Hunter Home Brewers 2013 NSW Twitchathon Story – ‘PooPond Prats’

Thanks for that entertaining read And well done for the funds raised!! Cheers Peter Madvig —– Original Message —– From: “Mick Roderick” <mickhhb@yahoo.com.au> To: “Birding Aus” <birding-aus@vicnet.net.au> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 9:47 AM Subject: [Birding-Aus] Hunter Home Brewers 2013 NSW Twitchathon Story – ‘PooPond Prats’ > Hi all, > > I realise that it is the Vic Twitchathon weekend but I have been forwarded > the Hunter Home Brewers story from their successful 2013 NSW twitch. It > was sent to me as a Word doc, so I’ve copied it below – apologies if the > formatting is haywire. > > The Brewers have raised well over a $1000 and from Hunter teams alone over > $5k has been pledged for the Powerful Owl Project. I think we’re looking > at about $25k statewide. A great effort – well done to all involved! > > Cheers > Mick Roderick > > — > > Hunter Home > Brewers Twitchathon 2013 – Poo Pond Prats > > There were few decisions to be made by the Hunter > Home Brewers in their preparation for the 2013 NSW Twitchathon. The only > “big > decision” was where to start and with no grounds to be close to home, as > was > required due to an expectant Mrs Mick Brew last year, the writing was on > the > wall – go back to the mallee! The plan was simple – improve on the 2011 > mallee run > by not making some of the mistakes they’d made that year. However, as they > were > to discover, what they thought had been their biggest mistake in 2011 > actually > turned out to be a brilliant strategy in 2013. This surrounded some > inefficiencies that prevented them from reaching their key rainforest site > on > the southern slopes of the Barrington Tops. But as time progressed, the > need to > visit that rainforest became increasingly queried, problematic and > eventually, > redundant. > > There is a school of thought amongst the more > serious Twitchathon teams (i.e. those with the ‘competitive streak’) that > a big > score hinges (at least in part) on being present at a rainforest during > the > dawn chorus. The Brewers also subscribed to this way of thinking but > alternatives had to be considered if they were to start out in the mallee. > The “3-hour rule” states that each team must stop > for a consecutive 3-hour period between midnight and 5am. No team that > starts > as far west as the mallee country can even go close to making it to a > rainforest by 2am (after which, if you’re still driving you’re in breach > of the > rule) so essentially the rainforest dawn chorus is foregone unless you > leave > the mallee only about 2 hours after kick-off on the Saturday, which > defeats the > whole purpose of going out there. > > Where they thought they’d gone wrong in 2011 was (a) > leaving Lake Cargelligo too late on Saturday, and (b) making a rueful > detour to > Medhurst Bridge en-route to the rainforest. They thought that by shaving > an > hour off (a) and dropping (b) like a hot potato they could go close to > buying > back nearly 2 hours to get to the gun Barrington Tops rainforest site. > Mick > Brew however, thought that this 2 hours “saved” + the 2 hours travel time > to > get to the Barrington Tops and back onto their regular route, could be > better > spent at other, ‘less remote’ rainforest patches and then still have some > spare > change left over for other areas on the Sunday. This concept was > underpinned by > some traditional rainforest remnants that the lads had visited on each > Twitch, > as well as a new kid on the brewing block – Old Brush at Brunkerville. > > All of these strategic quandaries made for good brew > for thought on the journey out west on Thursday morning. Spirits were high > as > they left Newcastle under the cover of darkness, stopping only to charge > themselves with bakery fare and go for a job interview, as Grena Brew > actually > did in Dubbo. Whilst there, they had a brief opportunity to catch up with > a > one-time Brewer and current Dubbo Double Dipper, Farmboy. He delivered the > welcomed > news that the local Barking Owls were still in residence and had in fact > reproduced. Their only night-time birding stop was hence justified. > Continuing > west, Ando Brew opened his new-bird account with a fly-over from a Superb > Parrot at Peak Hill before ABC radio in Newcastle tracked them down for a > brief > interview. Their first question was “is that crazy guy from Chasing Birds > in it this year?” > > Upon arrival at Mount Hope, the boys set about > warming up the rather chilly concrete bar at the Royal Hotel. What they > didn’t > expect was to get into a conversation with some blokes at the bar that > asked in > excitement, “oh, you guys are doing the Twitchathon!?”