It’s more a measure of awesomeness rather than area. Might have to make a proper scale of this one day… Cheers!
Tony
On 04/01/2013 00:40, Dave Torr wrote: > Ah – a new measure – the milliWerribee! Werribee used to be just over > 10,000 hectares so a milliWerribee would be 10 hectares I guess, but > now chunks have been removed for the regional park and housing will be > less – so it may not be a fixed area! > > On 4 January 2013 10:35, Tony Keene > wrote: > > Julian, I agree – it’s certainly different and at the same time > the same. The same hours spent scoping scrubby patches in all > forms of weather (and yes, you can get badly sunburnt in the UK in > the summer. Sometimes.), the same sorts of people from the > lightest of robin-strokers through to the most aspie of twitchers, > the same highs and lows of new birds and dips. > Even if they are mostly small and brown… > Moving back to the UK, it’s both lovely to see old favourites like > Common Shelduck and Bohemian Waxwings and at the same time a > little of an anti-climax compared to the first few months in > Australia where almost everything was a tick. > The major difference is the number of people: RSPB Bowling Green > Marsh was heaving on 1st January with loads of people starting > their year lists. I must have passed upwards of a hundred birders > on the way between the river and the reserve and there was a > constant turnover in the hide, all in a site worth about 150 > milliWerribees. > I suspect I shall rarely have the glorious solitude of an > Australian reserve, but at least I won’t be short of second > opinions on ID in the field… > Cheers, > > Tony > > > > On 03/01/2013 21:32, Julian B wrote: > > Yes, Philip, the 16 500 [550 x 30] was an absurd exaggeration, > as is the oft > touted fallacy that there are few or no birds in Britain. I > had a teaching > colleague who, on returning from a year’s teacher exchange in > London, > bemoaned the lack of British birds: sparrows and starlings > with a few feral > pigeons to spare. Puzzled, I asked exactly where had she gone > in search of > birds and was flabbergasted to learn that apart from one trip > to Stratford > to see a Shakespearean drama she had never set foot beyond The > Big Smoke. > > Nor was that the thrust of my point. Numbers are irrelevant > in this debate. > What does it matter whether Britain has 50 or 500 fewer > species that > Australia? Australia is 30-times the size of Britain and has > habitat types > [e.g. deserts, rainforests] not found in Britain. No one > doubts that > Australia has more bird species than a small European outpost > and therefore > all those defensive parries [e.g. lack of birders makes it > difficult to > discover the true Australian total; more than half of the > British list (? > Evidence based or another stab in the dark?) consists of rare > vagrants] were > unnecessary and rather missed my point by the proverbial > country mile. > > I was simply trying to dispel the seemingly widely held > antipodean view that > there are only a handful of rather drab and lacklustre avian > species in > Britain. > > Given some of the responses [both in this public forum and emailed > privately] it appears to me that a number of correspondents > are in danger of > comparing apples with oranges – equating Australian > birdwatchers [birders] > with British “twitchers”. > > Twitching is not unique to Britain and alien to Australia – > and anyone who > doubts that was obviously not present when the Blue Rock > Thrush arrived at > the “Devil’s Kitchen” on the Sunshine Coast. And I do seem to > recall one > rather well-known former Queensland politician/birder dropping > everything to > race off in pursuit of a reported Great Reed-Warbler at Port > Macquarie. > > Nor. of course, are all British birders mad twitchers. Lee > Evans does not > hold sway over all! Penny gives a fine example of this. > > I would add my own contribution. Back in the early 1990s, > having to return > to Britain on family matters, I took the opportunity to chase > down that > elusive Puffin. On arriving at South Stack [Anglesey, North > Wales] I was > amazed to see the number of family groups enjoying a picnic > while birding. > I fell into conversation with one such family and moments > later their > 14-year old son [along with the nine-year old daughter] called > me over to > their telescope in which they had a Puffin! > > Fay and I hail from Staffordshire where our local patches included > Blithfield Reservoir [for which read “dam”] and Cannock Chase > [a “chase” is > a large woodland area not owned by the Crown]. This was our > bread-and-butter birding. > > Yes, we twitched on occasions. We were there for the > White-winged Black > Tern [a Staffordshire rarity]. We were among the crowd for > the Salisbury > White Stork as we were for the Red Phalarope BUT these were > anomalies. Our > birding consisted of regular counts at the Doxey Marshes, the > Uttoxeter > Quarry, at Belvide Reservoir, etc. > > It is surely an exercise in futility to maintain that it is > better or worse > birding in Australia than in Britain [or vice verse]. The > birding is > DIFFERENT. > > Here in Australia you can attend your local patch, any patch, > and be largely > confident of the birds you can record. Yes, there are always the > exceptions: the Javan Pond Heron of Darwin; the Black-headed > Gull at Broome > Sewage Treatment Plant; the Franklin Gull of Salisbury Plains; > etc. But > they are random; there appears to be no rhyme or reason behind > their sudden > and unexpected arrival on these shores. You wouldn’t hold > your breath > awaiting the next one. > > In Brittan, on the other hand, especially at both the Spring > and Autumn > passage seasons, one can be reasonably confident that > something strange, > rare of unusual will appear somewhere, either from across the > Atlantic or > overland from the farthest reaches of Siberia. > > In part it is that expectation that fuels many twitchers or > simply warms the > cockles of the most humble patch birder. > > Other debateable points have been put forward in this thread > but my final > [public] word is simply an apology to Ed. I seem to have > usurped your > innocent parting quip to a fellow Pom and birder and turned it > into a > diarrheic comedy of mostly misused English grammar and > lacklustre logic. I > would make it up to you should you ever find yourself in my > neck of the > woods [the South Burnett, some 280km NW of Brisbane] with time > to watch [or > twitch] a few of my local birds. > > Julian > > =============================== > > 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 > =============================== > > > =============================== > > 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 > =============================== > >
===============================
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 ===============================
