Hi all, Alan Morris (NSW Twitchathon co-ordinator) no longer posts to Birding-aus, so I have copied below the ‘very preliminary results’ from the NSW Twitchathon on the weekend below. Our score of 252 was a new record and came about by combining the NSW mallee (on Saturday) with the Hunter Valley (on Sunday). Our compulsory break was made a long way from rainforest and the dawn chorus was happening while we were in the car! Still, we managed to peg back most of the rainforest birds and are very happy with the 252 total in our 15th consecutive Twitchathon (even allowing for the ridiculous dips….they’re always the birds you recall the most!). At some stage I’m sure Jacqueline Winter will pen a trip report. The Dry-throated Buzzards, who do their Twitchathons entirely on pushbike, managed 180 spp. They have posted a trip report already to our local Hunterbirding chat group and I can forward it to anyone who is interested (it is a great read I can tell you!). In the meantime, here are some very rapid stats of ours that I have at hand… Total score = 252 Score arriving at camp = 127 Time reached 200 = 0930 Sunday (Varied Sitella) Time reached 240 = 1249 Sunday (Whimbrel) Score when Silver Gull added = 224 # Honeyeaters = 30 # Threatened species = 23 (actually down on previous years) # Raptors = 13 (2 down on our best) Cheers, Mick Roderick (Hunter Home Brewers and Hunter Twitchathon co-ordinator) NSW & ACT TWITCHATHON VERY PRELIMINARY RESULTS 2013 The NSW & ACT Twitchathon 2013 was down on numbers of previous years. This was because a number of team leaders have moved, were having had medical operations or family commitments and could not attend, and there was the bushfires. In the Greater Sydney Region all the National Parks and Nature Reserves were still closed so that access to favourite birding sites was just not available. Birdwatchers in the Blue Mountains were particularly affected. So this year only 37 teams and 124 participants in 15 Main Race Teams, 18 Champagne Teams and 5 Children’s Teams (Dollarbirds and Little Curlews) took part. But what we lost in numbers we have made up in good money raisers! It is estimated by the participants that over $23,000 has been raised in sponsorship (note that in 2010 we estimated $22,000 and actually raised $25,000 so I am hoping it is like that this and we actually reach our target of $30,000). Note that not all the results are to hand so don’t take this as gospel yet! I will be busy following though on the details and verifying the claims over the next few days. Next week I will publish the “Preliminary Result”. No Childrens’ Teams details are available as yet. MAIN RACE This year the probable top team, the Hunter Home Brewers, seen & heard 252 species,two more than the previous record of 250 (The Menacing Monarchs). If the details are confirmed, the Hunter Home Brewers will have now won the Main Race again after being second to the Menancing Monarchs for the past three years. The Brewers count of 252 is a New Record for the Twitch! Congratulations to Mick, Steve, Craig & Lucas!!! Congratulations too, to the Black-necked Stalkers who have finally made it into the top three Teams! 252 Hunter Home Brewers (Steve & Mick Roderick, Craig Anderson, Lucas Grenadier) 224 Menacing Monarchs (R. McDonald, M. Kearns & A. Rudder HBOC). 