Hello All, I followed up Tim Dolby’s report and was very keen to see a Tawny-crowned Honeyeater at Perth Airport. So upon landing, we had a go at finding the location. Eventually we discovered it was very close to the domestic terminal. If anyone is interested, after picking up a hire car, head to the exit and at the roundabout that signposts Perth and International Terminal, turn left towards International and Boud Avenue is the first left. We turned into Boud Avenue and birds were zipping about in the flowering * *Grevilleas on each side of the road with a factory warehouse on one side and Post Office depot on the other. It was a huge thrill to see White-cheeked Honeyeaters and they looked different to the ones we had seen on Stradbroke Island last year. The bill and the cheek patch looked different to me. Upon looking at my old 5th ed of Simpson and Day, I discovered that as with many other birds there is a WA race of this magnificant bird, and that the western race has a longer bill. When I checked my new 8th Ed on coming home, S & D have added that the western race also has a smaller cheek patch. I had wanted to see this bird in WA and had dipped on other times, so thank you very much Tim. Singing Honeyeaters were in abunance and Deb saw a Brown Honeyeater. No luck with the Tawny-crowned and I looked at the bushland mentioned by Tim as well.
While staying with friends and I was looking after bubs so that Deb could get a rest, a Singing HE came right onto the table we were sitting at. Bubs was watching keenly the whole thing and as the Singing HE came right up to us she flapped her arms with excitement and off it went. A few minutes later while standing under a tree holding bubs, a Brown HE came to a branch around half a meter away. I’m thinking of starting a bird list for her. Do any other parents of babies do the same?
The unexpected highlight for me was the Northern Pintail. I phoned Sue Abbotts, thinking of going out with her on an organised trip. Sue mentioned, had I heard that the Northern Pintail was around, but not having a computer, I wasn’t aware of it. Finding out that it was a female and finding that my S & D said it was hard to ID, I phoned Sue again. She said that it was quite a striking bird. I managed to get hold of a computer briefly and wrote down John Graffs excellent instructions and looked at the video and photos. The next morning I set off and after several wrong turns I ended up at the park at the end of Abbotswood Park Way. While standing at the parklike lake, (which gives no hint of being a stones throw from the magnificant Peel Inlet) I got a bit confused so phoned Sue (at around 7am). With her help I walked to the right and around a sandy track to find the tiny lake and in a few seconds the Northern Pintail came into sight. It was a unbelievable “dude” experience of a mega rarity, and one I had thought I’d have no chance of seeing. So a huge thank you to John Graff for finding the bird and to Sue Abbotts for giving me a great birding experience. Happy birding, Patrick Scully ===============================
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Comments
10 responses to “Perth Airport Birding, Kids lists and Northern Pintail”
Hi guys
Everybody’s list is a personal thing and from that point an individual can only go with those guidelines that feel right from your own personal standard point of view. Equally though, there is that comparative (to other folks lists) aspect to ones list and therefore a more universal set of listing guidelines is adopted by many across the board.
The memory aspect that Nathan brings up is an interesting one that we all have had to contend with within our lists. Here i think Belinda makes a valid point, there are going to be those times when you cannot remember a particular bird you have undeniably seen.
Spare a thought for those folk who have lists not approaching our Australian tallies but world lists beyond 5,000. In the discussion below we are broaching the early years of birding, in regard to what we should add to our list at the beginning of becoming bird aware (how many of us wish that we could recollect the first time we actually became aware of knowing what that bird before us was). I can get back to about the 200’s in my life list, but beyond that it will be groupings of birds from holidays in the not dependable order (wish I had be more methodical in my notes
What happens at the other end of life though?. Do we lose birds off our lists as our memories fade? Many of the records we have made, whether we remember them or not will, will be recorded for all and put in print or some other records medium – if we forget those, should they be erased – surely not. The mind is not infallible, that’s why we write things down.
I remember when I first got serious about putting my list together, there were birds I couldn’t remember and then I found old field notes that had them noted carefully. Funny thing is that they were common species for that area, not the local icons, so they didn’t stand out as the most memorable parts of the holiday years later. However my notes were evidence that I’d seen and identified them. The event was a fact that I could not deny despite the inadequacy of memory. I couldn’t really erase the records, because of memory failings….could I?
The key here is perhaps not so much the memory, but the event in the beginning. Were you able to identify the bird for yourself at the time?(if that is your standard), or is there a clear record that you were aware of what the bird before you was, if identified by your parents? Maybe this could be a possible early threshold of listing? Were you aware of the identity of the bird before you and it was recorded as such? Others of course will not be happy unless they identify the bird for themselves.
If however you take good records of what you see – they are certainly an undeniable fact, to the greater birding world, so why not yourself?
If there’s at least one lesson in this – I guess it’s teach the up and coming generations to take good field notes and observe the lesson ourselves.
Allan Richardson
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I didn’t begin properly birding until I was 24, but had an interest in all things nature for many years, so I could put a lot of common and memorable birds straight onto my life list when I made one up.
When I was a kid my family used to go on a road trip/holiday every mid-year break. We went from Perth to Broome when I was 7 and when I was 10 and both times mum insisted I keep a diary (although I just thought it was a hassle at the time). Some time in 1990 we stayed overnight in Newman and in my diary entry for that day is a badly drawn bird and the comment in the diary “I saw a robin redbreast”. I’ve coloured in this bird and the way I’ve coloured it in it could only be a Red-capped Robin! So even though I didn’t even know that particular species existed until another 14 years passed, there was an undisputable sighting of it when I was 10.
