Hi all,
Just quickly, I just thought I’d qualify this report. Like other recent reports, it should be noted that more details are needed to confirm this record. It should also be noted that there have been recent cases where very good British birders ID’d White-fronted Chat as White Wagtail – particularly the Black-backed form. This has no reflection of the quality of British birders 😉
As with many Birdline reports, a major aim is to get the information out as quickly as possibly, thus improving the chance of seeing the bird(s), thus verifying the bird(s), or in fact, not verifying the bird(s). Once verified it can be treated with a more quantified approach i.e. entered as an Atlas record. It’s worth noting that Birdlines are not always correct, and sometimes have errors. However such errors are compensated by a range of other benefits, one being that records are often followed up quickly and confirmed, often with very positive conservation consequences.
Without wanting to open a can of worms (please) it may be worth having some debate over the role of a Birdline service. This debate has taken place overseas, but I don’t recall reading such a debate in Australia. My personal opinion is that Birdlines are an important information resource, and that information (apart from being interesting and great fun) is a very strong conservation and research tool. Hope this makes sense.
Cheers,
Tim Dolby
________________________________________ From: birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au [birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au] on behalf of Tim Dolby Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 5:56 PM To: birding-aus@vicnet.net.au Subject: [Birding-Aus] White Wagtail at Cloudy Bay, Bruny Island in Tasmania.
Hi all,
Two White Wagtail have just been reported (Sun 30 2011) by Simon Avery at Cloudy Bay, Bruny Island in Tasmania. The report states:
“One adult and one immature seen feeding together in fore dunes at Cloudy Bay, Bruny Island around midday (observed at about 10-20 m with Pentax DCF 8×43 binoculars). I am a British ornithologist, and am very familiar with this species. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera.”
See http://www.eremaea.com/BirdlineRecentSightings.aspx?Birdline=6. I’m really interested to hear about any follow ups.
Cheers,
Tim Dolby http://tim-dolby.blogspot.com
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