Warbler

Volume 6 Number 4 December 2017

EDITOR’S NOTE – Peter Crane Welcome to the December 2017 issue of Warbler, the quarterly e-magazine of BirdLife Southern Queensland,

your region of BirdLife Australia. We are pleased to again present a variety of interesting and informative articles with something for all readers. This edition marks the start of my sixth year of editing Warbler. We have changed the e-magazine over this period and would welcome any suggestions from BSQ members. Rochelle Steven, Co-Convenor has provided a report that highlights that significant activities of our branch. Of particular note is the great outcome for Yandina wetlands and the preparation now for ongoing bird surveys.

The report from Rob Clemens, Branch Support Officer indicates what can be achieved with a dedicated resource and again demonstrates the importance of this position. An On Tour section with a difference provides tour reports from Steven Brumby who stopped in Ethiopia on his way to Europe and from Rochelle Steven who has been up the Oodnadatta Track. I have rounded this out with reviews on field guides that you might use for Taiwan and Indonesia. In The Green Corner Sheena Gillman reflects on conservation

issues prompted by her recent visit to Europe including her somewhat accidental attendance at the British Bird Fair. Neil has reported on the Spring Adopt A Farm survey whilst Roz and Keith Skidmore have reported on their participation in a Carpentarian Grasswren Survey. Camilla Wagstaff from WildMob has provided a summary of their conservation work. Emma Belfield from The Sunrise Project has submitted an article on the StopAdani initiative. The Premier recently announced that she would not support Adani’s application for funds from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund. The

right outcome but for the wrong reason. We conclude with an article from Gemma Plesmann, Wilderness Society on Deforestation. In The Classroom the Joint BQ-BSQ Education Committee again makes a call for volunteers to assist in the ‘study of birds’ program. Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are important for our birds. Golo Maurer and Rochelle Steven provide the background to the transition from IBA to IBBA to KBA. Rochelle Steven has

continued in her series of articles on each KBA. We live in a wide, diverse continent and an interesting world. There are birding opportunities in each State and overseas.

Our regular contributors Shorty, Alana Dare and Barry Heinrich have told us about the birds that they have been seeing. Barry has provided a second article on a recent short trip. The Book Corner again has six book reviews for your perusal. Each of the books will have appeal to a section of our membership but I suggest that the book ‘An Uncertain Future, Birdlife in Danger’ should appeal to a wide audience. We have just received another book, ‘Grasswrens – Australian Outback Identities’, that will be reviewed for the March edition.

I am looking forward to that review. The Back Page provides a summary of upcoming events, outings and surveys. We have a general call for volunteers – will you participate? I have also included a short music review. Until next quarter best wishes with your birding activities and please consider submitting an article for Warbler. Peter Crane

INDEX

Editor’s Note and Index ------------------------------------------------------- 1

From the Co-Convenor - Rochelle Steven ----------------------------------- 2

From the Branch Support Officer – Rob Clemens --------------------------- 3

Scence Teachers Association Queensland Bursary – Neil Humphris -------- 4

On Tour

Taiwan Tea: A Guide – Peter Crane ---------------------------------------- 5

Birding in Ethiopia – Steven Brumby --------------------------------------- 6

Java-Bali Jaunt: A Guide – Peter Crane ----------------------------------- 10

The Oodnadatta Track – Rochelle Steven --------------------------------- 11

The Green Corner

Conservation issues in Europe and more – Sheena Gillman ------------- 13

Adopt a Farm, Granite Belt Survey Spring 2017 – Neil Humphris ------- 15

Carpentarian Grasswren Survey – Roz and Keith Skidmore ------------- 16

Protecting Bird Nesting Habitats – Camilla Wagstaff, WildMob --------- 17

Adani Looms Large in State election – Emma Belfield ------------------- 18 Deforestation - Gemma Plesman, The Wilderness Society -------------- 19

The Classrooom

Call for Helpers in the Schools Program ---------------------------------- 19

The Places That Matter The Most – KBAs ----------------------------------- 20

Cooper Floodplain below Windorah KBA – Rochelle Steven ------------- 21

Over the Border

From the Nation’s Capital – Shorty --------------------------------------- 22

From the Driest State – Alana Dare -------------------------------------- 23

Over the Water

A Thai Dish – Barry Heinrich ---------------------------------------------- 24

Thai Birding Spot – Petchaburi Coast - Barry Heinrich ------------------- 26

The Book Corner

An Uncertain Future, Australian Birdlife in Danger – Geoffrey Maslen -- 28

The Most Perfect Thing, ….. a Bird’s Egg – Tim Birkhead ---------------- 30

Raptors, The Curious Nature of Diurnal Birds of Prey – K Bildstein -----32

Birdsong, Speech and Language – edited JJ Bolhuis and M Everaert --- 33

Vanished and Vanishing Parrots – Joseph Forshaw and Frank Knight – 34

Environmental History and Ecology of Moreton Bay – Daryl McPhee --- 35

The Lyrebird Lounge

Powerful Owl – Belle Miners ---------------------------------------------- 36

The Back Page --------------------------------------------------------------- 36

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FROM THE CO-CONVENOR

BirdLife Southern Queensland continues to achieve some fantastic wins for birds and the people that love them – and

the last few months demonstrate this so well. Take our Owls of Brisbane workshops we hosted (with support from Brisbane City Council) in Toohey Forest and Mount Coot-tha Forest reserves. Our Branch Support Officer Dr Rob Clemens did a fantastic job of running these workshops, that were extremely popular among BirdLife members and the community more broadly. Rob will be giving a more in depth summary of the workshops in this Warbler, so read on! We are exploring options for some more owl-based research and activities in the region, so stay tuned for updates on that. At the end of 2016, BirdLife Southern Queensland also began

discussions with Unitywater, the new land owners of the Yandina Wetlands property. Specifically, we were seeking a partnership with Unitywater that would give us the opportunity to provide highly experience bird surveyors to conduct baseline and follow up bird surveys of the site. As Unitywater plans to manage the site for ecosystem processes related to water quality and ecological restoration, we are pleased to be able to complement this work by documenting the avifauna assemblage present now and into the future. At present, the site is not open to the public and bird surveyors are undergoing rigorous training workshops to be able to get on site and conduct bird surveys using BirdLife’s standardised survey

methodologies, uploading their results to Birdata – BirdLife Australia’s new data portal. We are thrilled to be working with Unitywater and look forward to sharing the results of these surveys in the future. Spring is always a hectic time in the world of birds and BirdLife Australia. We had so much happening across the country and our amazing region, giving people the opportunity to get out and spend some quality time in nature. The Aussie Backyard Bird Count forms part of BirdLife Australia’s National Bird Week. This year, across the country, over 2 million birds were

counted during the week of the count. This is a phenomenal amount of birds! If you were one of the thousands of people that signed up for the event and submitted your lists – thank you! Don’t forget you can submit counts of birds in your backyard any time of year by registering for our Birds in Backyards program. Also in Bird Week – we had our National Twitchathon. This year Queensland teams were raising funds for Eastern Curlew and Black-throated Finch (southern subspecies) conservation work. A huge thank you to the teams that participated and made an effort to raise money for these highly threatened

species. Finally, another huge achievement was celebrated on the 12 November, with the launch of the Bird Places of the Redlands brochure. As an addition to the series that already includes Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the Bird Places brochure outlines the best birding spots in the Redlands. The launch event was well attended by the community and we were also fortunate to have the Deputy Mayor Wendy Boglary and Councillors Paul Bishop and Tracey Huges join us on the day. We are very grateful to Redland City Council for their support, via the

Conservation Community Grants scheme, that made this project possible. Local Branch Convenor Kathy Clark, along with Judy Leitch, Joy Graydon and Neil Humphris all put in the hard yards finding the absolute best spots to include in the brochure.

As editor of the brochure content, I had the task of gathering all of that information together along with data on the birds that were to be listed in the brochure. We worked as a fabulous team and the brochure is a fine illustration of the significant biodiversity values of Redland City. The brochure also highlights several sites that are currently at risk due to pending development applications, so serves as a timely reminder of how important it is to conserve these sites for their important habitat values for birds and other fauna and flora.

Rochelle Steven Co-Convenor

December 2017 3

FROM THE BRANCH SUPPORT OFFICER I’ve been reflecting on how the work we do at BirdLife tends to reflect the philosophy of “doing what is best for the birds” and working for “conservation through knowledge”. These ideas are at the foundation of what the committee has always done, as well as our new projects. Our latest funding attempts,

however, continue to reflect how our visions for doing what is best for the birds are often miles ahead of our capacity. The largest grant we applied for recently was not successful, which means we will still be actively looking for funds to try and take some of the burden off a very active committee. I’m also hopeful that some of the projects we’ve initiated can become fully funded programs. Fortunately, we did get a modest grant from Logan City council to roll out the Powerful Owl monitoring project in that area, and we also got a grant from the Sunshine Coast council to help deliver some waterbird workshops next year to help grow awareness of waterbird

conservation and the good work going on at Yandina wetlands with UnityWater. Redlands 2030 continues to stand up against the development at Toondah Harbour which could lead to the unprecedented development of part of an internationally recognised Ramsar wetland recognised for its importance for shorebirds such as the critically endangered Eastern Curlew. Sheena and I recently attended a rally against the development where I got to address the hundreds of people who showed up.