. It turned out they > were > in the area working on Malleefowl conservation. > > Their next question was “is that crazy guy from Chasing Birds in it this > year?”. > > Friday was spent combing Round Hill to Cargelligo > seeking out worthwhile sites and in particular a place to commence the > twitch. > Not surprisingly, there was no sign of the Little Woodswallows that had > been > present on the Mt Hope to Euabalong Road in 2011 so an alternative > commencement > point was required. A very productive patch of mallee ecotoned with > callitris-box woodland literally a kilometre west of the “Little > Woodswallow > spot” looked quite promising but gave way to Whooey Tank as the place to > commence the ‘Dummy Run’ that afternoon. The other place they needed to do > homework on was the Lake Cargelligo Poo Ponds. This was possibly the most > important single site on their Saturday run and a quick reccy showed that > it > was in ‘solid form’. > > The Dummy Run happened on the Friday afternoon and confirmed > some quality birds along their route. These included Crimson Chats feeding > dependant young, Diamond Doves in a couple of places, scattered Black > Honeyeaters, Spotted Nightjar at the Wheat Paddock and a Little Crow seen > on > the edge of Lake Cargelligo township. But the clear highlight was finding > a > pair of Ground Cuckoo-shrikes just north of Booberoi Creek. This bird had > been > dubbed “The Unmentionable” due to the frustration faced over the years by > Ando > Brew to try and get a look at one. The remainder of the Brewers had learnt > that > the mention of this birds name would be enough set AB off on a tirade of > expletive-laden accounts of denial of the bird’s existence and hence had > dared > not mention it for several years. A few of the said expletives were used > however in a celebratory context once he’d parked his peepers on this > particular > pair. > > The other highlight was the sheer productivity of > the poo ponds. It was so good that there was probably justification to > work the > area for as long as they did in 2011, with Wood and Marsh Sands, > White-winged > Black-Tern, 3 crakes, 10 ducks and fly-overs by things such as Major > Mitchells > and Black Falcons; the poo ponds could really become their “rainforest > dawn > chorus” if they worked it long enough. With deliberations over how to > approach > the rainforest dilemma still up in the air there was much heated > discussion > during the session of Crackers Disco that evening. > > The following morning was spent fine-tuning the sites > close to town before they filled the car with fuel and the two eskies, > Eric > (beer) and Evan (anything that isn’t beer) with ice then headed north and > west > back to the mallee to find a place to start the main event. Time was > running > out and the Brewers still didn’t have a decision made on where to start. > They > decided to check the site just west of where the Little Woods had been 2 > years > earlier and once Mick Brew came back with reports of Mulga Parrot, Shy > Heathwren, Hooded Robin and a likely Little Woodswallow (views just > weren’t > good enough to clinch it as a definite sighting apparently) the lads > agreed > this was the spot. > > After sampling a 2008 Watervale Grosset, they > positioned themselves hot on the tail of a not-so-shy Shy Heathwren and as > 4pm > ticked over it went down as first bird. A series of mallee and quality > western > birds followed in quick succession, including Mulga Parrot, White-fronted, > Yellow-plumed > and Grey-fronted Honeyeaters and Western Gerygone. A juvenile Black-eared > Cuckoo was discovered by Mick Brew, who quickly dragged two of the others > back > to confirm and as they were doing so a pair of Major Mitchells flew > overhead. The > Hooded Robins however had scarpered and there was no sign of the recently > vocal > Southern Scrub-robin. They spent an unusually long period of 29 minutes at > this > site before they decided to move on. > > The second stop was at the Whooey Tank entry track where > 4 pigeons were added, but not the Diamond Doves that had been present the > day > before. Some decent birds such as White-browed Babbler, Black Honeyeater > and > Southern Whiteface were recorded before it was time to head to the > quality-not-quantity site in the Wheat Paddock. Grena Brew found the > Spotted > Nightjars again whilst Mick picked out a Chestnut Quail-thrush. A Gilbert’s > Whistler finally sounded off (the only one heard at this spot during the 3 > visits