221 Black-necked Stalkers (Greg Clancy,R. Jago & G.Eggins Clarence Valley) 218 Dodgy Drongos (Grant Brosie, Nick Livanos, Robert Kilkelly HBOC) 205 C.C. Champion Choughs (Alan Morris, M.Kuhl, Nick Carson CCG) 191 The Plains Wanderers (Rob Hynson,A. Stewart, A. Holmes, D.Langley.S) 190 Blind Babblers (Brendon Sheeon,S,Ryan,B Walmesly, D.Ginty W’gong) 190 Gang-Gang Gang (Steve Edwards, L.Johnson, M.Filipczyk et al W’gong)* 189 Varied Wrenegades (Janeen Grieg, Liz & Chris Herbert HBOC) 184 The Lousy Jacks (Paul Burcher, S. Bloomfield & D.Engel. Sydney) 180 Dry Throated Buzzards (Dan Williams, D. Lyons, C.Bagnall HBOC) 178 Weebill Rock-yous (Steven Cox, Rebecca Vere. HBOC) 156 Cheerful Drongos (Kevin Cheers, L.Trice, B.Bolt & T.Lawer Sawtell) 156 Gong Gangs (Martin Potter, Paul Nesbitt, Carla Jackett W’gong) 109 The Dubbo Dippers (Craig Arms & Simone Pye, Dubbo) CHAMPAGNE RACE 162 Night Poirots (Peter West, S.Proust, L.Earnshaw C.Meadows PtMac) 147 Which-is-it? (Margaret & Kaye Pointer, Michael Breheny CCG) 143 Highland Harriers (Ian Kerr, Ted Giblin, Dwaine Laxdal Pt Macquarie) * 137 Not One Wrong Tern (Tiffany & M. Mason, R.Porter et al Bathurst) 137 Cowra Woodland Bird Brainers (Warren Chad, N.Courtance, et al Cowra) 135 Champagne Shrike-tits (Eliz. & T. Karplus, P.Brook, D.Price BNSW) 133 Silly Galahs (Max O’Sullivan, P.Williams, P.Tenison MFN) 126 Grumpy Frogmouths (Jack Adams, A.Taylor, E.McKane et al HBOC) 119 Lying Lapwings (Mike Jefferis, B.Rusk, R.Hale, E. May Ulladulla)* 109 Noisy Minors/Majors (Michael Cheers, K.Flavell et al Sawtell) * 106 Matheson Mopokes (Jo & Archie Cameron, K. Hindmarsh, Inverell) 105 Wooden Spoonbills (Margaret Harmon, B.Rusk et al BA-Sth Coast) 100 City Chicks (Jo Hanley, P Norris, K. Hullegie, K.West . Hunter) 93 Red-faced Parrots (Judy Harrington, G. Hutchinson, J.Stiles et al BAS) 73 The Naggy Magpies (Krishna & M. Nagarajan, Miranda Moore. Hunter) * 62 Rocking Warblers (Leanne & Chris Huxley, Sue Thomson. Blue Mtns) — Three of us (Susan & r. Woodhouse, G. Hickson Sawtell) Children’s Teams – Little Curlews (Under 10 years) — The Young Young-ones (Kate & Elise Richard, Young) * — Sawtell Kites (Kirra, Anthony & Zachary Moore, Sawtell) * — Sawtell King Parrots * Childrens Teams – Dollarbirds (10-16 years) — Field Wrens (Georgina, Luke & Julie Field, Sawtell) * — Malcolm’s Falcons (Jack, Kate & Natham Malcolm, Sawtell) In the next few days I will be following up with the different teams on the details that I don’t have, so I can give a preliminary results and later, final results sheet. If there are any details I have wrong please let me know! Alan Morris, Twitchathon Co-ordinator 28/10/13 Note (*) – New Teams for 2013 =============================== 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 ===============================
Hi Mick, Not sure of any score of 270+, the highest score I know was 242 or very close to it. Your score is very impressive, I doubt anyone up here could get near that at the moment with this awful dry weather we are having. One day when we retire we may have a go! We did get 101 species within a 1.5km of the Lodge on New Years Day this year and we even stopped for an afternoon snooze! A 2½hr walk this morning found 64 species around the Lodge so there are still a few birds around. Cheers, Keith & Lindsay. Keith & Lindsay Fisher Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge RN 6 Mt. Kooyong Road Julatten QLD 4871 Ph : (07) 4094 1263 Web Site: http://www.birdwatchers.com.au Blog: http://kingfisherparkbirdwatchers.blogspot.com/ Winner: Wet Tropics 2010 Cassowary Award for Nature Based Tourism =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Hi Tim, You’d be close if you said that is where we started, but it wasn’t. We didn’t have any sign of Red-loreds either, but we did manage Gilbo’s not far from the Wheat Paddock. We did get some good mallee / western woodland birds, but it was the Lake Cargelligo poo ponds that was really our gold mine. What a fantastic spot and all concentrated into a small area. We added 37 spp there and it was the last stop for us on Saturday (so many species had already been ticked beforehand). 