swan
Musk Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Grey Teal
Australian Shelduck
Pink-eared Duck
Hardhead
Australasian Shoveler
Hoary-headed Grebe
Laughing Turtledove
Spotted Turtledove
Swamp Harrier
Great-crested Grebe
Welcome Swallow


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Hi Wim and Birding Aussers,

We were in Madagascar at the same time as you - (we were in Perinet at the same 
time as the Rockjumpers group and actually watched Pygmy Kingfisher with you!) 
- and I concur entirely with your impressions of the Madagascar forest being 
low on bird density.We have also birded all over the world in rainforest and 
had exactly the same impression that you did. Why were there so few birds?? The 
only theory we could come up with was that it could be because there is quite a 
high density of lemurs and reptiles and any patch of forest can only support a 
certain biomass of wildlife irrespective of what form it takes?? 


Interestingly we found the dry forest at Ankaranfantsika (Ampirijoa) to have 
more birds and they weren't all skulkers. And the dry desolate-looking spiny 
forest was higher in bird density than you might expect. It was really the 
rainforest which was such a puzzle. 


The Madagascar Bird Guide does not help either - it describes a number of birds 
as "common" which we only saw once or in one case (Common Sunbird Asity) not at 
all, even though we spent long periods in suitable habitat. 


All a bit of a mystery. 

Our total for the 4 week trip was 178 and like you we missed only really 
difficult birds (except for the one mentioned above!). But it was certainly 
very hard work - it was useful that there were lemurs and chameleons to look at 
when the going got tough! I think to fully enjoy a trip to Madagascar you need 
to go for more than just the birds. 


Rosemary Royle

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Wim Vader 
  To: birding-aus 
 Cc: sabirdnet AT lists.ukzn.ac.za ; birdchat ; Franz Krapp ; 
info AT rockjumpers.ac.za ; ebn AT physis.pnw.fi 

  Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 9:01 AM
  Subject: [Birding-Aus] madagascar once more





 As the person who set the ball rolling, I now maybe need to rephrase my 
queries once more, since part of the discussion (which I have followed with 
great interest) has meandered away from the original questions. These were: 1. 
Why is the density of birds so low in the Madagascar forests?, and 2. Why are 
so very many birds on Madagascar extreme skulkers, compared to other areas?. 
Question nr 2 has remained unanswered and virtually undiscussed, apart from 
some jokers who suggested that all the non-skulkers had been exterminated by 
now. (Several of the most common birds on Madagascar are conspicuous and 
unafraid, so that can't be the answer.) Question 1 HAS been discussed, but many 
people seem to be under the impression that I asked about the low biodiversity 
on Madagascar---our trip tallied 185 species in almost a month of birding all 
over the island. But that was not my question, as I feel I understand that. 
Madagascar, though large, is a long isolated island, and it therefore OUGHT TO 
have low diversity, and it follows this rule nicely. In the same way, the very 
high degree of endemism is easily understood, and again is a function from the 
long isopaltion of the island and the considerable distance to mainland Africa. 
Only a few species have managed to reach Madagascar, and in some case there has 
afterwards been a modest local radiation, of which the couas and the vangas are 
the best examples. In the case of later influxes---one tends to think-- the 
madagascar birds have diverged from the mainland forms into a new species. 
Examples are the local drongo, kingfisher, Cisticola, lark, gymnogene, 
cuckoo-hawk etc etc. And still later immigrants also exist, and in those cases 
the Malagasy representatives are either well-marked subspecies (some herons, 
the roller), or even not clearly different at all. 

 Somebody asked how many of the endemic species we have seen on the trip, and 
the answer there is: almost all, except some notoriously rare ones, such as the 
Red Owl, the Serpent Eagle,berneir's Vanga, or the recently rediscovered Mad. 
Pochard. personally I missed three more: Pollen's Vanga, the yellow-bellied 
Sunbird-Asity, and the White-throated Oxylabes, but all three were seen by at 
least a few of our group. As I said before, both the Rockjumpers guides and the 
local guides are highly competent! 


 So my original question was not: Why are there so few bird species?, but: Why 
are there so few birds? The answers I have got fall into two categories: 'All 
rainforests are like that', or 'The people have destroyed the area'. I feel 
that both contain a grain of truth, but neither can be the entire answer. there 
is no doubt about the sad fact, that Madagascar has suffered greatly from 
unwise agricultural methods, and recently (although with 22 million people the 
country is not really overpopulated as yet) from too great fecundity and too 
many people. It is a very sad sight to watch from a plane and see all the 
denuded hills with deep erosion gullies, and all the red- or brown-coloured 
sluggish rivers transporting all the good topsoil into the sea. Or all the 
sacks with charcoal being sold along the roads and stemming from continued 
onslaughts on the remaining forest areas, especially the fantastic spiny forest 
and other dry fiorests (Zombitse!) And of course that must have had 
repercussions for the birds, and what we do now, when on a birding trip, is 
trek from one forest remnant to another, and pass over the large denuded areas 
as quickly as the often atrocious roads permit. But: many of the se remaining 
areas are still very large indeed, especially in the wet rainforest covered 
eastern part of the island. So large, that I can not quite believe that the low 
density of birds there is primarily a function of the destruction of other 
areas on the island. 