they’d made here) and Splendid Fairy-Wrens crossed the track. There > was > still no sign anywhere of the scrub-robin and then it dawned on them that > they > hadn’t heard a Crested Bellbird either. After what seemed like a very long > wait > in silence they decided they needed to move on. > > A quick stop along the railway line produced a > perched Diamond Dove and a calling bellbird at last. Satisfied that they > could > live with dipping on the scrub-robin with so many other birds to bag, they > carried > on to the open woodland where the Crimson Chats were feeding young > yesterday. > They were easily found, along with Painted and Brown-headed Honeyeaters > and a > well-oiled Speckled Warbler, being their 50th bird. > > With the quality wooded habitat now behind them they > started seeing open country birds without needing to get out of the car, > including some important ones such as Pallid Cuckoo, Brown Songlark and > Blue > Bonnet. Booberoi Creek failed to produce > ‘the-bird-that-was-until-recently-not-mentioned’ > but gave them Little Friarbird as a very small consolation. Their best > chance > at Emu also passed without a show and Chat Alley only provided the > White-fronted variety, as well as White-winged Fairy-Wren. However, > spirits > soared as they drove past the turn-off to the Cargy Airport when Mick at > the > helm of The Patrol flushed an Aussie Pratincole from the side of the road. > An > almighty “get there!” was delivered > as Ando got his 5th new bird for the trip and a real bonus bird was > added to the tally of 74 species. > > After a quick stop at Frog Hollow to add Restless > Flycatcher, they moved eagerly onto the poo ponds. Grena Brew, as scribe, > limbered his fingers ready for rush of bird names about to be thrown at > him. > This started with “Aussie Shelduck, Little Grass, Hardhead, Grey Teal, > Swamphen….hang on…Black Falcon!!”, which was ensued by a who’s who of > Australian waterfowl and associated species. Migratory shorebirds were in > attendance and onto the list went Sharpies, Marsh and Wood Sands, > Greenshank > and Red-necked Stint – all but the first of these were not to be seen > again on > the twitch. The White-winged Black Tern was easily picked out at the rear > of > the same pond just as a flock of Zebra Finches flew in. The 100 species > mark > past without time to even be aware of the fact, as a Caspian Tern and 6 > Glossy > Ibis joined the feathered frenzied faecal-fed fray. > > Once satisfied that they’d worked the foreponds well > enough it, was time to seek out the duck species lurking out of view in > the hindponds. > Before long they picked out the quality trio of Shoveler, Freckled and > Pink-eared Ducks but couldn’t locate the Wandering Whistling Duck that > they > knew was in there somewhere. Finally a Cockatiel made a fly-by, well > picked up > by Grena despite having his nose in the notebook for so much of the time > spent > here. The decision to keep working the poo ponds had paid dividends and at > just > after 7:30pm they had 124 species on the list. It was time to make tracks > but > then just as they were about to leave Mick heard a tinkling finch call and > the > suggestion of “are they Plum-heads?” came soon after. Sure enough, a flock > of > about a dozen Plum-headed Finches had flown in right on dusk. The Brewers > rejoiced at the sheer luck of such an unexpected bird right at the dying > minutes of their active Saturday birding. Leaving Cargy with 125 species > and a > long haul of night roads ahead of them, the backseat brewers consulted > Eric the > Esky while they compared lists to ensure all was in order. > > The long drive meant that very few stops could be > made to look for nocturnal birds. In fact, in the 450km to Cassilis they > only > tried for night birds twice – once in a vain attempt to hear Little Button > or > Stubble Quails calling in likely habitat and once to find the Dubbo > Barker, > which they did with ruthless efficiency before jumping back in the vehicle > to > make the final late night leg to their ‘camp’ at Cassilis Rest Area. The > night > was much quieter here than it had been in 2011 and as the lads each chose > a > picnic table to lay upon, they only managed to hear Owlet Nightjars and > Superb > Fairy-wrens sounding off! > > After their compulsory 3 hour break, the Brewers > languidly piled back into the patrol at around 4:15am, managing to add > calling > Boobooks and Channel-billed Cuckoos to the list in the process. It was an > odd > feeling for them as they drove through rural country as dawn broke – the > peak > of the birding day was here and they