17 of those 37 we saw nowhere else on our run. As far as “acheivable scores” are concerned, I’m not sure if you mean on push-bike only but I agree that the Hunter would be up there as one of the best spots in Australia. In 2009 we managed 234 (by car!) all within the Hunter River catchment. The Cairns area would be the best for push-bike…as long as you started out west and didn’t need to ride UP the hill! It’d have to be the best by car as well. From memory, the record for the vehicle-based Twitchathon up there was in the 270’s? (maybe Keith Fisher or someone else up there can comment?) Mick Well done Mick and Hunter Home Brewers! 252 is simply brilliant. I’m guessing you started in Nombinnie Nature Reserve (Round Hill) at the paddock on Cactus Track. (Interested to see how many whistler sp in the total.) Also well done Alan, and the other NSW teams; hope you reach your 30 g total. The Dry-throated Buzzards pushbike thon total of 180 is also outstanding. Interested to read their report. I wonder if such a total is logistically possible in other areas of Aust; obviously places such as the Hunter, greater Cairns and greater Brisbane would be good spots. I might see if I can calculate a possible (realistic!) route in Vic, and see what sort of total I come up with. Cheers, Tim ________________________________________ Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:48 PM Hi all, Alan Morris (NSW Twitchathon co-ordinator) no longer posts to Birding-aus, so I have copied below the ‘very preliminary results’ from the NSW Twitchathon on the weekend below. Our score of 252 was a new record and came about by combining the NSW mallee (on Saturday) with the Hunter Valley (on Sunday). Our compulsory break was made a long way from rainforest and the dawn chorus was happening while we were in the car! Still, we managed to peg back most of the rainforest birds and are very happy with the 252 total in our 15th consecutive Twitchathon (even allowing for the ridiculous dips….they’re always the birds you recall the most!). At some stage I’m sure Jacqueline Winter will pen a trip report. The Dry-throated Buzzards, who do their Twitchathons entirely on pushbike, managed 180 spp. They have posted a trip report already to our local Hunterbirding chat group and I can forward it to anyone who is interested (it is a great read I can tell you!). In the meantime, here are some very rapid stats of ours that I have at hand… Total score = 252 Score arriving at camp = 127 Time reached 200 = 0930 Sunday (Varied Sitella) Time reached 240 = 1249 Sunday (Whimbrel) Score when Silver Gull added = 224 # Honeyeaters = 30 # Threatened species = 23 (actually down on previous years) # Raptors = 13 (2 down on our best) Cheers, Mick Roderick (Hunter Home Brewers and Hunter Twitchathon co-ordinator) NSW & ACT TWITCHATHON VERY PRELIMINARY RESULTS 2013 The NSW & ACT Twitchathon 2013 was down on numbers of previous years. This was because a number of team leaders have moved, were having had medical operations or family commitments and could not attend, and there was the bushfires. In the Greater Sydney Region all the National Parks and Nature Reserves were still closed so that access to favourite birding sites was just not available. Birdwatchers in the Blue Mountains were particularly affected. So this year only 37 teams and 124 participants in 15 Main Race Teams, 18 Champagne Teams and 5 Children’s Teams (Dollarbirds and Little Curlews) took part. But what we lost in numbers we have made up in good money raisers! It is estimated by the participants that over $23,000 has been raised in sponsorship (note that in 2010 we estimated $22,000 and actually raised $25,000 so I am hoping it is like that this and we actually reach our target of $30,000). Note that not all the results are to hand so don’t take this as gospel yet! I will be busy following though on the details and verifying the claims over the next few days. Next week I will publish the “Preliminary Result”. No Childrens’ Teams details are available as yet. MAIN RACE This year the probable top team, the Hunter Home Brewers, seen & heard 252 species,two more than the previous record of 250 (The Menacing Monarchs). If the details are confirmed, the Hunter Home Brewers will have now won the Main Race again after being second to the Menancing Monarchs for the past three years. The Brewers count of 252 is a New Record for the Twitch! Congratulations to Mick, Steve, Craig & Lucas!!! Congratulations too, to the Black-necked Stalkers who have finally made it into the top three Teams! 