Redlands 2030 rally against the Toondah Harbour development (Redlands 2030)

Two successful surveys have been conducted by dedicated volunteers from BirdLife Sunshine Coast at Yandina wetlands. As part of that, Kylie from UnityWater and I delivered a brief workshop highlighting the site, UnityWater’s plan, waterbird conservation, and outline the methods we will rely on to meet the objective of demonstrating the ecological benefit of restoring wetlands at Yandina. It has been great to be able to

play a small part in this good news story, and is the kind of wetland restoration that would be great to see more widely. The owl project has received a tick of approval from the DAFF ethics committee and I am now looking to get permits sorted to conduct surveys in areas such as Qld Parks. This means we can roll out formal surveys next year. Until more funding becomes available we will be delivering workshops and training sessions for people interested in conducting regular Powerful Owl monitoring in the Logan region, and the Brisbane region. People from outside those regions are welcome to attend, and with any luck we will find sufficient funding to be able to roll

these out in other regions. These workshops and coordination are required to ensure we do not impact Powerful Owl pairs, and that we avoid duplication of survey effort. In the meantime we will continue to encourage people to send us any

opportunistic owl, frogmouth, or nightjar sightings via BirdData. There is something very magical about finding a pair of Powerful Owls, and then watching them enough to see chicks emerging from their hollows. Please get in touch if you would like to monitor a pair of Powerful Owls. Also, I’d like to thank Brisbane City Council, whose initial grant got this project off the ground. On Saturday 9 December 2017, from 9am to 10:30am we will be attending an event to welcome back the shorebirds at G.J. Walter Park in Cleveland. Please consider coming along to help demonstrate that there are many of us who speak for the

shorebirds.

Wood Sandpiper battling (Rob Clemens)

I also had the opportunity to accompany Sheena our Chair of Conservation on one of her many meetings, this one with the Queensland Conservation Council. We have since signed up to the Queensland Land Clearing Alliance to join the voices

concerned about the increasing clearing rates in Queensland which are clearly impacting birds. I’ve also had a chance to go out with Neil to get a firsthand glimpse of the great work our education committee is involved in, and this served as a great reminder of how important education can be for our birds. To help spread the word about all the good work BirdLife is involved with, we will have a stall at the Woodford Folk festival (from Dec 26 to 1 Jan).

If you are interested in volunteering there are a number of things we would love help with: 1. owl monitoring throughout southeast Queensland; 2. waterbird monitoring in the Sunshine Coast; 3. reporting of any Painted Honeyeater sightings in BirdData; 4. helping run the BirdLife Woodford stall.

Just get in touch with me if interested. Join us at the Woodford Folk Festival, have some fun and help lighten the load Dr Rob Clemens

0425 805 087

JOIN US AT WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL 26 Dec – 1 Jan Contact Dr Rob Clemens 0425 805 087

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BIRDLIFE SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND Co-Convenor Judith Hoyle Co-Convenor, Social Media Moderator, member Conservation Subcommittee Rochelle Steven Deputy Convenor, Chair Comms & Development Sam Price Acting Secretary, Acting Treasurer, Education Chair

Neil Humphris Conservation Chair & PTBA Co-ordinator Sheena Gillman Education Subcommittee, Joint BQ/BSQ Education Committee Val Catchpoole Conservation Subcommittee Jessie Cappadonna Conservation Subcommittee Elisha Taylor Research Subcomittee Gary Fitt Atlas Coordinator, Data Manager Ellen Thompson BIBY Program Manager, ex officio committee attendee Monica Awasthy Branch Support Officer, ex officio committee attendee

Robert Clemens

LOCAL BRANCH CONVENORS – Brisbane North vacant Brisbane South Sandra Gallienne Gold Coast Beth Hall South Burnett Julian Bielewicz Sunshine Coast Ken Cross Redland-Bayside Kathy Clark Postal Address - PO Box 375 Annerley QLD 4103

WARBLER E-MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTIONS Warbler is a quarterly e-magazine available on the BirdLife Southern Queensland website. if you have an article or news item send it to Peter Crane, editor. Please note that photographs of people need to have consent from those people for publication in this e-magazine.

Opinions expressed by authors are not necessarily those of BirdLife Australia or BirdLife Southern Queensland. No part of Warbler may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the prior written consent of BirdLife Southern Queensland. COPYRIGHT © 2017.

Speckled Warbler (Peter Crane)

SCIENCE TEACHERS COMPETITION

In 2016 we started offering bursaries of $200 for entries in the annual Science Teachers Association Qld competition. Entries thought to embody a bird theme, particularly the plight of the bird populations in our area, would qualify. Last year’s winner was outstanding in the primary school section. Sadly, no entries in the secondary level were deemed to meet the criteria. This year’s judging was conducted by Dr Rob Clemens and myself with only a small number of entries suitable for

qualifying. However, the standard of those was high indeed. The Primary school winner caught our attention with the topic: “Sweets for Tweets”; sub-title “The lack of suitable hollows for breeding birds on the Gold Coast”. The title was referring to the method used to obtain the monies to purchase some nesting boxes for the school grounds. The idea of selling bags of lollies at the school tuckshop proved to be a resounding success raising enough for a number of boxes to be bought. This clever idea from a year four pupil from Pacific Pines Primary and the excellent way it was presented had us both

deciding Sophie’s was the bursary winner in that category. Rob handed the winner her certificate and I the cheque plus a copy of our ‘Birds of South East Qld’ book. I have since spoken to her mother who said as they were departing the ceremony past the Uni lake she was already ticking waterfowl species; another birder in the making? The secondary school level had two entries we couldn’t separate Navodya and Chelsea’s were both deserving of recognition. Joint winners were from Mansfield High and

Marymount College West Burleigh. Both of these recipients were not at the ceremony so the bursary cheques were delivered to the recipients at their schools; both at special parades. However, I visited the schools over the following weeks which the other two winners attended to present their cheques plus a certificate and a complementary ‘Birds of SEQ’ book.

Mansfeld SHS shorebirds winner, Navodya Herath and Neil Humphris

Neil Humphris Chair Education BSQ

December 2017 5

ON TOUR

A section for articles about your birdwatching travels. Your contributions are welcome, please email Peter Crane.

COLLINS FIELD GUIDE – BIRDS OF SOUTH-EAST ASIA – NORMAN ARLOTT

BOOK REVIEW – Peter Crane

July 2017, HarperCollins Publishers, $69.99, ISBN 9780007429547, Hardcover, 448 pages, 148 x 210 mm

In the June and September Warbler editions we published a two part ‘Taiwan Tea’ article on my April birding tour to Taiwan. This tour was booked at relatively short notice and therefore I did not search for a relevant birding guide. The tour guide did have a Chinese language local guide but it was useful only for the sketches as I do not read or speak Chinese. Do you buy a field guide for the country or region when you book an overseas birding tour? These guides are typically from 1-2% of the cost of a guided

tour so I should consider this purchase for future tours. Birds of South-East Asia covers China (part of), Hainan, Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and the Cocos Islands. I will therefore review this guide as though I had it on my Taiwan tour. The major sections of the guide are: Contents (3 pages), Acknowledgements, Introduction, Area and Species Covered, Abbreviations, Nomenclature, Identification and Distribution Maps (2 pages), Map of the Region (1 Page), Bird Topography

(1 page), Species Descriptions and Colour Plates (354 pages), Further Reading (1 page), Species Distribution Maps (40 pages) and Index (24 pages).

The Species Descriptions and Colour Plates section is arranged with the descriptions on the left page and the sketches on the right page. There are six (Albatrosses, Petrels) to eleven (Partridges and some others) species on each page. I am accustomed to the Distribution Map being on the same pages as the description and/or sketch and therefore having the maps in a different section requires some adjustment.

The Field Notes in the descriptions are sufficiently detailed and accurate. The Mikado Pheasant reads: Shy and elusive. Usually forages at dawn and dusk; tends to show more during light rain or after heavy rain. Regularly takes to trees during heavy rain. Mostly silent. Yes, our sighting was at a regular feeding place after a long mid-late afternoon wait but not until dusk and as soon as the light rain started. The pair were silent. How would the guide have performed on the Taiwan tour? The field notes are sufficiently detailed and accurate as noted in the previous paragraph.

The sketches are also accurate, could be larger but meet the purpose. The distribution maps however are too small for my reasonable use. The index lists both common and scientific names and is easy to use. What birds are listed? I sighted 161 new species and 9 new sub-species for me. Of these 170 species all but 5 were listed in the guide – Northern Boobook (Ryuku Is), Grey-throated Martin, Japanese Bush Warbler (Ryuku Is), Lowland White-Eye (Ryuku Is) and

Naumann’s Thrush. Three of the not listed species were on Ryuku (aka Orchid) Island a noted location for its own endemics list. The island is due east of the southern end of Taiwan and is also noted for its list of migrating birds. Yes, I would have been pleased to have this guide with me in Taiwan. I have booked a general China tour in April 2018. This is a non-birding tour with opportunistic birding only. When my wife asked what was ‘opportunistic birding’ I replied that every time I saw a bird was an opportunity. I will have the Birds of South-

East Asia with me. Peter Crane

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BIRDING IN ETHIOPIA Ethiopia has 924 bird species, of which 23 are endemic (reference:Wikipedia). Although rather remote from Australia, it's worth considering Ethiopia when travelling between Europe and Australia, as it doesn't add much to the distance, and breaks up the journey nicely. Recently my wife and I travelled

from Frankfurt to Addis Adaba, with a flight time of 6hr 50min. We spent 11 days birding in Ethiopia. Then we flew from Addis Ababa to Singapore, with a flight time of 8hr 50min, and from Singapore to Canberra, with a flight time of 7hr 35min. Eritrea separated from Ethiopia in 1993. At this time a number of species that had been endemic to Ethiopia, became endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea. Addis Ababa is 2,400m above sea level and 9º north of the equator. The maximum daytime temperature is in the range 21-25ºC and there is little seasonal variation. As we travelled

about Ethiopia the lowest point that we reached was 1,076m (when we travelled south from Bale Mountain Lodge) and the highest point was 4,100m (on the Sanetti Plateau).