Belinda Forbes Stirling W.A.
Hi Nathan, I love your ideas and I think that you have a pretty huge list? I think I’ll start a list for bubs but you are right, it’s good to have some integrity with what goes on a list. Before I was a birder I did lots of bushwalking and I could add at least one or two Tasmanian birds and I’m sure I saw the Varied Sitella on a few occassions as well but I’ve decided not to include them as I didn’t consciously see them, so to speak. It seems incredible to me now, but that’s life. Best wishes, Patrick
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Hi Arwen, I spent an enjoyable afternoon at work (I have a job with plenty of time to think) yesterday pondering all the ideas of kids’ lists and I have to agree with you that in theory memory perhaps should be the yardstick for starting a list. But that said, if bubs becomes a hard core twitcher and wants to know about the first birds she saw, and I don’t have a list, then will I remember in years to come, as sometimes with time, memory can be unreliable, hence the importance of lists and journals. So perhaps to be on the safe side, I should record birds for her. Especially if she sees biggies. And I agree that it is hard to find the time to update things. Regards, Patrick ===============================
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Nathan, Yours is a great rule to have at the age of 14. However for some of us oldies I fear our life lists will dramatically shrink if we applied that rule! I for one am very glad that early in my birding life (which started relatively late) I methodically recorded the date of place of any new species, anticipating a time could arrive when that would prove to be more reliable than memory cells.
No matter when you start, keep on recording, you’ll value it later-on.
Russ Lamb,Maleny,SEQ
Hi Arwen, I spent an enjoyable afternoon at work (I have a job with plenty of time to think) yesterday pondering all the ideas of kids’ lists and I have to agree with you that in theory memory perhaps should be the yardstick for starting a list. But that said, if bubs becomes a hard core twitcher and wants to know about the first birds she saw, and I don’t have a list, then will I remember in years to come, as sometimes with time, memory can be unreliable, hence the importance of lists and journals. So perhaps to be on the safe side, I should record birds for her. Especially if she sees biggies. And I agree that it is hard to find the time to update things. Regards, Patrick ===============================
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I’m almost 16, and have only been “ticking” for the last two years of my life. I’ve always been interested in birds, and would always ID birds I saw, but never specifically looked for them (wish I knew of Grasswrens when I was at Kings Canyon…) In regards to keeping lists – there are many birds I know I’ve seen, but I just can’t bring myself to tick. I guess for me I have to remember them. Personally – I havent ticked anything I saw before I was 9 either because I cant remember the sighting in the slightest or don’t trust the ID (ie; Letter-winged Kite in-between Sydney and Canberra according to a journal!). The few birds I have ticked before 2 years ago include RTTropicbirds, White Tern and Woodhen on Lord Howe, which were all pretty memorable
Personally – If my parents were birders and convinced me I’d seen a Northern Pintail when I was 5… I probably wouldn’t tick it if I didnt remember it (and would probably be quite annoyed at that!) Just my two cents worth 🙂
Joshua Bergmark
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I’m a young birder (Nearly 14) and for my life list, I have the ruling that I have to remember the first sighting. So some birds that I know I saw when I went to Cairns at the age of 4, remain off my life list, but others (Cassowary, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, among others) I can remember (On a board-walk, a juvenile, we were slightly elevated, and it was below us. And up high in a tree, on that same board-walk, respectively). And then, again, I went to Cairns in 2009, and I remember some birds in amazing detail (Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, I can tell you what branch of what tree and everything about it), but others I can somewhat remember (Pied Imperial-Pigeon) but I certainly don’t trust my memory, so it remains un-ticked. The issue of when to start is a hard one, I can sorta remember from about 4ish, but that is only things that really stuck out to me. Maybe it would be worth keeping a life list for your little blighter, and when he matures into a fledged birder, you could ask him which ones he remembers seeing, and which ones he doesn’t, and from there form a life list!), but his mind might just spark up a false memory…
On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 7:01 PM, Tom and Mandy Wilson < tomandmandy@aapt.net.au> wrote:
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Hmmm…not sure about the under 3s, but I can certainly remember as a non-birding teenager (but with a birding dad) being taken (dragged was the way I felt at the time) to see birds when I lived in Canada – some I now realise are pretty good birds. Pileated Woodpecker, Great Gray, Northern Hawk, Snowy, Long Eared owls all on my life list as a result! Cheers Tom Wilson
Hi Patrick, that’s an interesting question re keeping lists for little ones. I’m in two minds about it, but have been thinking about it again recently having a 5 1/2 year old who is intermittently interested in birds and a 20 month old who is crazy about them (his favourite book is a Steve Parish pocket book of birds and the Birds of the Blue Mountains booklet comes a close second, followed by a bird calendar). I wonder whether perhaps the list would be more for my benefit than his, although the 5 year old would probably enjoy a list he could make himself (with pictures/photos). I can’t even keep my own life list up to date so I think it would be a challenge for me. I’m thinking of buying them an exercise book each and just writing in birds they’ve seen and putting in pictures of birds they’ve seen really well with some observations and details about the event – more like a diary than a bird list per se. I’d be interested in other people’s ideas. I don’t know how valid it is to make a list for a child before they turn three? – they’re just too young, and if they turn into birders who list (or even twitchers!) …. shouldn’t there be a rule that you can remember the bird? Having said that, they would probably appreciate it at some point (when they’re 30). Cheers, Arwen
………………………………….. Arwen Blackwood Ximenesarwenbx@hotmail.com
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