252 Hunter Home Brewers (Steve & Mick Roderick, Craig Anderson, Lucas Grenadier) 224 Menacing Monarchs (R. McDonald, M. Kearns & A. Rudder HBOC). 221 Black-necked Stalkers (Greg Clancy,R. Jago & G.Eggins Clarence Valley) 218 Dodgy Drongos (Grant Brosie, Nick Livanos, Robert Kilkelly HBOC) 205 C.C. Champion Choughs (Alan Morris, M.Kuhl, Nick Carson CCG) 191 The Plains Wanderers (Rob Hynson,A. Stewart, A. Holmes, D.Langley.S) 190 Blind Babblers (Brendon Sheeon,S,Ryan,B Walmesly, D.Ginty W’gong) 190 Gang-Gang Gang (Steve Edwards, L.Johnson, M.Filipczyk et al W’gong)* 189 Varied Wrenegades (Janeen Grieg, Liz & Chris Herbert HBOC) 184 The Lousy Jacks (Paul Burcher, S. Bloomfield & D.Engel. Sydney) 180 Dry Throated Buzzards (Dan Williams, D. Lyons, C.Bagnall HBOC) 178 Weebill Rock-yous (Steven Cox, Rebecca Vere. HBOC) 156 Cheerful Drongos (Kevin Cheers, L.Trice, B.Bolt & T.Lawer Sawtell) 156 Gong Gangs (Martin Potter, Paul Nesbitt, Carla Jackett W’gong) 109 The Dubbo Dippers (Craig Arms & Simone Pye, Dubbo) CHAMPAGNE RACE 162 Night Poirots (Peter West, S.Proust, L.Earnshaw C.Meadows PtMac) 147 Which-is-it? (Margaret & Kaye Pointer, Michael Breheny CCG) 143 Highland Harriers (Ian Kerr, Ted Giblin, Dwaine Laxdal Pt Macquarie) * 137 Not One Wrong Tern (Tiffany & M. Mason, R.Porter et al Bathurst) 137 Cowra Woodland Bird Brainers (Warren Chad, N.Courtance, et al Cowra) 135 Champagne Shrike-tits (Eliz. & T. Karplus, P.Brook, D.Price BNSW) 133 Silly Galahs (Max O’Sullivan, P.Williams, P.Tenison MFN) 126 Grumpy Frogmouths (Jack Adams, A.Taylor, E.McKane et al HBOC) 119 Lying Lapwings (Mike Jefferis, B.Rusk, R.Hale, E. May Ulladulla)* 109 Noisy Minors/Majors (Michael Cheers, K.Flavell et al Sawtell) * 106 Matheson Mopokes (Jo & Archie Cameron, K. Hindmarsh, Inverell) 105 Wooden Spoonbills (Margaret Harmon, B.Rusk et al BA-Sth Coast) 100 City Chicks (Jo Hanley, P Norris, K. Hullegie, K.West . Hunter) 93 Red-faced Parrots (Judy Harrington, G. Hutchinson, J.Stiles et al BAS) 73 The Naggy Magpies (Krishna & M. Nagarajan, Miranda Moore. Hunter) * 62 Rocking Warblers (Leanne & Chris Huxley, Sue Thomson. Blue Mtns) — Three of us (Susan & r. Woodhouse, G. Hickson Sawtell) Children’s Teams – Little Curlews (Under 10 years) — The Young Young-ones (Kate & Elise Richard, Young) * — Sawtell Kites (Kirra, Anthony & Zachary Moore, Sawtell) * — Sawtell King Parrots * Childrens Teams – Dollarbirds (10-16 years) — Field Wrens (Georgina, Luke & Julie Field, Sawtell) * — Malcolm’s Falcons (Jack, Kate & Natham Malcolm, Sawtell) In the next few days I will be following up with the different teams on the details that I don’t have, so I can give a preliminary results and later, final results sheet. If there are any details I have wrong please let me know! Alan Morris, Twitchathon Co-ordinator 28/10/13 Note (*) – New Teams for 2013 =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org/ =============================== This email, including any attachment, is intended solely for the use of the intended recipient. It is confidential and may contain personal information or be subject to legal professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use, disclosure, reproduction or storage of it is unauthorised. If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender via return email and delete it from your system immediately. Victoria University does not warrant that this email is free from viruses or defects and accepts no liability for any damage caused by such viruses or defects. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Well done Mick and Hunter Home Brewers! 252 is simply brilliant. I’m guessing you started in Nombinnie Nature Reserve (Round Hill) at the paddock on Cactus Track. (Interested to see how many whistler sp in the total.) Also well done Alan, and the other NSW teams; hope you reach your 30 g total. The Dry-throated Buzzards pushbike thon total of 180 is also outstanding. Interested to read their report. I wonder if such a total is logistically possible in other areas of Aust; obviously places such as the Hunter, greater Cairns and greater Brisbane would be good spots. I might see if I can calculate a possible (realistic!) route in Vic, and see what sort of total I come up with. Cheers, Tim ________________________________________ Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:48 PM Hi all, Alan Morris (NSW Twitchathon co-ordinator) no longer posts to Birding-aus, so I have copied below the ‘very preliminary results’ from the NSW Twitchathon on the weekend below. Our score of 252 was a new record and came about by combining the NSW mallee (on Saturday) with the Hunter Valley (on Sunday). Our compulsory break was made a long way from rainforest and the dawn chorus was happening while we were in the car! Still, we managed to peg back most of the rainforest birds and are very happy with the 252 total in our 15th consecutive Twitchathon (even allowing for the ridiculous dips….they’re always the birds you recall the most!). At some stage I’m sure Jacqueline Winter will pen a trip report. The Dry-throated Buzzards, who do their Twitchathons entirely on pushbike, managed 180 spp. They have posted a trip report already to our local Hunterbirding chat group and I can forward it to anyone who is interested (it is a great read I can tell you!). In the meantime, here are some very rapid stats of ours that I have at hand… Total score = 252 Score arriving at camp = 127 Time reached 200 = 0930 Sunday (Varied Sitella) Time reached 240 = 1249 Sunday (Whimbrel) Score when Silver Gull added = 224 # Honeyeaters = 30 # Threatened species = 23 (actually down on previous years) # Raptors = 13 (2 down on our best) Cheers, Mick Roderick (Hunter Home Brewers and Hunter Twitchathon co-ordinator) NSW & ACT TWITCHATHON VERY PRELIMINARY RESULTS 2013 The NSW & ACT Twitchathon 2013 was down on numbers of previous years. This was because a number of team leaders have moved, were having had medical operations or family commitments and could not attend, and there was the bushfires. In the Greater Sydney Region all the National Parks and Nature Reserves were still closed so that access to favourite birding sites was just not available. Birdwatchers in the Blue Mountains were particularly affected. So this year only 37 teams and 124 participants in 15 Main Race Teams, 18 Champagne Teams and 5 Children’s Teams (Dollarbirds and Little Curlews) took part. But what we lost in numbers we have made up in good money raisers! It is estimated by the participants that over $23,000 has been raised in sponsorship (note that in 2010 we estimated $22,000 and actually raised $25,000 so I am hoping it is like that this and we actually reach our target of $30,000). Note that not all the results are to hand so don’t take this as gospel yet! I will be busy following though on the details and verifying the claims over the next few days. Next week I will publish the “Preliminary Result”. No Childrens’ Teams details are available as yet. MAIN RACE This year the probable top team, the Hunter Home Brewers, seen & heard 252 species,two more than the previous record of 250 (The Menacing Monarchs). If the details are confirmed, the Hunter Home Brewers will have now won the Main Race again after being second to the Menancing Monarchs for the past three years. The Brewers count of 252 is a New Record for the Twitch! Congratulations to Mick, Steve, Craig & Lucas!!! Congratulations too, to the Black-necked Stalkers who have finally made it into the top three Teams! 