were still nearly 3 hours from their > first > rainforest remnant. Having left Cargy Poo Ponds so late the evening > before, the > decision had effectively been made to drop the Barrington Tops rainforests > and > work the nearer remnants and then Old Brush later in the day. As they > trucked > along as day broke, a variety of roadside species were added and a quick > detour > to find the Plumed Whistling Ducks at Doughboy Hollow paid off. This part > of > the twitch seemed to lag on forever, punctuated only by the occasional > addition > of a pretty low quality species. Finally, after more than 3 hours in the > vehicle they reached their first rainforest patch and the boys jumped out > of > the car, ears and eyes ready for the new purple patch of birds to be > added. > > The very first bird seen was a Wompoo Fruit-Dove, followed > by Topknot and White-headed Pigeons, Regent Bowerbird, Black-faced Monarch > and Rufous > Fantail. Brush Cuckoo and Wonga Pigeons were heard calling in the gully > whilst a > Grey Goshawk was picked up patrolling the airspace above. With this patch > thoroughly worked, they headed further up the hill and in the process > flushed a > small dove off the ground. “Did yez see that?! That was an Emerald Dove!” > shouted Steve. He pulled the car over and the rest of the team jumped out > to > see the bird perched on an overhanging branch. Another bonus bird bagged > and > one that they had not seen since their debut twitch in 1999 (about 2km > away). > It was also their 13th pigeon species for the 2013 run – easily > their best haul of Columbiformes on a twitch. > > With the initial rainforest sites sufficiently > worked and having 181 species clocked, they headed down the valley towards > the > dry woodlands, open country and wetlands of the Lower Hunter. In the > process > they had decided to abandon a visit to one of the Twitchathon staples, > Green > Wattle Creek and along with that went other key sites such as Seaham and > Raymond Terrace. They had failed to hear a Torresian Crow calling in this > area > but figured they could make it back at either Mulbring or Shortland later. > They > were also still missing a good number of rainforest birds and had no > scrubwrens > on their list whatsoever. Old Brush was looking more and more like being a > lynchpin site for them and the most efficient way of getting there was to > go > en-route from the Kurri woodlands to the estuary, where they need to be by > about 12:30 or so. > > Great Crested Grebe was easily found at Walka Water > Works but try as they might they could not find a Musk Duck. Banded > Lapwing and > Horsfield’s Bushlark were picked up soon after at Lorn along with a host > of > common sub-coastal species that continued add to the ever-burgeoning > inventory > of birds. Both New Holland and White-cheeked Honeyeaters were in their > usual > patch not far from the woodland sites and when Double-barred Finches were > seen > at the same spot, the 198th species went down on their list. > > Upon arrival at the woodlands Yellow-tufted > Honeyeaters were quickly found amongst wheeling hordes of White-browed > Woodswallows before a species that is far from guaranteed was ticked as > their > 200th bird at about 9:30am in the form of Varied Sittella. There > were so many White-broweds that they could not find any Dusky Woods, even > at a > spot where they’d been seen nest-building only a few weeks earlier. Little > Lorikeet, Scarlet and Fuscous Honeyeaters and White-throated Gerygone were > found during the hunt for the Duskies before a slow drive-by from the > Varied > Wrenegades occurred…on their brewing turf! After welcoming and > ‘farewelling’ > the Wrenegades, the Brewers decided to head west, finally coming across a > colony of Bell Miners which was an addition to their list. A 30-second > stop at > ‘Black-chinned Honeyeater Junction’ produced the namesake species, though > ‘Buttonquail Junction’ was not as kind to them. > > At Buttonquail Junction they noticed the form a > pushbike rider headed up the dirt track toward them. After overcoming the > surprise that this wasn’t a noisy trail bike as often inhabits these > woods, they > realised it was Miyagi of the Dry-throated Buzzards. The conversation was > skeletal, > but he did reveal that they were currently experiencing tyre problems….as > the > Buzzards often seem to be…and as the brewers zoomed off in their > not-so-environmentally-friendly mode of transportation they acknowledged > the > remainder of the Buzzards, struggling with tyre puncture kits, with the > expected flurry of exclamations and ‘words of encouragement’ for them in > their > predicament. A rather protracted stop further along Hebburn Road finally > produced Dusky Woodswallows as Steve Brew picked a pair perched on a dead > branch. The woodlands were going quiet and with 207 down they decided that > they > had to try for a missing friend that they knew was in the area; > Buff-rumped > Thornbill. They worked a couple of otherwise ‘reliable’ sites for them, > but > eventually had to bite the buffy bullet and head for Old Brush. > > After dropping a few gold coins in the donation tin, > spying a Great Egret on the dam and flushing some very welcome Brown > Cuckoo-Doves > from the track in, they stood on the edge of the rainforest and listened. > Despite it being close to 11am birds were still calling and they added > Noisy > Pitta, Lyrebird, Shrike-tit and White-naped Honeyeater before venturing > into > the forest proper, finding the 2 more difficult scrubwrens in > Yellow-throated > and Large-billed. A Bassian Thrush feeding near the entry gate on their > way out > was the 8th quality species added at Old Brush and all agreed the > tactic to work the remnants and to ‘mop up’ here was a good move. > Grey-crowned > Babblers and an Aussie Hobby were added at Mulbring but there was > absolutely no > sign of Torresian Crow at all. Frustrated that they’d now missed the best > two > opportunities for the crow, they headed towards the ‘next big thing’ in > the > form of the Hunter River Estuary. > > The Mulbring Hobby was backed up by Brown Goshawk, > Swamp Harrier and Black Kite, all seen from ‘Kite Bluff’ and rounding out > a > double hat-trick on raptors. Little Egret and Yellow-billed Spoonbill were > seen > at Pambalong, which was the last ‘quick stop’ before heading to the > make-or-break part of every Twitchathon at Stockton. This is the > ‘rainforest > for shorebirds’ on each twitch, along with a supporting cast of terns etc. > At > least on this occasion they had some of the long-legged birds from Cargy > that > were unlikely to be at Stockton. In contrast to virtually every other > Twitchathon they’d done, the Brewers timed this one to be 3 hours before > high tide, as opposed to 3 hours > after, which was not an option anyway as high tide was around 3pm. Rather > than > go when the tide was higher or lower they hoped to catch a similar > ‘staging’ of > birds at the sandspit when the tide was just right so that the beach had a > large, mixed flock staging before flying to high tide roosts. > > The nervous period is always the drive over Stockton > Bridge, but as they gazed down from the left lane they saw bulk birds and > there > was an instant fervour. However, that fervour was soon tainted by the fact > that > a fisherman was wading into the water near one of the mangrove islands. > Every > bird could have flushed at any minute. Rather than heading under the > bridge, > they parked on the side of the road and darted back towards to the track > that > led them down to the water. Brown Honeyeaters and Mangrove Gerygones were > added > by call and the resident Pied Oystercatchers led their fluffy chicks away > from > potential danger. > > Fortunately the fisherman had moved away from the > flock of birds but a new threat had emerged as a small boat had made > landfall > at the western end of the beach and ready to pounce out of it were two > young > boys – time was very much of the essence and the Brewers quickly set about > picking out the various shorebird species. Eastern Curlew, > Bar-tailed/Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sands and Red Knot were present, > along > with Little and Gull-billed Terns. A distant Sea-Eagle was picked out up > the > river whilst a Striated Heron made a very timely appearance…just as the > two > life-jacket clad brats from the boat ran full pelt into the flock of > birds, > chasing them as if they were pigeons in a park. There could have been a > Great > Knot lurking in there but the Brewers were happy with what they’d managed > and > moved on to find the Terek Sands, Grey-tailed Tattlers and Whimbrels along > the Fern > Bay foreshore. This was followed by Pacific Golden Plovers along the > Stockton > Foreshore and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters feeding in Stockton Bight. A Gannet > was > seen by just 2 members so could not go down on the list. 242 species at > ten to > one – time for the slog into town. > > Every year the journey into the Newcastle Rock > Platforms becomes more and more tedious and due to the warm weather it was > certainly no exception on this particular Sunday afternoon. They had no > hope of > getting a