Wattled Ibis - endemic Ethiopia, Eritrea (Steven Brumby)

Day 1. We arrived at Addis Ababa at 5:55am and paid US$50 each for a “visa on arrival”. We had booked the Sheraton Addis for the first three nights. We found their kiosk at the airport and they provided a ride to the hotel. I had engaged a local

birding guide, Meseret Mekuria, who had hired a Landcruiser ably driven by Abera. The plan was that he would pick us up the following day. This meant that for the first day we could do a bit of birding around Addis on our own. In the small garden of the Sheraton Addis we observed a Dusky Turtle Dove, Swainson's Sparrow, Abyssinian Thrush, Brown-rumped Seedeater, Tacazze Sunbird, and Wattled Ibis (endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea). Yellow-billed and Black Kites were constantly soaring overhead. Then we jumped into a taxi and went to Ghion Hotel, where I had heard there is a garden with many birds. Not sure whether we found the correct garden, because the only additional birds we could find were Streaky

Seedeater, Abyssinian Woodpecker (female) and Red-eyed Dove. Back at our hotel, there was a Rüpell's Robin-chat. I hasten to add that these identifications were all done later by Meseret on the basis of photographs I had taken. Day 2. The next morning we had a quick glance in the hotel garden and added Variable Sunbird to our previous finds. We met Meseret and Abera at 9am and headed north from the city. At about 21km we stopped to investigate some activity by Hooded Vultures, Pied Crows and a Tawny Eagle, in addition to the previously mentioned species of kite.

Nearby there was a Grey Heron, two Blue-winged Geese (endemic to Ethiopia), and an Intermediate Egret (as well as a group of Wattled Ibis, seen previously in Addis).

Blue-winged Goose - vulnerable, endemic Ethiopia (Steven Brumby)

A couple of kilometres further on we stopped briefly to watch a tussle between a Tawny Eagle and a Yellow-billed Kite. Predictably the eagle won and flew off with the carcase of what looked like a bird. 18km further on we stopped for a Yellow Bishop, which would not let me approach close enough to take good photos. After a further 12km we stopped again in a habitat of open grassland with scattered rocks. Here we saw Thekla's Lark, Groundscraper Thrush, Red-breasted Wheatear, Erlanger's Lark (endemic to Ethiopia), and Yellow Wagtail.

The next stop, at 80km (as the crow flies) north of Addis Ababa, was at a look-out point which gave us a spectacular view over Jemma Gorge. A group of Geladas passed by and were surprisingly tame. Blue-eared Glossy Starling and Common Bulbul were seen in addition to previous finds. Various raptors rode the thermals but did not come close. We proceeded to Debre Libanos, a monastery. We walked in the forest surrounding the monastery and saw Vervet Monkeys, White-cheeked Turaco, African Cuckoo, Black Saw-wings (in flight), White-billed Starling (endemic to Ethiopia and

Eritrea, in flight), Hemprich's Hornbill, Speckled Mousebird, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher (endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea), in addition to previous finds. An Ethiopian Oriole was heard but not seen.

White-cheeked Turaco - Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan (Steven Brumby)

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Day 3. Today we travelled west from Addis Ababa. We stopped briefly beside Gefersa Reservoir and spotted a group of African Black Ducks retreating into vegetation. A group of guards, one armed with a gun, appeared and questioned us. They said we needed a permit to proceed on foot around the reservoir. That would take too long so we continued by road, stopping later at a wetlands area where we saw a Yellow-billed Duck (with head only visible), a Northern Shoveller, Red-rumped Swallows (in flight), and other birds seen previously. The next stop (23km from Addis as the crow flies) was grassland with scattered shrubs adjacent to a cliff of earth. New species found here included Grassland Pipit, Common Fiscal, Pin-tailed Whydah,

Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu, Yellow-bellied Wagtail, African Citrill, Rüpell's Black Chat (endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea), Moorland Chat, Black-winged Cliff Chat, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Lesser Masked Weaver, Plain Martin, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Long-billed Pipit, African Dusky Flycatcher and Augur Buzzard.

Rüpell's Black Chat - endemic Ethiopia, Eritrea (Steven Brumby)

Next stop was for coffee. At the coffee shop we saw a Dusky Turtle Dove, seen previously in Addis. The last stop (29km E of Addis) was at a site where a fenced-off area, that had been left fallow for some time, was adjacent to pasture used to graze cattle. The fenced-off area contained vegetation about two meters high which provided an excellent habitat for Red-collared Widowbirds and Fan-tailed Widowbirds. We also glimpsed a Rouget's Rail and a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. We heard but could not see the Ethiopean Cisticola and we both heard and saw the Stout Cisticola. There were Red-billed Oxpeckers on cows and a Grey-backed Fiscal on a wire.

Rouget's Rail - near threatened, endemic Ethiopia, Eritrea (Steven Brumby)

Day 4. Our destination today was Bale Mountain Lodge, a long drive. From Addis Ababa we travelled in a south-easterly direction and our first stop was just after crossing the Awash River, in the Sodere region. The habitat was scrub-land, more arid than we had seen previously, which probably explains the fact that all the birds here were new to us. Rufous-crowned Roller, Northern Red Bishop (aka Orange Bishop), African Grey Hornbill, Black-crowned Tchagra, Village Weaver, White-browed Sparrow-weaver, Blue-naped Mousebird, BruBru, Namaqua Dove, Little Bee-eater, Reichenow's Seedeater, Pale Flycatcher.

Continuing our journey, we made brief stops to photograph European Bee-eater, Common Kestrel, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Lilac-breasted Roller, Fork-tailed Drongo, Lesser-spotted Eagle. We came to the large town of Assela and stopped for lunch at a café owned, we were told, by Haile Gebrselassie (marathon runner). Approaching Bale Mountain, we came to a village where Thick-billed Ravens, White-backed Vultures and Lappet-faced Vultures were circling. Ascending to higher altitudes, there was a small lake near the road where we observed Red-knobbed Coot as well as other species seen previously. Later a Black-

shouldered Kite, at rest, was observed.

Thick-billed Raven - Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia (Steven Brumby)

To reach Bale Mountain Lodge, we had to traverse the Sanetti Plateau, at an altitude of around 4000m. We wanted to reach the lodge before dark, so we pressed on without further stops. As we ascended to the plateau we saw a pair of Chestnut-naped Francolins (endemic to Ethiopia and Somalia), but decided there was no time to stop. The light was fading by then. We finally reached the lodge at about 7pm, with just a

faint glimmer of natural light. The lodge is considerably lower than the plateau, at about 2600m, but is high enough for the nights to be cold. Returning to our room after dinner we were glad to find that a wood fired stove was alight. Day 5. Today we stayed at mid-level altitude, meaning that we remained in walking distance of the lodge. It was raining on and off which limited our birding. Not seen previously were Ethiopean Boubou, Black-winged Lovebird, Tree Hyrax, Colobus Monkey, Ethiopian Oriole, Tree Pipits, Baglafecht Weaver, Warthogs.

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Black-winged Lovebird - endemic Ethiopia, Eritrea; Ethiopian Oriole - north-

eastern Africa (Steven Brumby)

Day 6. Our plan was to spend the day on the Sanetti Plateau. Soon after setting out we saw a Bale Mountains Vervet (aka Bale Monkey), an endemic species, classified as vulnerable. On the Plateau, it was not long before we saw a group of three Ethiopean Wolves (endemic, classified as endangered, and considered to be Africa's most highly endangered carnivore).

As I approached this group obliquely, with the aim of taking photographs, one of the wolves started walking in my general direction and passed quite close to me as I stood still. Although these wolves look more like large foxes, DNA evidence indicates that they descend from wolves and are not closely related to other African canids. Their fox-like characteristics seem to be an adaptation to their diet which consists mostly of the Big-headed African Mole-rat (aka Giant Mole-rat) that is also endangered. It was a hard wrench to leave the company of these charismatic animals, but we had other species to find. As I walked back to the car I realised that I was breathless because of the high altitude of about

4,100m. A Golden Eagle soared overhead. Also observed: Moorland Chat, Giant Mole-rat, Mountain Nyala (female), Red-billed Chough, Ethiopean/Abyssinian Siskin (endemic), Spot-breasted Lapwing (endemic). The Sanetti Plateau is a strange and wonderful place unlike anywhere else I've seen. Imagine a landscape without grass or trees. Instead of grass there is a carpet of Helichrysum species with silvery-grey leaves and yellow or white flowers. The largest plants are Giant Lobelias. On our descent we stopped to inspect a forest of the amazing Tree Heath (Erica arborea), seen nowhere else. We also

observed St John's Wort (Hypericum revoltum) growing as a sizable tree covered in yellow flowers.

Spot-breasted Lapwing - endemic Ethiopia; Ethiopian Siskin - endemic Ethiopia

(Steven Brumby)

Day 7. From Bale Mountain Lodge, we descended to a lower altitude. A group of Giant Forest Hogs crossed the road in front of us and quickly disappeared into dense forest. A troupe of Olive Baboons was foraging along the road. Not mentioning birds already seen: White-bellied Go-away-bird, Mariqua Sunbird, Northern Black Flycatcher, Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Slender-billed Starling. Back at the lodge, a Rock Hyrax was observed.