 My experiences with other rainforests are modest. I have been quite a lot in 
Australian rainforests, and otherwise in New Zealand, Costa Rica and Ecuador. 
in these areas I have of course noted the 'feast or famine' regime that they 
offer to birders: long periods with little to see, and then suddenly a large 
mixed flock with almost too much to choose from. Still, in my (I agree very 
limited) experience this was still different from what I experienced in 
Madagascar (Although New Zealand comes closest), here one could walk for e.g. 
half an hour in wonderful climax rain forest, while all the sounds one heard 
were the occasional frog call, and the evocative whistles of the Cuckoo-Roller 
far overhead. And when we finally came across a mixed flock (which happened to 
me only twice), they were maybe 10-15 vangas , a cuckoo-shrike and a paradise 
flycatcher. I definitely had the impression that there were fewer birds here 
than in the other rainforests I have visited. And interestingly enough this 
impression was strongest during our Masoala-extension, when wevisited the 
largest remaining almost undisturbed forest on the island! 


 So my questions still stand: Why are there so few birds in the island's rain 
forests, and Why are so disproportionally many birds on Madagascar extreme 
skulkers? 


  Wim Vader, Troms� Museum
  9037 Troms�, Norway
  wim.vader AT tmu.uit.no
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Today Mike West found a pair of Magpie Geese with just hatched chicks  
( "A nice caramel colour" was his description) at the Pelican Ponds  
at Oxley Creek Common on the south side of Brisbane.

Peter
>

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Hi all

Had approx. 10 Forkies over Jabiru this evening just before dusk as the 
Corellas and Magpie geese were flying back to town to roost. Clear skies and 
only a few whispy clouds. 


Cheers
Marc
Jabiru NT
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Simon said, "
To try and see half the birds in Australia in a single visit would be 
considered almost out of the question."

I am currently guiding a couple who have achived over 400 in ten weeks in 
Australia. Only got them one new one on each of the last two days: 
Blue-faced Parrot-Finch and Golden Bowerbird. Trying for Fernwren and Rufous 
owl tomorrow so wish us luck.
Regards,
alan 

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Hi all,
   
  Two new Pearl Beach sitings for me: Buff-banded Rail, Fan-tailed Cuckoo.
   
 Fan-Tailed Cuckoo seen and heard calling on the Green Point Waterfall walk. 
Buff-banded Rail seen next to the restaurant (Pearl's on the Beach) where Green 
Point Creek flows into the sea after heavy rain. Also seen: several Topknot 
Pigeons, Eastern Yellow Robin, Golden Whistler, Lewin's Honeyeater, Australian 
King-Parrot, Eastern Rosella, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Galah, 
Superb Fairy-wren, Brown Thornbill, Grey Butcherbird, Satin Bowerbird (2 
female), Eastern Whipbird, Rainbow Lorikeet, Pacific Black Duck, Pied 
Currawong, Australian Magpie, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Common Koel. Noisy Miner, 
Common Myna, Little Wattlebird 

   
  Cheers,
  Charles Hunter
  Paddington, Sydney

       
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Hi all
after spending plenty of time last weekend in the Blue Mt searching for 
Gang-gangs with my Dad (and we finally got one at Mt Wilson at lunch on our 
last day as we were heading back to Sydney), it was almost certain that I 
would now see some more with no effort...and so it has proved.
This afternoon (Sunday 25 Nov) at about 5;15pm, I was waiting outside the 
school hall at Turramurra High School on Maxwell St, South Turramurra for my 
daughter to finish a rehearsal for an upcoming concert.  I was without 
binoculars, but I saw 2 largish, dark birds fly into a gum tree on the other 
side of the oval, with a possible flash of red?  So I strolled over to check 
them out and there, about 10 metres up were a male & female, quietly 
creaking and feeding on gum nuts - the binoculars were not necessary as the 
male then clambered down until he was about 5 metres up.
I heard  2 others heard calling from slightly further away.  The SW boundary 
of the school grounds backs onto the Upper Lane Cove Valley, so I presume 
they came from there.
I haven't broken the news of the ease of this sighting to my Dad yet....
Cheers
Tom Wilson 

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Hi everybody
I just wanted to say a big thanks to the list for all the help that was 
provided to me over the last 8 weeks, while I was gathering information for 
my Dad's recently completed visit.  It just reinforced for me what a 
helpful, co-operative pastime we have, when people are quite prepared to 
volunteer information and even their phone numbers to help out fellow 
enthusiasts.
I think that I have responded to everybody in person, but if I didn't, 
apologies.
All up, we had a fair degree of success and he left with about 30 new birds 
for his Aussie list, which now must be up in the mid 500s I should think. 
(We got Gang-gangs, finally, but he still thinks Glossy Black Cockatoos are 
a figment of my imagination!)
Cheers
Tom Wilson 

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Hi all
I saw a single Black Shouldered Kite yesterday (24 Nov) at approx 3:30pm right 
next to the M4 at Parramatta, in Sydney's west. The bird was seen just off the 
south side of M4 near the Parramatta Church St Exit. It was circling around a 
tree, just higher than the noise reducing panels. It is quite an urban 
situation, with the motorway and lots of industrial development, so I was quite 
surprised to see one there! 

Cheers
Tom Wilson
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