Hi All,
The winner of the Victorian Twitchathon 24 hr race was the ROBIN REDNECKS (Michael Ramsay, Matt Weeks and Simon Star) with an impressive 197 species. The 8 hr race was won by the SEVEN YEAR TWITCHERS (Tim Dolby, Greg Oakley, Fiona Parkin, Tim Bawden) with a similarly impressive score of 136 species.
Due to a low numbers of birds and low bird diversity across Victoria in the later part of 2010, race total were lower than in 2009 (an extraordinary year) by an average of between 10 to 20 birds. This makes the 197 bird species seen by the Robin Rednecks an impressive total. Given similar conditions to last years race they may have scored in excess of 210 bird species. In this years Victorian race had four new teams racing including the Werribills, Forbes, Why Knots, and the “aahhhHHH” Bob Hawks, while the Hillbilly’s were racing for a second time. Congratulations to the Hillbilly’s. A team based in the Gippsland town of Noojee, this year they’ve raised over $3000 in sponsorship! This will certainly help the plight of the critically endangered Orange-belled Parrot. Superb [Parrot] work!
In the 24 hr the Ruddy Bustards, Werribills and Bob Hawks put in super efforts under interesting birding conditions. It was also great to catch up with the Ruddy Bustards at Goschen Bushland Reserve during the race; fortunately we weren’t participating in the same event (they were doing the 24, us the 8) – it’s well known that when two teams bump into each other in the field there can be serious trouble. In the 8 hr the Seven Year Twitchers and Common Loudmouths raced in northern Victoria and as a consequence got an excellent total, while southern teams such as the Norwegian Blues, Forbeses, Hillbilly’s and Why knots (the later two racing in Gippsland) found that birds were short on the ground – and water.
The main reason bird numbers were down was the general lack of Austral summer migrants in Victoria and very few waterbirds. This is clearly linked to the high level of rain across Australia recently, with much of central Australia receiving record rainfall. As a consequence many species of bird simply haven’t needed to head to the coast or the southern wetlands and forests to find food. Examples of the birds that are down or not present in Victoria included Whiskered Tern, Peaceful Dove, Common Bronzewing, most of the Woodswallow species (except possibly White-breasted), Australasian Shoveler, Hardhead, Pink-eared and Freckled Duck, Orange Chat and waders such as Stilt, Stint and Sandpiper. Rarer nomads such as Crimson Chat, Black and Pied Honeyeater and Budgerigar are also absent (although my team did see a flock of 10 Budgerigar at Goschen). Interestingly some birds are being seen in higher numbers than usual such as Plumed Whistling-Duck, White-necked Heron, Dollarbird and seabird such as Common Tern, Arctic and White-fronted Term.
Due to the general low numbers of birds my team (Seven Year Twitchers) completely changed its route – from doing a coastal/southern 8 hr race to doing an inland/northern 8 hr race. On the Saturday we were doing a reconnaissance of the WTP, You Yangs, Bellarine Peninsular and by the time we’d reached Torquay (on our way to Anglesea and the Otways) we decided to abandon southern Victoria all together, turning around 180 degrees (and 400 km) and headed inland to a Mallee reserve near Swan Hill. It proved an excellent decision, with many of the birds absent from coast present (ableit in small numbers) in the north. Aside from seeing good woodland birds we also saw a greater diversity of waterbirds at sites such as Foster Swamp and the Middle Lake Ibis Rooker, with Foster Swamp making the Western Treatment Plant look like a dried-up ephemeral swamp.
Finally big thanks to the Australian Bird Fair (held annually in September in the wonderful NSW town of Leeton) and Andrew Isles Natural History Books for supplying the major prizes for this years Twitchathon. Thanks to everyone who participated and to those who sponsored the race. See you in the Mallee next year.
Tim Dolby
24 HOUR RACE RESULTS
197 Robin Rednecks (Michael Ramsay, Matt Weeks, Simon Star) Best bird: Sooty Owl (also Southern Emu-wren, Blue-winged Parrot, Emu, Satin and Leaden flycatcher, Gilbert’s and Olive Whistler, Purple-gaped Honeyeater, Shy Heathwren, Rainbow bee-eater); worst dip: Whiskered Tern (also Australasian Shoveler, Pink-eared duck, White-browed Woodswallow). 154 Ruddy Bustards (Grant Palmer, Matt Gibson) Best bird: Zebra Finch; Worst dip: Common Bronzewing. 130 Werribills (Brett Whitfield, Bob Dawson, Peter Shute) Best Bird: Plumed Whistling-Duck; worst dip: Australasian Grebe. 114 Bob Hawks (Rohan Long, Sallie Burton, Richard Akers, Chris Lunardi) Best bird: Blue-winged Parrot; worst dip: Ruddy Turnstone. 102 Hillbilly’s (Norm, Glenda and Tammy Sherar, Jonny Shirley, Helena Anderson, Lee Pattinson, Carol Rahjen, Wendy Mosten-Duggan) Best bird: Cattle Egret; worst dip: Blue-winged Parrot. Special Comment: The Hillbilly’s have raised over $3000 in sponsorship.
8 HOUR RACE RESULTS
136 Seven Year Twitchers (Tim Dolby, Greg Oakley, Fiona Parkin and Tim Bawden) Best bird: Budgerigar – also Cockatiel, Little Button-quail, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Grey-crowned Babbler, [Whiskered Tern]; worst dip: Common Bronzewing, Peaceful Dove and no cuckoos! 122 Common Loudmouth’s (Greg Hunt, Russell Thomson, Philip Jackson, Frank Mitchell) Best bird: Square tailed Kite at Kingower; worst dip: Feral Pigeon. 119 Norwegian Blues (Jack Krohn, George Pergaminelis) Best bird: Common Tern; worst dip: Noisy Miner! 101 Why Knots (Elizabeth Shaw, Alan Crawford and Ruth Minifie) Best bird: Blue-billed Duck; 2orst dip: Eastern Curlew. 78 Forbeses (Alf and Badley Forbes) Best bird: Curlew Sandpiper; worst dip: Crimson Rosella in my backyard everyday except today!
Tim Dolby | Twitchathon Coordinator Tim.dolby@vu.edu.au, Tel: (H) 03 9489 3830 (M) 0439 729308 Birds Australia, Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester St, Carlton VIC 3053 Tel: (+61 3) 9347 0757 | Fax: (+61 3) 9347 9323 www.birdsaustralia.com.au | www.birdata.com.au | www.birdsinbackyards.net Australian Partner of BirdLife International
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