Day 8. Our destination today was Aragash Lodge in Yirga Alem, about 47km south of Awassa. This did not give us a lot of time for birding on the way, as travelling by road in Ethiopia is slow, because of potholes, and livestock on the road. Leaving Bale Mountain Lodge, there was a Grey Wagtail on the roadside. Descending to Goba, we had good views of a Rouget's Rail (endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea) -- seen previously but only partially visible through reeds. As we crossed the grasslands of the Dinsho area we saw a Mountain Nyala (male) and Abyssinian Cisticola (previously only heard). Later on we saw a Purple Heron, White-collared Pigeons, various vultures. We

stopped for lunch at Shashamane, and arrived at Aragash Lodge in daylight (just). There was a coffee ceremony, and Spotted Hyaenas visited as they do each evening. Dinner was a buffet with local and Italian dishes. Day 9. Before setting out we checked the lodge grounds and saw Hemprich's Hornbill, Hadada Ibis, Double-toothed Barbet and Yellow-fronted Parrot (endemic to Ethiopia). Then we set out for Lake Awassa, a distance of about 47km. Close to the water we saw Rüpell's Starling, Marabou Stork, Black Crake, Whiskered Tern, Pied Kingfisher, White-winged Tern, African Jacana, Spur-winged Lapwing, Egyptian Goose, Squacco

Heron, Woodland Kingfisher, African Fish Eagle. As we moved

December 2017 9

away from the water's edge, we saw Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Gambian Squirrel, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Northern Black Flycatcher, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Crested Francolin, Beautiful Sunbird, Banded Barbet (endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea), Bruce's Green Pigeon, Bronze Mannequin and Red-billed Firefinch.

White-collared Pigeon - endemic Ethiopia, Eritrea; Yellow-fronted Parrot - endemic Ethiopia (Steven Brumby)

Day 10. The weather was dull this morning and the bird activity around the lodge followed suit, with a Nubian Woodpecker (female) and a Lemon Dove the only finds. We then proceeded to Loka-Abaya National Park, picking up the Park's Wildlife

Manager and Business Manager at Yirga Alem. On the way we found Fan-tailed Ravens by the roadside. Near the park entrance building: a Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Speckled Pigeons (and other species seen previously). Driving through the park, we saw African Wattled Lapwing, Northern White-crowned Shrike. Descending towards Lake Abaya, we walked along a river embankment. Here we saw a Long-crested Eagle in flight, Orange-bellied Parrot, Woolly-necked Stork, Senegal Thick-knee, White-winged Widowbird. Driving back towards the park entrance we observed White-bellied Bustards, Common Kestrel and Long-crested Eagle at rest.

Day 11. This morning there was more bird activity in the lodge grounds as there had been a thunderstorm with heavy rain in the night, and this had brought worms to the surface. I was able to photograph Ethiopean Boubou, seen several times before always in unfavourable light for photography. White-rumped Babbler, Mountain Wagtail. Our destination today was Addis Ababa airport, with a flight leaving late at night. Our first stop was at the United Africa Group Hotel. This hotel gives access through a gate to Lake Awassa: African Pygmy Goose, Malachite Kingfisher, Lesser Reed Warbler. Proceeding further,

there was a group of Black-winged Plovers in flight. Our next stop was Sabana Beach Resort, where we had lunch overlooking Lake Langano. Walking around the resort grounds: Superb Starlings, Laughing Doves, Grey-headed Batis, Redstart. Next stop was Lake Ziway ... Great White Pelicans, Glossy Ibis, Black-winged Stilts, Common Sandpiper, White-faced Whistling Ducks, Three-banded Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper. This was the last birding stop, the next and last stop being Addis Ababa Airport.

White-rumped Babbler - Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan (Steven Brumby)

We were focusing exclusively on birds, but Ethiopia has many other attractions, including the amazing rock-hewn Church of St George and fantastic scenery at Lake Tana and the Simien Mountains. It is definitely a country with much to offer.

Steven Brumby

BIRDING ACROSS BHUTAN

Another birding friend has recently returned from a Bhutan tour. When I asked about an article for Warbler he sent the below image and a link to Bhutan Birding his tour guide. I like his sense of humour and the bird but would you do that – please send tour articles to Peter Crane, editor Warbler.

Himalayan Monal (Dick Holroyde)

10 Warbler

A PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO THE BIRDS

OF INDONESIA – MORTON STRANGE BOOK REVIEW – Peter Crane

Second edition October 2012, Tuttle Publishing, $34.95, ISBN

9780804842006, Paperback, 544 pages, 148 x 210 mm

In the September Warbler edition we published an article on my June birding tour to Java and Bali. I had learned from my recent overseas tour experience and purchased a guide for this trip. It cost less than 1% of the guided tour cost. I should mention that I have a liking for a bird photographed in a natural setting.

The major sections of the guide are: Map (2 pages), Contents (2 pages), Preface (5 pages), Introduction, Birdng Techniques, Phtographing Birds, Habitats, The Bird Yead and Endemism (13 pages), How to use this Book, Family and Genus, Photographs, Description, Bird Topography, Voice, Habitats, Distribution and Status, Abundance, Abundance Code, Globally Threatened Status (13 pages) Illustrated Section (455 pages), How to use this Checklist (1 page), Complete Checklist (33 pages), Glossary (2 pages), Selected Bibliography (3 pages) and Index of Common Names (6 pages).

This book covers the nation of Indonesia however the maps necessarily include Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo and Timor. The Illustrated Section is arranged with two species per page, the photograph on the outer edge of the page and the field notes towards the middle of the book. The distribution map is in this section and because of the latitudinal spread of Indonesia is necessarily wide but narrow. The Field Notes in the Illustrated Section are sufficienty detailed and accurate. There are paragraphs for Description,

Voice and Habitats. The Cinnamon Bittern notes state ‘The most common bittern throughout western Indonesia. Although secretive and skulking it is ften seen making short flights across freshwater wetland areas.’ We had our sighting in the Bali interior bit it was a bird making a short flight across a freshwater wetland area. We did get good views.

The Indigo Flycatcher notes state ‘A strictly montane species found between 1,500 and 2,400 m and occasionally down to 900m. A regular bird at major montane destinations such as Gunung Kerinci on Sumatra and Gunung Gede on Java. Spotted in closed forest and along the trails. Sits quietly on a low perch, hawking for insects. Also seen with other species in bird waves.’ We had a number of sightings on Gunung Gede very much as stated. Some sightings were on trees along the main road up the mountain. How did the guide perform on the Bali/Java tour?

The A5 paperback format gves a book that is relatively small and easy to carry in a daypack. You might recall that in my tour report I had mentioned that a target for this trip was to travel light – I managed 13kg in my checked luggage. The field notes are sufficiently detailed and accurate as noted in the previous paragraph. The photographs are generally very good, and the image size suits the A5 page format. The distribution maps are an appropriate size for the book. The Index of Common Names is easy to use. What birds are listed? I sighted 144 new species and a total of 189 species. 33

species seen were not listed in the book, however the book is based on Clements 2007 and I use IOC. Therefore a number of the missing species will be because of the different taxonomes and recent splits. I was using the guide on a daily and/or hourly basis and would recommend it for an Indonesian tour, particularly if you have a preference for photographs over sketches or if you are travelling light.

Peter Crane

HAVE YOU BEEN ON A BIRDING TOUR? Share your birding tour story and photos in Warbler. Articles to Peter Crane, editor

December 2017 11

THE OODNADATTA TRACK You may or may not know, that in addition to being a mad keen BirdLife Southern Queensland committee member, I am a full time researcher at the University of Queensland. I am very lucky to work for the amazing Professor Richard Fuller, researching all sorts of interesting topics around how people

impact on nature and how nature impacts on people. Richard also has some really important long term ecological projects, including a study monitoring the effects of climate variability on arid bird communities. This project sees researchers (including volunteers) head down to South Australia every winter to survey the Oodnadatta, Birdsville and Strezlecki Tracks. When he asked me if I would assist in leading one of the survey teams I couldn’t resist! A new habitat type with the prospect of a tidy pile of lifers – yes please! So I packed my tent and camp kitchen and set off with two stellar volunteers (Claire Mason and Nicolas Rakotopare – both ecologists, like me) into the red centre of this great land.

Poachd egg Daisies (Rochelle Steven)

We drove from Adelaide to Marla (over 1000km NW) – by way of an overnight stop in Port Augusta. By the time we got to Marla, we were just under 200km from the Northern Territory border. This was as close as I have been to the centre of Australia; apart from a few hours stop-over in Alice Springs at the tender age of eight, en route to Perth from Brisbane. But as an ecologist, that notices the changes in vegetation, the changes in geology and of course the changes in birds, I really was on unfamiliar ground. And I loved it! There is just no way I can convey how beautiful this country is, and how unbelievably diverse the landscapes are across the continent.

It was so hard to fathom that the rainforests of Far North Queensland, the monsoonal savannah of the Top End (both of which I spent time in during my PhD) and the deserts I now found myself in, were all in the same country.

The desert is beautiful. It is weird and dry and that dirt; it just gets everywhere! But nothing can beat a sunset in the arid lands of Australia. Then there is the flora and fauna, which are by no means mutually exclusive. The little herbaceous flowering plants that provide a critical source of food for insect pollinators that then are consumed by the White-winged Fairywrens that simply could not survive without the spikey shrubby Chenopods and other arid-adapted flora species. Likewise, the Singing Honeyeaters and White-plumed Honeyeaters might perish without the mistletoes that grow on

the Mulga and Red Gums in the creek lines, long dried out at the time we were there. Our mistletoes, relatively harmless

parasitic plants, many of which are endemic to Australia, never cease to amaze me in their profound ecological importance.

Wedge-tailed Eagle (Nicolas Rakotopare)

They are deposited onto trees by Mistletoebirds (and Painted

Honeyeaters disperse them elsewhere in Australia), that feed on the fleshy fruit offered by the little clumps of leaves held in the canopy of the host tree. The seed germinates on the branch where it is deposited and the mistletoe draws water from the host to survive. This is where it is so interesting in a desert setting – when the birds (like the honeyeaters mentioned above) cannot find water in creeks or Eucalypts, they just might find it in the flowering clumps of mistletoe. This was never clearer to me on the trip than when we pulled up under some Mulga along a dusty creek bed one day for morning tea and were surrounded by a mob of noisy White-plumed Honeyeaters. In all of the dryness and hardship of that

habitat, these birds were doing pretty well – thanks in my mind to the mistletoes. My lifers stacked up pretty quickly: Rufous Fieldwren, Inland Dotterel (we’ll come back to that!), Crested Bellbird, Chiming Wedgebill, Chirruping Wedgebill, Spotted Nightjar, Little Button-quail, White-fronted Chat, Gibberbird, Thick-billed Grasswren and Cinnamon Quail-thrush! Then there were a few that I had wonderful views unlike anything before – Spotted Harrier in particular! What an epic raptor they are. It was pretty breathtaking watching this massive bird having a go at taking an Australian Raven on the wing. Seriously exhilarating

stuff.

Rufous Fieldwren (Nicolas Rakotopare)

We were always on the lookout for other wildlife too. We had a huge Perentie crossing the track in front of us one day.

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Perentie (Rochelle Steven)

Nicolas bounded out of the car to get a good shot – he is an extraordinary photographer and filmmaker (please follow him on Instagram or Facebook, you won’t regret it). We had a few dingoes greet us one morning at our first survey point of the day. What an amazing animal they are. They were extremely cautious of us though and definitely didn’t come close enough for a proper portrait shot. Then one evening at Coward Springs

we saw the one and only fox of our trip. I know, I know, they are not native and are a serious threat to much of our biodiversity. But, none of us were qualified or equipped to do anything about him (yes it was definitely a ‘him’), and there is no denying they are a beautiful animal – feral or not. All we could do was take his picture in the golden light of the setting sun.

Dingo (Rochelle Steven)

We stopped in a few interesting towns along the way as well. We needed to refuel the Hilux and our tummies as well. Oodnadatta and it’s Pink Roadhouse; let’s just say that was an interesting place. We decided against pitching our tents in the campground and opted for a $5 shower instead, before driving to our next day’s survey site to camp all fresh and clean after a rinse and wash. Coober Pedy – Australia’s opal town. That place is just weird. It’s like a town-sized Steptoe junk yard. Everyone is there to fossick under issued licenses, and try their luck in finding that cracker opal – the life changer.

The result is a landscape dotted with mounds of dirt, and roads frequented by utes carrying the one-man mining equipment used by those with the fossick fever. Yes, Coober Pedy was a funny place for someone like me. Don’t get me wrong; I bought myself a pair of opal earrings to pay homage to this town and its character defining industry and we did get waffles and a decent coffee there, so that was pretty awesome after a week of porridge every morning. One of my favourite places was William Creek. Famous for the William Creek Hotel and as the starting place for scenic flights over Lake Eyre. This little place had a great atmosphere. The campground was a grey nomad hotspot. Lots of interesting characters on the journey

of a lifetime. I suppose that was us too. Our last town stop after completing the surveys was Maree. We met a lady caring for a Red Kangaroo joey and had an amazing fresh cinnamon donut before hitting the road back to civilisation. It really was an amazing adventure. Two weeks of solid bird surveys, camping in the desert and scrub (when we could find some). There were lots of laughs, lots of smelly socks and fortunately no tears. I was so lucky to be able to share the trip with such fantastic volunteers, especially Nicolas, who I have been close friends with for about eight years now. It is one thing to witness nature on such a stunning scale, and another

to be able to share it with kindred spirits like those I had the pleasure of travelling with. Dr Rochelle Steven

Crested bellbird, White-fronted Chat (Peter Crane)

December 2017 13

THE GREEN CORNER Green Corner time again – While I enjoyed an overseas trip to visit family during the British summer, I was grateful to Rochelle for providing items to the Green Corner and to Gemma Plesman at The Wilderness

Society for highlighting the growing torture of our landscapes, which finds us second only to Indonesia for clearing our vegetation. As Rochelle said, issues may be parochial but many are perennial and I hate to say it, but our natural world is changing as we watch and not for the good. Travelling through Queensland one can reflect on areas where reliable flocks would fly, the colour and magnificence of hundreds of finches, budgies or quarrion would catch your breath. And so I returned to the British Isles hopeful of some decent bird watching in the countryside I love, given the little island has around 255 species, many not present in the summer. Visiting Dalriada, the ancient crowning place of Pictish Kings, I only

needed to look out for seconds to remember the joyful sound of Lapwing and the glorious flight of Buzzard and Marsh Harrier coursing the marshland looking west to Crinan. I was a young child when my father imbued in me a love for all that nature offered, be it bird or beetle.

Flagged Chaffinch (Sheena Gillam)

In over a month of travel, I saw not a single Lapwing but thankfully Buzzards seem to be doing well. I am quite surprised our hire car didn’t become a plough, I was so distracted when we did come across a raptor in flight. Most people will know of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) - birds are so intrinsically part of life in Britain. So too

is feeding birds, with garden centres and hardware shops stocking an amazing array of products designed to offer appropriate nutrition to particular species, food for pigeons and food for tits, warblers and finches. The Brits are deeply engaged!! Having binoculars around my neck of course I was readily identified as a ‘birder’. Waiting to board the ferry across from the Island of Sky to Raasey, a lass rushed up to ask if we had seen the White-tailed Eagle catch a fish. Sensing our disappointment that we had not, we were delighted when approaching the shore line of Raasey, the skipper brought his boat alongside the Eagles perch where we were able to watch it consuming the catch. White-tailed Eagles were extinct in

Britain for nearly 70 years. The RSPB together with the Nature Conservancy Council brought birds from Norwegian eyries to Scotland between 1976 and 1985 - the species now being quite secure in Scotland. Still their nesting sites are protected against ‘egg hunters’. Really, people still steal eggs?

Scottish garden bird feeders (Sheena Gillman)

Of interest while in Warsaw, the only and I do mean only birds seen in the city parks were Hooded Crow or Sparrow. There is silence in the woodlands.

Snipe (Sheena Gillman)

An interesting segue to my travel plans resulted from an email from Sean Dooley where he laments, how lucky was I to be in

Cambridge for the British Bird Fair. Was I?? A quick internet search and I realised it was on the approaching weekend and I was free to attend, so off I went to Rutland Water. Thank you Sean – great joy indeed. Well, if the Brits do birds, they certainly flock to Rutland with over 8000 people turning the stile on that Saturday. Fancy we could throw a jaunt like this in Australia!! We are absent from this bird fair despite our boast of having more parrots than any country on earth, which is sad, since relatively poor countries like Costa Rica and many African countries have wonderful displays. I met the wonderful Bill Oddie and thoroughly enjoyed many of the walks and talks

available throughout the two days I attended. Of course there is a strong conservation message; Rutland Water is a birders Mecca. Their most famous visitor between March to September is the Osprey. Absent from England for over 150 years and only just hanging on in Scotland, a translocation program commenced in 1996. Over six summers 64 six-week-old ospreys were collected from closely monitored nests and translocated to Rutland. The idea was that moving the birds before they had had a chance to imprint on Scotland, they would recognise Rutland as home. It is now 21 years since the first ospreys were released and the project has proved a

14 Warbler

resounding success. 130 juveniles have fledged since the first pair bred in 2001 and have since contributed to establishing the species in Wales, once more. Over 30,000 people visited the nesting pair in 2007 – like I said, the Brits are in to their birds!!

Bill Oddie, Rutland Water (Sheena Gillman)

One particularly engaging speaker was Chris Packham whose

talk described the on-going slaughter of birds on an industrial scale in Cyprus. Together with members of the ‘Committee Against Bird Slaughter’ based in Germany, brave volunteers at their own cost and considerable risk, fight to infiltrate gangs responsible for the hunting and trapping of millions of birds. The BirdLife report of 2016 revealed that in excess of 20 million birds are illegally killed in the Mediterranean basin every year. About 2.2 million of these deaths are on Cyprus with a recent study predicting 800,000 being killed on British soil. As Chris writes; whether or not the actual hunting is responsible for the decline of the many species whose numbers are falling catastrophically is immaterial. It is probably unsustainable and

symbolically unacceptable and illegal. Nets positioned in acacia thickets entrap birds attracted by electronic lures blasting out a mega-mix of song from MP3 devices set to lure the migrating birds out of the night sky in to the bushes. Before light the trappers pluck the birds from the nets and push a tooth pick through their brains. Some nights 15,000 mainly warblers and blackcaps die in these nets before they are driven off to restaurants where they are grilled or boiled and served as Ambelopoulia at the cost of 80Euro per serve. The business is worth 15million Euros a year.

What are authorities doing about this – apparently, next to nothing.

Eider Duck (Sheena Gillman)

While the Cypriot and British governments, the European Commission and the Police are content to talk diplomacy, our birdlife is being exterminated. Chris implored people to be active in conservation either financially or physically, I was so

impressed by his passion. As he concluded ‘shout above the blasted noises in those bushes and be heard by the ignorant, ambivalent, corrupt and criminal’.

Wood Pigeon (Sheena Gillman)

As we approach the Queensland Election, I fear too the more we witness the demise of so much of our own birdlife, iconic species and landscapes, we too must make ourselves heard.

Australia has its fair share of ignorant, ambivalent and corrupt in society. Sheena Gillman

December 2017 15

ADOPT A FARM – A GRANITE BELT SPRING It may have been Spring on the calendar but the Granite Belt was experiencing winter winds and associated coolness was still lingering when a small brave band of volunteers gathered to enjoy another survey sojourn.

Our efforts were handsomely rewarded with new species for the surveys of Baillon’s Crake, Great Cormorant and Painted Button Quail. The other bonuses were added sightings of Ground Cuckoo-shrike by three, Red-capped Robin, Turquoise Parrots, Goldfinch, Banded Lapwings (at the shearing shed paddock) and Blue-billed Ducks, one mum had a bub. Very cute indeed. The daily visit by a vocal Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater adding to the chorus of Pardalotes was a first for the shearing shed.

Painted Button Quail, Little Lorikeet (Neil Humphris)

Sugar Gliders were spotted on a spot lighting evening, brave effort by Sarah and Rob. You might say it was indeed a “cool sighting”.

