This blog discontinued

Go here instead, for more of my wild, exciting, and occasionally interesting posts about birds - http://troythebirder.wordpress.com/

Regent Honeyeater

Howdy Folks,

Last Friday (when I should've been studying) took off up to Pelton near Cessnock to look for Regent Honeyeaters. Had some up to date info from Mick Roderick (you're a champion Mick) and with that and some google map prints, headed off into the bush. It was raining the whole time, and that road/track/trail is a shambles! It was super muddy the whole way, and really, really slippery. Anyway - success was had, birds were seen, and photos taken.

You can see the photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrtroy/

I've got my final exam for the semester this afternoon, so will be out and about heaps more over the next 4-5 weeks, before getting back into it.

Cheers

Campsie House list

3 posts in 2 days. I don't know what's going on.

Here's the house/street list for Campsie.

Chestnut Teal - Anas castanea
Northern Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
Rock Dove* - Columba livia
Spotted Turtle-Dove* - Streptopelia chinensis
White-throated Needletail* - Hirundapus caudacutus
Fork-tailed Swift* - Apus pacificus
Australian Pelican* - Pelecanus conspicillatus
Eastern Great Egret - Ardea modesta
Nankeen Night-Heron - Nycticorax caledonicus
Australian White Ibis* - Threskiornis molucca
Dusky Moorhen - Gallinula tenebrosa
Masked Lapwing - Vanellus miles
Silver Gull* - Croicocephalus novaehollandiae
Galah* - Eolophus roseicapillus
Little Corella* - Cacatua sanguinea
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo* - Cacatua galerita
Rainbow Lorikeet* - Trichoglossus haematodus
Eastern Rosella* - Platycercus eximius
Red-rumped Parrot* - Psephotus haematonotus
Eastern Koel* - Eudynamys orientalis
Channel-billed Cuckoo* - Scythrops novaehollandiae
Superb Fairy-wren* - Malurus cyaneus
Spotted Pardalote* - Pardalotus punctatus
White-plumed Honeyeater* - Lichenostomus penicillatus
Noisy Miner* - Manorina melanocephala
Red Wattlebird* - Anthochaera carunculata
New Holland Honeyeater* - Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Australian Magpie* - Gymnorhina tibicen
Australian Raven* - Corvus coronoides
Silvereye* - Zosterops lateralis
Welcome Swallow* - Hirundo neoxena
Tree Martin - Petrochelidon nigricans
Red-whiskered Bulbul* - Pycnonotus jocosus
Common Blackbird* - Turdus merula
Common Starling* - Sturnus vulgaris
Common Myna* - Sturnus tristis
House Sparrow* - Passer domesticus
37 species for street
* = seen in/flying over backyard

Current Tallies etc

2 posts in 2 days. What's going on!

Here's my current tallies, ripped straight from Facebook.

Tallies as at 28/5/09
-----
Year: 253
Aus Life List: 461
-----
NSW List: 364
QLD List: 231
VIC List: 176
ACT List: 75
TAS List: 37

and here's a link to a google maps screen grab showing all the spots I've been to. This will get updated after major trips, not just showing new spots in Sydney etc. So, expect a newer version mid September after I get back from Brisbane, and possibly July if we end up going to Melbourne.

Since December, this blog should be called "Campsie-birder"

Have moved house. If I knew how to fix these things, this blog would now be called The Campsie-birder.

Some highlights of Sydney birding in the inner outer west.

* There's a Nankeen Night Heron in the Cooks River.
* The house list is at about 34 in 6 months, which absolutely shits over the 10 year Erskineville house list of 16 over 10 years.
* The cats have learnt not to attack the New Holland Honeyeaters - Bella (the young, smaller one) caught one, but I rescued and released it - it's all good. She spent the next 2 weeks indoors. She has not attempted to attack one since. woohoo.

At Erskineville - my spys tell me that Black Swans attempted, but failed, to breed at Sydney Park.

Crimson Chat at Sydney Park!! OMFG!!

Well, it's been nearly a year since I posted here, but I doubt anyone actually reads this anyway! :)

Anyhoo - there's a pair of Crimson Chat - yes, Crimson Chat - at Sydney Park atm. http://tinyurl.com/4nc6ln be the link, and some shots are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrtroy/

Year list - around 250, life list, 407. Off to Cairns end of November, so that life list is gonna hit at least 500, and the year list will probably hit 450ish.

Photos

Oh yeah - I'm barring photobucket (those links below) in favour of flickr.com - just seems that you can do more, and with less restrictions at flickr.

the address to go to is...

http://flickr.com/photos/14457656@N08/sets/72157602224364249/

So long 2007

Ok, end of 2007 - aimed to get to 400 for life, and fell short. Also aimed to see 200 for the year, which I made.

The tally for 2007 was:

Life list as at 31/12/07
374
Year list for 2007
270

so not a bad effort. Not great, but not bad.

Targets for 2008 - life list 450+, and year list of 400. That will also have the effect of sanitising my list by seeing most of the birds I saw up north in the early 90's, when I had more hair and was arguably better looking. I also didn't have binoculars or really know how to birdwatch, which is something I'm still learning to do.

2008 also sees me moving out of erko at some stage, so I suppose I should change the name of the blog, but that might confuse the thousands of visitors I don't have coming here.

hehe

Happy 2008

Almost there

Almost at the end of the year... I'm at 374 birds for the life list, although re-analysing the actual species in my list against Clements sees me losing a couple. I guess I'll have to wait until the new Aus checklist comes out January-ish to get a definitive number there. Am on holidays at the moment and have been getting out and about quite a bit, despite the shockingly shithouse weather. Was up at the Capertee Valley for a couple of days earlier in the week, and am off down the coast for Waderfest 2007 - although the weather looks to be even worse than what we've been having, with the potential that the spit to Comerong Island may be closed due to increased flows of the Shoalhaven river, which will make the trip more Scrabblefest than Waderfest. Anyway - got a couple of days/nights there, so we'll see.

Anyhoot - I will post in about 2 weeks time so that the whole none of you who are reading this blog can see how I fared in the previous years twitching action. Next year will be bigger, as I'm going to drive to Cairns in November/December, and I would expect that I'm aiming for 100 new birds in that trip alone. So - all things going to plan - I'll be at around 500 birds for life come xmas next year, and i'll be at around 380ish by the end of this year.

Merry Merry and all that.

Lesser Yellowlegs

I did my (becoming) annual cross-state twitch last weekend when I went up to see the Lesser Yellowlegs at Jerseyville.


View Larger Map

It was in a swamp slightly to the west of that arrow, but thats basically the location.

Had a great trip, 107 birds for the 3 days I was away, and great views of a rarity.

Also have started a flickr account, and you can see my awesome pictures here.