park near the ocean baths so had to scope down on to the rocks > from > Fort Drive. As is customary on a Twitchathon Sunday, Sooty Oycs and Ruddy > Turnstones were nowhere to be seen and the only new bird sitting on the > rocks > were Crested Terns. Flocks of Short-tailed Shearwaters peppered the sea in > front of them and the occasional Fluttering came in close enough to enable > a > positive ID. Common Terns were feeding around the Cowrie Hole but > frustratingly, no Gannets could be scoped and it was to be a dip for the > Brewers. > > Still, the Common Tern was the bird that placed them > on a level score with their previous best of 246 and it had only just gone > one-thirty in the afternoon. The Brewers set to beat their personal best > and > the record of 250 looked shaky as well. But as often happens with these > Home > Brewers, the wheels nearly fell off in the last 3 hours of the event. They > realised that they were missing 2 common species; Little Wattlebird and, > perhaps remarkably, White-browed Scrubwren. Both of these were gimmes at > Redhead and with recent reports of Bulbuls, Brush Bronzewing and Emu-Wrens > at > the same site the decision was made to work that patch. In hindsight that > was > probably a tactical error because the possible ‘bonus birds’ were skulkers > and > it may have been wiser to go somewhere else where they could have added > other > missing species, such as Scaly-breasted / Musk Lorikeets, Latham’s Snipe, > Night > Heron, Musk Duck, Tawny Grassbird and of course, that Torresian Crow. > > As it turned out, despite a desperate search for the > skulkers, they only added the wattlebird and scrubwren on the Redhead run > and with > the clock showing 2:20pm they needed to make a quick turn-around and hit > Ash > Island. Things were getting tight and they had to at least nail the “dead > cert” > Tawny Grassbird on Ash. Of course, upon arrival at Schoolhouse and Ramsar > Roads, normally heaving with Tawny Grassbirds like grasshoppers, there was > dead > silence and not a bird to be seen. Musk > Duck was really the only other bird they could target and so they made the > long > drive through the guts of Ash Island to get a view across Deep Pond where > they > easily located a Musky. As they did, a Tawny Grassbird fortuitously called > from > about 10 metres away…and the 250 mark had been reached. > > At 3:15 they made a quick dash off Ash Island, not > even stopping for a scan of Swan and Wader Ponds they had such little > time. They > did have plenty enough time though to check a harrier floating over Ramsar > Road > on the way out. Sure enough, it was an adult Spotted Harrier it all its > splendour and the brewers went berserk at the fact that they’d just tipped > the > Twitchathon record score, and with a far more poetic bird than a wetlands > centre Maggie Goose! > > When they got to Shortland they decided they had > enough time to park near Mick Brew’s house and hope that one of the > resident > Torresian Crows would call. None did, and it was on to the not-so-wet > wetlands centre > where they had only allotted themselves around 10 minutes birding time as > there > was little on offer apart from the now-customary stake-out for an Azure > Kingfisher > along Ironbark Creek. There was little else to look for anyway as > virtually > every pond at the centre was dry. Magpie Goose was added as #252 but they > never > even got a whiff of anything else new. > > Mick certainly had more than a whiff of victory though > as he collected the team sheets and glanced quickly at the Menacing > Monarchs’ > to see “224” scribbled down at the top left of their species sheet. After > announcing the other team scores and hearing from elsewhere in NSW, it was > confirmed > that the Hunter Home Brewers had finally regained the Twitchathon mantle > after > 4 years of bridesmaidness with a new record tally. On the job, they’d come > up > with a strategy that shattered the preconception that a rainforest dawn > chorus, > or even any type of dawn chorus that wasn’t grumbling birders inside a > Nissan > Patrol, was a mandatory Twitchathon tactic. > > Very satisfied with their approach in 2013 (and > remembering there are always dips on a Twitchathon) the brewing lads are > looking > forward to the 2014 campaign and are studying the tide charts already. > Some new > ideas have emerged, some old ones have faded and some assumptions have > move > sideways in the process. > > Oh…and there was much rejoicing. > > Jacqueline Winter > =============================== > > 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 ===============================