Creeks were sadly dry or almost. Dam water levels were ok. The electrical storm we had, although a spectacle of light, noise and wind didn’t provide any meaningful wet stuff.The cool winds during the last three days made IDs difficult, but the first days were brilliant for birding. As well as the regular properties we explored some new areas on back roads and the best reward was seeing Little Lorikeets breeding. That was a brilliant bit of spotting while having lunch at a very nice TSR “watering hole” on the 25 mile Creek. The Yellow Box trees were in flower with the “Muggers” recently having finished their blood red inflorescence. I’ll refrain from listing the many

species recorded and leave it up to the reader to investigate the data at their leisure on either Birdata or ebird web sights.

The pot belly stove was appreciated each evening, However, must remember not to light it any more in the mornings. Sure makes it hard to exit for early surveys. Another Granite Belt survey completed adding to the data bank for the BirdLife Southern Queensland Adopt a Farm initiative.

Blue-billed Duck, Great Creasted Grebe (Neil Humphris)

Wish you were there? Neil Humphris

WHERE’S BILLY THE BUTTON QUAIL Birdwatching is always interesting and sometimes the birds play hide-and-seek. Can you tell me where the Painted Button Quail is in the photo below?

Painted Button Quail (Neil Humphris)

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CARPENTARIAN GRASSWREN SURVEYING It’s 32ºC and unusually humid for the end of June here on Riversleigh Station in far north west Queensland. We’ve just arrived back to our lunch spot quite wet with perspiration after completing another survey in this rugged spinifex country. After lunch we’ll move on to another campsite (we have

permission from the owner to camp anywhere except near the cattle bores) ready to do another survey the next morning. Keith and I first surveyed for Carpentarian and Kalkadoon grass wrens back in 2008 and 2009 and saw very limited numbers then. The Carpentarian we found on Wollorgorang Station just over the border into the Territory. However surveys over the last few years have established populations of ‘carpies’ on Lawn Hill Station and Calton Hills station and Riversleigh sits between these two.

Out of focus but its the best photo I managed! 2009 survey (Roz Skidmore)

Two weeks with several groups surveying this year found no trace of the wrens on Riversleigh so establishing the fact that these northern and southern populations are separate and

distinct from each other. Surveys involved travelling to predetermined locations, playing a pre recorded call (something we would only do for these surveys) at 10 sites spaced about 200m apart, waiting and observing . We covered one location each morning using the afternoons to pack up camp, travel to a new site and re establish our camps. If we had a successful sighting we were to carry out a survey of the surrounding country with particular attention to the height and coverage of adjacent spinifex.

Dr.Graham Harrington, a former CSIRO scientist, first saw the ‘carpie' on Calton Hills station back in 2005 and went back the following year to find the spinifex had been burnt and the carpies gone. This inspired Graham to apply for funding and run surveys connecting fire burns to their demise, particularly to the crash of Carpies in the NT. Over the years a picture has been built up by using many volunteers. The wrens need spinifex of five years growth or more for their habitat and in the NT where aborigines had been forced off their land to make way for large cattle stations fuel loads had built up and hot fires destroyed this habitat.

Last year the surveys found the biggest number of ‘carpies’ on Calton Hills where, although there had been big fires in 2012-13 (extremely dry years), there were lots of unburnt refuges enabling the birds to escape from the fires. Graham states: ‘The importance of Southern Gulf NRM’s experimental prescribed burning program in conjunction with Calton Hills

Station Management and funded by Glencore Community Program North Queensland cannot be overstated.’ ‘Birdlife North Queensland were funded from this Program this year and it allowed us to survey on Calton Hills in preparation for the coming fire season and to find a remnant population on China Wall, a spectacular rocky outcrop 60km long, in the NT for the first time since 1986.’ Each time we have participated in these surveys we have enjoyed the company of much more experienced birders who have expanded our knowledge. We have also seen new birds,

new to us that is, and have loved tramping over some very special countryside. Roz and Keith Skidmore

Carpentarian Grasswren (Steve Murphy)

Carpentarian Grasswren (Peter Waanders, Bellbird Tours)

HAVE YOU BEEN ON A BIRD SURVEY? Your efforts are significant and contribute to our knowledge-base and by that to the conservation of our birdlife. Draft an article to share with other members and encourage others to similarly participate.

Articles to Peter Crane, editor

December 2017 17

PROTECTING BIRD NESTING HABITATS It’s hard to imagine an island world without its birds. What would the Great Barrier Reef islands be without their resident white-capped noddies or the wedge-tail shearwaters that come in to nest each year? Would Norfolk Island really be the same without it’s masked boobies, red-tailed tropic birds and sooty

terns? What would we call the “Noises” islands of New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf if the white-faced storm petrel and white-fronted tern that made them so noisy no longer existed? A songless island world may sound like the thing of nightmares. But increasingly, conservation challenges including habitat loss, invasive species, marine plastic and climate change have the very real potential to make that nightmare a reality. All may be lost… if we don’t step in, get our hands dirty and do something about it. Wild Mob has been working across islands in Australia and the

Pacific for almost a decade. Alongside the best and brightest in nature conservation and a network of incredible volunteers, our practical, on-the-ground conservation projects are designed to make a real, measurable difference to sea and shorebird island habitats. And the myriad species that call them home.

Great Barrier Reef cleanup (Camilla Wagstaff)

Debris-free GBR islands The critical importance of protecting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is little secret. But the Great Barrier Reef’s islands are not often recognised as a vital part of this ecosystem. Many iconic bird species simply wouldn’t survive without their island breeding grounds. Great Barrier Reef Island conservation is thus crucial to the long-term protection of these creatures and many other species within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

A key threat to the Great Barrier Reef islands is the marine debris that strangles or starves birds and other marine animals. They become entangled in plastic bags and netting, or mistake smaller debris for food and suffer a painful, starving death. Wild Mob volunteers conduct extensive marine debris clean up on island foreshores, focussing on key seabird and turtle nesting areas. The plastic situation improves every time we visit a site. When we first started working on Southern Bay on Goldsmith island,

for example, we were waist deep in plastic fragments, bottles, washing machines, thongs, rope, you name it. These days, we really have to hunt for smaller plastic fragments and micro plastic in the sand and sediment.

Norfolk invasives no more The Norfolk Island group is home to a whopping 50 endemic species of flora and fauna, including six endemic bird species. Hundreds of thousands of seabirds of 18 species, including shearwaters, terns and boobies, also come to nest on the islands each year. This makes Norfolk a globally Important Bird Area (IBA). Unfortunately, Norfolk’s incredible biodiversity is in danger, with most endemic bird species considered vulnerable to extinction or extirpation. A key threat is invasive species, in particular rats, which devastate the ecosystem by eating the

eggs and young of endemic and threatened species. Wild Mob works with landholders in the Anson Bay and other areas on Norfolk Island to control introduced rat populations. Depending on need we supply rat stations (with specially formulated bait that poses minimal threat to non-target species) and assist in maintaining baiting programs designed to slow the re-colonisation of rat-controlled areas. We also co-ordinated the threatened species commissioner’s visit to Norfolk, helping to secure $300,000 funding into the ongoing green parrot recovery program. The program has

seen parrot populations come back from the brink; in 2013 there were only 10 confirmed females left. Current population estimates stand around 400 individuals. Healing Hauraki A jewel of New Zealand’s North Island, the Hauraki Gulf is known for its incredible natural beauty and unique biodiversity. Hauraki’s islands are critical nesting grounds for seabirds, and it ranks as another global IBA. With Auckland’s population set to double between 2010 and

2020, Hauraki’s exceptional island ecosystems become increasingly vulnerable. Invasive flora species such as mile-a-minute are particularly nasty. They smother Hauraki’s native ecosystems, making it almost impossible for seabirds to nest and raise their chicks. Wild Mob’s new program – established this year – is focussed primarily on bush rehabilitation on Hauraki’s Noises and neighbouring Rakino islands. There, our volunteers remove the weed cover, and allow the native coastal vegetation to heal.

Island Arks Importantly, we can undertake holistic management strategies on islands – things like total weed and pest eradication – something that simply can’t be achieved on the mainland. We can also stop new invasive species arriving on islands by adopting sound biosecurity arrangements. Working on islands means our conservation projects can be small and targeted, but they can achieve big results. This ultimately makes islands our very own arks of conservation, crucial to the ongoing survival of birds and thousands of other

important flora and fauna species. We’re always on the hunt for new volunteers wanting to make a real, measurable difference to some of the world’s most beautiful and threatened places. Head to wildmob.org to find out more. And together, we can keep the birds singing. Camilla Wagstaff Communications Manager, Wildmob

18 Warbler

ADANI LOOMS LARGE IN STATE ELECTION As the Premier took to the stage last month to announce the election, the folly of the political calculation the state Labor government had made twelve months before was plain to see. They hoped they could go hard supporting Adani in north Queensland without anyone south of Bundaberg noticing.

How on earth had the Premier imagined her government would not be held to account by the very same voters she had courted with a ‘save the Reef’ message just two years ago? If Adani gets the go-ahead, it will be the biggest coal mine ever dug in this country. The federal government has established a $5Bn infrastructure fund for projects across Northern Australia, and Adani has applied for funding.

But no funding application for a Queensland project can proceed without the agreement of the state government. So it was a surprise to see the Premier front a press conference less than a fortnight later with a surprise announcement that Qld Labor would exercise the state’s right of veto for any billion dollar loan to Adani. A very welcome one. But with the government in caretaker mode, this is a promise she can only deliver if her government is re-elected. For the Leaders’ televised debate a week out from the election,

Sky News selected a representative audience of 100 undecided Queensland voters. Talk almost immediately turned to Adani. A mere handful - maybe six - had raised their hands in support of the Adani coal mine outright. Not one, not one person raised their hand to the moderator’s question of who supported any taxpayer funded loan or subsidy for Adani’s mine. Surely that must give Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls pause for thought. #StopAdani campaigners are now focussed on pressuring Mr Nicholls to commit to a veto on any loan to Adani too.

