I have just finished my trip report for our recent very successful 10 week trip to the West, South and Tasmania – I will post it on Birdtours.co.uk and will let you know when it is there. If anyone wants to see it before that I can email it.
I am hoping you may be able to help with a mystery whistler which we saw along the Honeymoon Hut track in Murray-Sunset NP a couple of kms westwards from the junction with the Meridian Track.The date was 19th Nov 2010.
I first heard it calling as we were driving slowly along with the window down – it sounded exactly like the soundtrack of Red Lored Whistler which I had been listening to from the David Stuart CD, with the very curious “two notes at the same time” effect. We screeched to a halt and there was the bird right in front of us on a branch close to the track. I was elated until we looked at the bird through binoculars – it was all plain grey except for faint rufous shading on the vent. No red lores or even throat. The bird was surprisingly tame – it circled our van as we watched from inside. It then changed its song to something that sounded just like a Gilbert’s Whistler – “chop chop chop chop”. We had really close views but were completely puzzled.
What was it? The habitat looked wrong for Gilbert’s (in our limited experience of seeing them at Gluepot and Hattah-Kulkyne) – low scruffy mallee and no taller trees or pines. During the rest of our time there we did not see any Gilbert’s only Rufous – so was this bird actually a Red-Lored? If it was a juvenile how come it was singing? Are there Gilbert’s Whistlers here?? What do you think??
A couple of other things which we thought were interesting – we found a few birds either at the very edge of or outside the ranges described in our books (Slater and Pizzey and Knight) as follows:
Little Friarbird – A bird at Morgan Conservation Park would appear to be right on the western edge of its range.
Dollarbird We were surprised to find one of these cackling from the treetops at Hattah-Kulkyne – somewhat out of range but no doubt attracted by the water and the dragonflies
Superb Fairy-wren We were surprised to find this bird singing around our van at Coffin Bay on the Eyre Peninsula which is out of range according to our books.
Any comments??
Yours confusedly
Rosemary Royle Wales, UK
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