G’day Del,
That’s interesting news on the Chestnut Rail movements.
Can you please fill us in on the Spotted Whistling Duck observer misbehaviour at Wonga Beach? I don’t recall reading any reports about the misbehaviour – I assume you are referring to the ducks that were reported there a couple of months ago.
Were there many birders involved or was it just a couple of insensitive types barging onto private property?
Regards, Laurie.
On 05/11/2011, at 1:06 PM, Del Richards wrote:
> In recent years I have been involved with a radio programme “Bird > Talk”, monthly with ABC Far North in Cairns. Responses come from a > wide range of people and locations and are often very interesting. > In the days prior to the October programme I was contacted by > locals Kerry Coleman and Graham Bell about a large bird which they > believed to be a Chestnut Rail. After giving the report due caution, > they said that they would quite happily send me an image of the bird > which they did, taken in ideal habitat north of Cairns. With Martin > Cachard I later visted the location and the narrow creek where the > bird had been photographed at neap tide in heavy red mangrove habitat. > I then enlisted the help of Lloyd Nielsen with regard to the > eastern records of the species known to be north of Karumba in the > Gulf. This led me to speak to Russell Holt who for many years ran > the “Ferryman Cruises” there who in turn had seen the species on the > Staaten and Mitchell River deltas to the north. > Should the record have been infuenced by a major weather event, > “Cyclone Yasi” came in from the Coral Sea and passed over sothern > Cape York Peninsula in early February remaining a category “3” even > as it passed Georgetown. Around Mossman we had severe NNW winds for > thirty hours and storm rain of around 500mm in the ensuing days. > It’s real impact on birdlife can only be guessed at. > (At the time there were two reports of Elegant Imperial-Pigeon in > the Wet Tropics, one at Mt. Molloy, (very competent observer) and > another in the Kennedy Valley near Cardwell before and after the > cyclone respectively. This bird previously had not been encountered > in the region. Which other species were here, who know?) > I have established that chestnut rails have not been kept at > Cairns Zoo and Hartley’s Creek Crocodile Farm. To the north Sean > Dooley (pers. comm.) saw one in a Port Douglas resort a year ago > which had escaped from “The Wildlife Habitat”. however within two > hundred metres the are two thousand hectares of ideal mangrove > habitat. To make the journey to the environs of Cairns this bird > would need to proceed over forty kilometres on rocky mountainous > terrain. > John Seale (pers. comm.) received an unconfirmed report about two > years ago from Lake Tinaroo on the Atherton Tableland. Local Jack > Leighton followed this up without result. > Since the photograph was taken there has been no further sighting > of the bird in question. Those birders involved are loathe to give > out the location, having learned some serious lessons from the > preceeding fiasco which happened at Wonga Beach with regards to the > Spotted Whistle-ducks. Those wishing to tick those birds showed > scant regard for the birds and the residents to whom we are still > apologising. Keith Fisher (pers. comm.) > I would sincerely like to thanks all of the above local observers > for their help along with Denise Goodfellow for her experience with > the species. > In the meantime all observers should be aware of possible > sightings of Chestnut Rails in north Queensland. > Del. Richards, Fine Feather Tours, Mossman, NQ>
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