Black-throated Finch (Emma Belfield)

At the the time of writing, we don’t yet know who the next

government will be. We can’t know whether there will be a state government who supports or opposes a billion dollar taxpayer funded loan to a coal billionaire. But the reasons to #StopAdani hold as true today as they will on the 26th of November and beyond.

We know that Adani is resolutely committed to ensuring they get all the approvals and all the finance they need for the coal mine to go ahead. If this mine goes ahead it will suck up 9.5Bn litres of groundwater every year1. Should that water take have negative effects on nearby landholders they will have no legal recourse. 20,000 ha of land would be cleared2, destroying critical habitat for the largest of just two significant remaining populations of the Black-throated Finch southern sub-species.

The Black-throated Finch Recovey Team have described the biodiversity offset strategy as ‘grossly inadequate’3. We know if the Adani mine goes ahead, that would make it far easier for the other eight mines on the books in the Galilee Basin to go ahead too - and if all that coal gets burned, that would be over 300 million tonnes of coal mined every year. 2017 is no time to start digging a new coal mine - and certainly not one the scale of Adani’s Carmichael mine. But most importantly, we know that the tens of thousands of

Queenslanders, and the hundreds of thousands of supporters across the country, are utterly determined to stop Adani. Thirty year old environmental organisations are working alongside newly formed local Stop Adani groups with a common cause - to make sure the mine does not go ahead. Just last month, more than twenty thousand people took part in #StopAdani human sign actions across the country. Australia-wide, more than two million people make up the supporter base of the organisations active in this campaign.

Stop Adani Townsville (Emma Belfield)

The battle lines have been drawn. The #StopAdani campaign is built on community action at a local level. If you’re not already plugged into the network of campaign activities and groups, it’s easy to do. Jump online at www.stopadani.com to find local action groups, or else get in touch with environmental organisations you support. Now is the time to step up and join the campaign to #StopAdani.

Emma Belfield Strategist, The Sunrise Project 1 Calculated based on 26ML/day inflows int open cut and underground ines in

year 2029. Carmichael Coal Mines and Rail Project SEIS (Nov 2013) Mine Hydrology Report, Appendix K1

2 Adani Mining Pty Ltd (2013) Report for Updated Mine ecology, Apendix J1,

Carmichael Coal Mines and Rail Project SEIS 3 Adani mine 'spinning the roulette wheel' on survival of black-throated finch, researchers say, ABC News, 14 July 2017

December 2017 19

DEFORESTATION – AUSTRALIA’S UNSEEN

ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

New Queensland data shows a deforestation tsunami: One million hectares targeted for bulldozing in 2016-17 • Clearing rates could double from last year’s post-Newman

LNP Govt high of 400,000ha • 99% of proposed clearing is untouched forest and bushland • 1.25 million hectares razed in 4 years • Deforestation killed 45 million animals in 2015-16

The Wilderness Society is warning that Queensland will be hit by a tsunami of deforestation this year, with clearing rates possibly doubling from last year’s post-Newman-Nicholls LNP Government high of 395,000 hectares. New analysis of Queensland Government clearing notification shows that nearly 1 million hectares has been targeted for

clearing from July 2016 to September 2017. That’s an annual average of 830,000ha ‑ more than double the record

395,000ha cleared in 2015-16. Even more concerning is that this figure is only the clearing the government is notified about, and large areas can be cleared without notification. More than 99 per cent of the proposed clearing is of untouched forest and woodlands, which contradicts lobby group AgForce’s claims that most clearing is of regrowth vegetation. Two-thirds of the proposed clearing is under the contentious ‘thinning’ rules that allow a property to clear 75 per cent of the trees of the site without needing an approval. Deforestation in

Australia has been spiralling out of control, led by Queensland, and Australia is the second worst country for species loss, according to a recent study published in Nature. Deforestation in Queensland is a national disgrace. Queensland now ranks alongside the Amazon, Borneo and the Congo as a world top-10 deforestation hotspot, as reported by World Wildlife. It will likely move further up that unwanted ladder if this proposed clearing takes place. The deforestation of 395,000ha in 2015-16 had a devastating impact on wildlife and the climate, with nearly 45 million

animals killed, according to WWF-Australia; that’s one animal killed every second. That deforestation created 45 million tonnes of carbon emissions; that’s like adding more than 10 million cars to Australia’s already crowded roads. Gemma Plesman Wilderness Society Queensland Campaign Manager View photos and video of Queensland deforestation. View an interactive slider picture showing deforestation.

THE CLASSROOM

CALLING ALL BIRDERS ACROSS THE STATE! YOUR EXPERTISE IS NEEDED! As part of our work in the Joint BQ/BSQ Education Committee, we have made connections with a number of schools in the Greater Brisbane area. We are now making contact with schools outside this area, and have started compiling a list of birders throughout Queensland who would be willing to: 1 conduct occasional surveys of birds in and around their local schools. 2 accompany teachers and students on occasional local birdwatching walks.

Buranda SS walk

Should these enjoyable activities sound like a good way to promote bird conservation in your area please provide us with your name and the names of nearby primary and secondary schools. If you are not familiar with the names of local schools, please send us your postcode so that we can match you with

local schools as requests come in. If you feel you need more information, please contact a member of the Education Committee (see list below). Please note that under Queensland law, we are required to have a Blue Card for working with children, but these can easily be arranged through Birds Queensland. our motto : The students of today are the conservationists of tomorrow.

Thank you for helping us to encourage the next generations of birdwatchers! Val Catchpoole Marie Bermingham Neil Humphris Greg Nye Richard Noske

20 Warbler

TRANSITION FROM IBA TO KBA We don’t like change, do we? I can hear the sighs of exasperation now. Yes, BirdLife International, and thus BirdLife Australia, is changing how we identify our most important areas for biodiversity, just when you were getting your head around the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas

program. It may come as a surprise, but IBAs have been around in their current form for quite some time. The first directory was compiled as far back as the late 1980s and the Australian network was formalised in 2008. The challenge of conserving biodiversity is as pressing as ever, but always changing at the same time. It makes sense that the way we identify the areas most in need of attention and protection should also change and adapt with the times. So, here we will outline where BirdLife is going with the KBAs and how they build on the momentum already gained through the IBA program.

What are IBAs and KBAs? IBAs = Important Bird and Bioderversity Areas KBAs = Key Biodiversity Areas Why is BirdLife Australia transitioning from IBAs to KBAs? In September 2016 BirdLife International on behalf of BirdLife Australia and 120 other bird conservation NGOs world-wide signed up to a partnership of 11 leading, global conservation organisations with the aim to map, monitor and conserve the most important places for life on earth. These places are referred to as KBAs (Key Biodiversity Areas). Much like IBAs

they are defined per rigorous scientific criteria (many overlapping with IBA criteria). Importantly they also align with criteria set in many international treaties e.g. the Convention for Biological Diversity. Thus, KBAs are likely to become the new global standard for government led area conservation. This and the backing by 11 global conservation NGOs makes KBAs a powerful advocacy tool in Australia that BirdLife Australia is eager to use.

How are KBAs identified? The KBAs are identified through the application of 11 criteria, grouped into five categories. The five categories are:

threatened biodiversity, geographically restricted biodiversity, ecological integrity, biological processes, and, irreplaceability. Criteria can be applied to species or ecosystems across diverse biomes; including terrestrial, freshwater and marine systems. Are all of Australia’s IBAs also KBAs? Over 95% of Australia’s IBAs qualify for KBA status based on the threatened bird species and numbers occurring there. The remaining IBAs are currently assessed for other threatened taxa occurring in them.

How many KBAs are there in Australia? Apart from Australia’s 315 IBAs only 18 other sites potentially qualifying for KBAs have been identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction, however, 11 of these lie within IBAs. This illustrates the value of IBAs supporting biodiversity in general.

As analyses progress more KBAs for birds and other species are likely to be identified. What changes for my on-ground work in practice? There is very little change in practice as 1) The KBA program was largely modelled on the IBA program and 2) Many people active in KBAs already approach their conservation work in the way it is envisioned by the program, community-based, across taxa and with a whole of habitat focus. Now, you have more reasons to talk to friends of groups or frog experts etc. Will the Health-check change?

We are not planning to change the Easter Health-check anytime soon. As the program grows, however, and we receive more feedback from KBA Guardians small additions or changes are likely to make it more useful. Should I still do bird surveys in KBAs? Absolutely - yes! BirdLife Australia is setting an increasing number of ‘Shared surveys’ where we ask people to conduct regular standardized surveys, e.g. 20 min 2 ha surveys or 500 m area searches. If you are interested in setting up a ‘Shared Site’ please contact Golo Maurer.

Do you still have questions? Visit - Key Biodiversity Areas or email - Golo Maurer Golo Maurer and Rochelle Steven Southern Queensland KBAs 1 Bunya Mountains & Yarraman 2 Conondale Range 3 Moreton Bay & Pumicestone Passage 4 Tamborine Mountain 5 Scenic Rim

6 Cooloola & Fraser Coast 7 Great Sandy Strait 8 Traprock 9 Palmgrove 10 Paroo Floodplain & Currawinya 11 Lake Bindegolly 12 Bulloo Floodplain 13 Lake Yamma Yamma 14 Cooper Floodplain below Windorah 15 Diamantina Floodplain 16 Lake Machattie Area 17 Lake Muncoonie, Mumbleberry & Torquinie

18 Simpson Desert

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December 2017 21

COOPER FLOODPLAIN BELOW WINDORAH

KBA As promised, another Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) profile piece set in the channel country of Western Queensland. As you might have read in this issue of Warbler, I have been lucky enough to visit the Oodnadatta Track this year, back in August (which feels like yesterday!). It occurs to me as I write this, the water that flows through the channel country, where my last couple of KBA pieces have been focused on, ends up in the Lake Eyre system in South Australia, where I was surveying birds on the Track. The mind boggles at not only the vastness of the land, but the mega distances water can move across it.