252 Hunter Home Brewers (Steve & Mick Roderick, Craig Anderson, Lucas Grenadier) 224 Menacing Monarchs (R. McDonald, M. Kearns & A. Rudder HBOC). 221 Black-necked Stalkers (Greg Clancy,R. Jago & G.Eggins Clarence Valley) 218 Dodgy Drongos (Grant Brosie, Nick Livanos, Robert Kilkelly HBOC) 205 C.C. Champion Choughs (Alan Morris, M.Kuhl, Nick Carson CCG) 191 The Plains Wanderers (Rob Hynson,A. Stewart, A. Holmes, D.Langley.S) 190 Blind Babblers (Brendon Sheeon,S,Ryan,B Walmesly, D.Ginty W’gong) 190 Gang-Gang Gang (Steve Edwards, L.Johnson, M.Filipczyk et al W’gong)* 189 Varied Wrenegades (Janeen Grieg, Liz & Chris Herbert HBOC) 184 The Lousy Jacks (Paul Burcher, S. Bloomfield & D.Engel. Sydney) 180 Dry Throated Buzzards (Dan Williams, D. Lyons, C.Bagnall HBOC) 178 Weebill Rock-yous (Steven Cox, Rebecca Vere. HBOC) 156 Cheerful Drongos (Kevin Cheers, L.Trice, B.Bolt & T.Lawer Sawtell) 156 Gong Gangs (Martin Potter, Paul Nesbitt, Carla Jackett W’gong) 109 The Dubbo Dippers (Craig Arms & Simone Pye, Dubbo) CHAMPAGNE RACE 162 Night Poirots (Peter West, S.Proust, L.Earnshaw C.Meadows PtMac) 147 Which-is-it? (Margaret & Kaye Pointer, Michael Breheny CCG) 143 Highland Harriers (Ian Kerr, Ted Giblin, Dwaine Laxdal Pt Macquarie) * 137 Not One Wrong Tern (Tiffany & M. Mason, R.Porter et al Bathurst) 137 Cowra Woodland Bird Brainers (Warren Chad, N.Courtance, et al Cowra) 135 Champagne Shrike-tits (Eliz. & T. Karplus, P.Brook, D.Price BNSW) 133 Silly Galahs (Max O’Sullivan, P.Williams, P.Tenison MFN) 126 Grumpy Frogmouths (Jack Adams, A.Taylor, E.McKane et al HBOC) 119 Lying Lapwings (Mike Jefferis, B.Rusk, R.Hale, E. May Ulladulla)* 109 Noisy Minors/Majors (Michael Cheers, K.Flavell et al Sawtell) * 106 Matheson Mopokes (Jo & Archie Cameron, K. Hindmarsh, Inverell) 105 Wooden Spoonbills (Margaret Harmon, B.Rusk et al BA-Sth Coast) 100 City Chicks (Jo Hanley, P Norris, K. Hullegie, K.West . Hunter) 93 Red-faced Parrots (Judy Harrington, G. Hutchinson, J.Stiles et al BAS) 73 The Naggy Magpies (Krishna & M. Nagarajan, Miranda Moore. Hunter) * 62 Rocking Warblers (Leanne & Chris Huxley, Sue Thomson. Blue Mtns) — Three of us (Susan & r. Woodhouse, G. Hickson Sawtell) Children’s Teams – Little Curlews (Under 10 years) — The Young Young-ones (Kate & Elise Richard, Young) * — Sawtell Kites (Kirra, Anthony & Zachary Moore, Sawtell) * — Sawtell King Parrots * Childrens Teams – Dollarbirds (10-16 years) — Field Wrens (Georgina, Luke & Julie Field, Sawtell) * — Malcolm’s Falcons (Jack, Kate & Natham Malcolm, Sawtell) In the next few days I will be following up with the different teams on the details that I don’t have, so I can give a preliminary results and later, final results sheet. If there are any details I have wrong please let me know! Alan Morris, Twitchathon Co-ordinator 28/10/13 Note (*) – New Teams for 2013 =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== This email, including any attachment, is intended solely for the use of the intended recipient. It is confidential and may contain personal information or be subject to legal professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use, disclosure, reproduction or storage of it is unauthorised. If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender via return email and delete it from your system immediately. Victoria University does not warrant that this email is free from viruses or defects and accepts no liability for any damage caused by such viruses or defects. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================