Author: paul

Hi birders,

There are spots available on the Birds Australia pelagic out of Portland this coming Sunday, 2nd October. Over the years spring pelagics have yielded some interesting birds and with the wild weather we’ve had over the last few days, who knows what we may see on Sunday. The weather forecast for Sunday is good, and the trip will proceed.

If you are interested in going, please contact me as soon as possible.

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

0419516669

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Well done Gary! A great effort!

Sent from my iPhone

On 31/08/2011, at 10:24 PM, “Gary Oliver” wrote:

> Hi all, > > > > Just to let everyone know that today was the last day of my 12 month > challenge to photograph as many wild Australian birds as I could. The > previous record as such was 377 which was the only published one I could > find going into this challenge. My wife (support person) and I began on 1st > September 2010 in Carisbrook, Victoria and finished today, 31st August 2011. > We travelled all around the country in our caravan and met and were helped > by many fellow twitchers. > > > > My final count is 518. I also photographed three more which at this time > don’t appear to be on the Christidis & Boles List. They were the Western > Grasswren, the Swan River Honeyeater and the Western Crested Shrike-tit. > > > > Our thanks to everyone who has encouraged us on our journey and to those who > have in some way helped. I hope it sets a useful benchmark for the growing > number of us who enjoy photographing birds as well as observing them. > > > > Best regards, > > > > Gary Oliver > > Birdshootaustralia.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@vicnet.net.au > > http://birding-aus.org > =============================== > ===============================

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Hi birding-aussers,

Some sad news – well respected Malaysian birder and photographer Choo Tse Chien passed away yesterday. I’m sorry, but I have no further details of his passing. The funeral will be held at 2pm on Sunday, Aug 28th at the Wesley Methodist Church, Burma Rd, Penang, Malaysia.

Whilst I never met Chien personally, I was in touch with him through social media sites and was quite familiar with his work. For those not on Facebook, Chien’s work can be seen at: http://www.aviannaturescapes.net/Site/Home.html and also here: http://www.pbase.com/tsechien

Those of you that have participated in the Borneo Bird Festival, Chien was an active organiser, contributor and participant. He was scheduled to present on bird and nature photography in the forthcoming event in October. See: http://www.pbase.com/tsechien for more information.

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

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Have just received an UNCONFIRMED report of an Australian Bustard at Tarneit in Victoria.

Two unknown observers saw the bird near the corner of Tarneit Rd and Leakes Rd in Tarneit (just north of Hoppers Crossing) on 11th August – last Thursday. They reported the sighting to Mick Smith at Serendip Sanctuary today, because they thought it might be an escapee – it isn’t.

Unfortunately Ruth and I are on our way to Portland for the pelagic, so can’t immediately check it out. If anyone is in the area or can detour to take a look, please let us know if you find it.

Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria

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Hi birding-aussers,

Since Ruth and I completed our “VicTwitch” Big Year in Victoria last year, I am interested in the history of Big Years in Australia. I can’t find that much information – presumably because Big Years are not pursued particularly vigorously in Australia. Here is what I have:

Australian Records:

????: 535 Species: John McKean

1979: 545 Species: Roy Wheeler

2002: 703 Species: Sean Dooley

(All information from Sean Dooley’s book, “The Big Twitch”)

Victorian Records:

2006: 336 Species: John Harris

2009: 345 Species: Tim Dolby

2010: 389 Species: Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow

South Australian Records:

2010: ??? Species: Kay Parkin

Local Records:

2010: Hunter Valley: 343 Species: Mick Roderick

Does anyone have any other information, history or other details on birding records in Australia?

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

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Hi birding-aussers,

I have uploaded some photos of the Great Shearwaters and Gould’s Petrels that we saw on the Portland Pelagic this past Sunday.

http://www.panoramio.com/user/paulgdodd

Good luck to the participants on the forthcoming pelagics!

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

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Hi birding-aussers,

I seem to recall a discussion about Little Egrets in Australia recently. Ruth and I were at the Western Treatment Plant in Victoria today and encountered many Little Egrets (more than either of us ever recall seeing there). In one pond at the T-Section Lagoons we found three Little Egrets – two were the “normal” ones that we see with black bill, black legs and black feet. The other one had a blackish bill with black legs and yellow feet. The yellow-footed egret was being hassled by the black-footed ones and on several occasions they’d fly off chasing each other before returning to the pond.

If I am not mistaken, the yellow-footed Little Egret is the Asian nominate race, Egretta garzetta garzetta – whereas the black-footed Little Egret is the Australian race, Egretta garzetta immaculata or Egretta garzetta nigripes.

Am I correct? How common is the nominate race in Australia? How common is the nominate race in Victoria, and at the Western Treatment Plant?

Thanks!

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

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Hi birders,

At the risk of being accused of shameless self-promotion, Ruth and I are giving a talk at the Birds Australia (Victoria) meeting this Thursday evening on our 2010 Victorian Big Year. We had 12 months of incredible birding, we birded the length and breadth of Victoria and shared our experiences with loads of birders. If you’re interested in coming along to find out how we went during the year, you would be most welcome. Even if you’re not a mad lister like we are, we had so many adventures and got ourselves into all sorts of trouble along the way, and hopefully there’s something in that to interest everybody.

Details of the location and the talk are below.

Paul Dodd

Docklands, Victoria

From: Birds Australia Membership [mailto:membership@birdsaustralia.com.au] Sent: Friday, 4 March 2011 5:32 PM To: membership@birdsaustralia.com.au Subject: BA VIC e-News 4 March 2011

You could always do what Jen Spry suggested – fit a keyring to the eyelets in the bins and non-locking carabiners to the harness. You could also fit non-locking carabiners to your existing strap. When you want to switch from harness to strap, simply unclip the bins from the harness, and clip the carabiners on your straps to the keyrings on the bins.

As for me, I’ll stick to my neck strap for the moment…

Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria

I notice that the BOCA Blue Wren Gift Shop has harnesses ranging in price from $7.75 to $53.00 – even less for BOCA members. See http://www.boca.org.au/component/boca_shop/catalogue and search for “harness”.

Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria