Hi Birding-Aussers
From mid Oct- late Dec last year I was lucky enough to bird in Qld. I thought I would send a note about each lifer I saw. So, starting with Kalkadoon Grasswren. First of all, I like the name, named after the local Aboriginal group where the bird occurs. HANZAB states the genus name Amytormis came from generic appellation Amytis by Lesson(1831) after Amytis(fl 550 BC) daughter of the Medean tyrant Astyages and who married his conqueror and grandson, Cyrus of Persia. However the name was preoccupied and Stejneger coined a fresh variant with the addition of the Greek for bird. The species name ballarae is after the location of the type-locality being the Ballara copper mine, north western Qld.
So, it sounds like the genus for grasswrens was named after some seedy goings on which had nothing to do with birds. We got to Mt Isa in the middle of the day and waited for the cool of the evening to go and look for the grasswren. Went up to the site near the water tank, from Thomas and Thomas. Not sure which side of the track to go up the gully but chose the left and within 30-40 metres almost stood on a Kalkadoon Grasswren. This was the first and last one we saw. Walked up and down the hills for quite a while and took the walking track to the right of track to water tank along the gull but saw nothing. Almost completely birdless. Probably the most interesting thing we saw as the sighting of the grasswren was brief, were good views of purple-necked rock wallaby.petrogale pupureicollis.
The next day 20/10/11 we went out to the Loretta mine site(thomas and thomas) to look for the Carpentarian Grasswren. Pulled in at cairn and read the book to see what others had been seeing(knowledge from Birds Austalia Qld website. Went to campsite and saw a Grey fronted Honeyeater buildig a nest. We first went north of campsite and my wife thought she saw the grasswren but I missed it. We both saw a spinifex bird. It was already hot at approx. 10 am. went back to the cairn and went south west going across the road and within 50 metres of road started to see Carpentarian grasswren. There were a number and although the spinifex was low and habitat relatively open they were hard critters to get a good look at. From there we went to Porcupine NP near the coast getting in after dark and had the bonus of seeing rufous bettongs, but missed the spectacled hare wallabies, not knowing that they were a possibility until saw the info board in the light.
The next lifers were in Cairns, so until then.
Gary
Oh- the carpentarian grasswren, Amytormis dorotheae was named after Dorothy White, daughter of Australian philatelist and oologist Henry Luke White. I thought I knew that a philatelist was a stamp collector but an oologist?? not in my Macquarie but the study of birds nests, eggs and breeding behaviour. Makes sense. ===============================
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