So here we are, in the Cooper Creek system which flows to Lake Eyre, and we are talking about wetlands and swamps that are dry more years than they are flooded. The Cooper Creek below Windorah KBA floods every five years or so, but has wetlands that can last many months after a flood due to a lack of really deep channels that through which, water can head underground. As the KBA is completely covered by grazing leaseholds, it is not openly accessible to the public. Similarly, there is a lack of data about the exact importance the site has for waterbirds. The trigger species for the initial designation (as an IBA under

the previous program) are Straw-necked Ibis, Glossy Ibis and White-headed Stilt (although the White-headed Stilt’s taxonomic status is not yet recognised by BirdLife International). There are also some solid figures for large congregations of Plumed Whistling-ducks, Whiskered Terns, Great Egret and Grey Teal. However, these data are all at least ten years old now. We have had at least one big flood event since then and updated population estimates are sorely needed to assess the current importance of the site for these birds. This is especially relevant when considering the effects of climate change on these birds, which requires regular monitoring over long time scales to accurately track these

effects.

Plumed Whistling Duck (Rochelle Steven)

A visit to the region more generally will give a birdwatcher a genuine taste of the outback. Windorah, to the north of the KBA, is in the Barcoo Shire with a population of just 80 people. Set amongst the red sand hill scenery the Australian outback is famous for, visiting the Barcoo Shire would be high on your

agenda if you wanted to get a good insight into not only the spectacular river systems that feed into Lake Eyre. Beyond this, the region’s history goes back some 50,000 years, to the first traditional inhabitants of the land through to the cattle stations which have lineage going back some 140 years now. How anyone can thrive in the harsh outback in those days is a

true testament to how tough Australia’s first and more recent inhabitants were. Nature can be tough too. The vegetation communities in the outback can withstand some seriously testing climatic conditions. However, they have adapted to these extremes over thousands and thousands of years. The birds are no different, and can withstand just about anything the weather can throw at them. The ways humans change the landscape is another challenge altogether. The threats to biodiversity in this KBA are all human derived. The presence of grazing animals alters the amount and quality of vegetation available, through

consumption and trampling by livestock. Furthermore, alterations to hydrology (i.e. harvesting water from overland flow) and fire regimes present a medium level of risk to the birds in this KBA. While the impacts of these are deemed to be slow in their effect, they are widespread, affecting much of the flora and fauna distributed across the landscape. Coupled with climate change (as mentioned before), these pressures could mean the site is unable to support the breeding requirements of the numerous waterbirds that use the area. Without more research in the KBA, we cannot be sure either way.

Grey Teal (Rochelle Steven)

If my trip to the deserts of South Australia have shown me anything, it is that there is so much to this country we just

cannot appreciate living in the city. We need to get out there and really connect with this land. It sounds cliché, but it is true. When you are there and you are breathing the air, hearing the sounds and seeing the scenery you feel a funny kind of calm. It is very grounding and reminds us that there is still so much beauty and nature worth fighting for. Please support these communities by visiting them and sharing your love for nature. Make sure you tell people why you are there – for the birds of course! Happy birding!

Happy birding! Dr Rochelle Steven

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22 Warbler

OVER THE BORDER – FROM THE NATION’S

CAPITAL G'day all, Well I have not been getting out to any new areas lately but with spring upon us there has been plenty happening locally to keep me busy and entertained. The Koels have been very low on numbers compared to most years but the Pallid have been in much larger numbers than usual. The West has been very dry and this could account for this and a few rare bird sightings we have had.

Pallid Cuckoo (Shorty)

Scarlet Myzomela are a rare bird for us but this season we have had quite a few arrive and stay for quite some time bringing excitement for us local birders. What will arrive next? Who knows but we are at the ready for anything. One notable absence this year has been the Black-shouldered

Kite. With a mouse plague in South Australia I assume they have headed down there for the easy pickings. We usually have many here and breeding all over the area, I have missed them but with luck they will be back. Recently an immature bird arrived so they may be on the return.

Black-shouldered Kite (Shorty)

A while ago reports where coming in of sightings of Chestnut-

rumped Heathwren at a local bush area and not having seen them in the ACT myself I went to try and find them. 12 visits later I came across them and while watching them it soon became apparent that they had young near-by. I watched as the birds were collecting food and taking it to the same area each time. I let a mate know about this and he went out to get some video. Soon after I got an email that he got some footage

of a recently fledged bird. The exciting thing about this for us is that they are declared as a non-breeding bird here so now it will be changed. I went out again a few days later to try and get some shots of the young but dipped, I did however have an awesome experience with one of the adults with one nearly hopping on my shoe at one point, something I will never forget.

Chestnut-rumped Heathwren (Shorty)

One more breeding event for me has been Peregrine Falcon. Raptors are my favourite bird so to see this event was the highlight for me. I knew they had bred but I left my visit for a few weeks so as not to affect the outcome. After a long walk I soon spotted four young almost ready to fledge. Some were very active shaking out the downy feathers while others seemed to be just relaxing. After five minutes one of the parents came over and landed in the tree near me and just stared at me so I took the hint and left, after all, they do have four hungry beaks to feed.

Peregrine Falcon (Shorty)

Happy birding Shorty Photographed life list 354 (still)

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December 2017 23

OVER THE BORDER – FROM THE DRIEST

STATE Outback Tracks One advantage of perching at the southern end of a vast desert as we do in Adelaide, is that we can drive north for five hours to Port Augusta and from there we can choose to go on to Alice Springs up the Stuart highway or, far more exciting for birders, drive through the Flinders Ranges to Lyndhurst. From there three unsealed tracks lead north , the Oodnadatta Track, the Birdsville Track and the most easterly, the Strzelecki Track to Innamincka and beyond. Each of these mainly unsealed roads

offers wonderful opportunities for finding desert birds. Last month we drove to Birdsville in search of the elusive Grey Grasswren, then back to Lyndhurst and up the Strzelecki track beyond Montecollina Bore to find Letter-winged Kites. Though the distances are vast, it’s always interesting because there is a constant chance of seeing birds such as Inland Dotterel, Orange and Crimson Chats, Gibberbird and even Grey Falcon as you drive.

Letter-winged Kite (Alana Dale)

If you are starting the trip from Adelaide it’s rewarding to plan a stopover in Port Augusta to visit the fascinating Arid Lands Botanic Gardens. As well as being picturesque and educational about the different types of arid habitats you will encounter, the many well-established plants attract a variety of birds including numerous species of honeyeaters, Chirruping Wedgebill, White-winged, Splendid and Variegated Fairywrens, Elegant, Blue-winged and Mulga Parrots and Striated Fieldwren.

From there the drive through to Lyndhurst will take you over the historic Willochra Plain, with a good chance of various chats, Redthroats and raptors. Stop at the Kanyaka Waterhole where there are a surprising number of waterbirds. On our drive though the Flinders Ranges we found Short-tailed Grasswren on scenic Stokes Hill. On previous visits near Lyndhurst we’ve seen Thick-billed Grasswren and Chestnut-breasted Whiteface feeding on the stony plains on still mornings, but as we had ferocious winds this time we missed out. However we did find an abandoned

Emu nest and plenty of Emus. We drove on to Marree for the night and visited the ruins of Farina on the way. This is a beautiful spot with a permanent creek and top class camping facilities. Better still, there is a pair of Black-breasted Buzzards which nest in one of the trees along the creek each year. We had a lovely time watching these magnificent raptors circling in to feed their two chicks. Other birds included Budgies, Galahs, Red-backed Kingfisher and Zebra Finch.

Emu nest and Greg, Black-breasted Buzzard (Alana Dare)

Next morning we headed out of Marree along the Birdsville

Track, seeing Diamond Doves, Chirruping Wedgebill, White-winged Fairywren and checking at waterholes where there were many waterfowl. Pink-eared Ducks were common as well as White-necked Herons and Native Hens by the dozen. The drive doesn’t become monotonous as the habitat frequently changes from dry creek beds lined with large trees where we saw Brown and Black Falcons, to gibber plains with chats, to sandhills where we found Eyrean Grasswren. We stayed the night at Mungarrannie, population 2, which is on the Derwent River (!) and has permanent water. There are good camping facilities and a pub with accommodation and

meals. In the morning we had close views of Bluebonnets feeding on the ground and White-bellied, Dusky and Masked Woodswallows. The previous evening we had driven back to the communications tower about thirty kms south of Mungarrannie, to watch two Grey Falcons who roost there arrive at dusk. It was a neck-stretching thrill. That morning we drove on to Birdsville, seeing Orange Chats, Gibberbirds, Cinnamon Quail Thrush and surprisingly, as we had expected them earlier, our first Australian Pratincole, that proved the first of many.

Unfortunately, when we reached our hot tip Grey Grasswren site 90 kms south of Birdsville, there was a ferocious wind that kept up for the next few days. Our initial search provided very fleeting views of one pair and one individual and that was to

24 Warbler

be the total of our sightings. Two subsequent three hour searches, one at dawn, were sabotaged by howling winds, so we had to leave the site with no film of that species. We will be back! That day wasn’t completely without reward however, because as we were driving to the site a Grey Falcon, holding its prey, a Budgie, landed on the road in front of our car. We were so gobsmacked that we were too slow to get decent film, but we noticed a waterhole off to the side which must have been where it was hunting, a spot to monitor when we return.

Next morning we left Birdsville and headed back to Mungarrannie, taking the opportunity to head off up some westerly tracks. We drove out to Pandie Pandie Bore which was an interesting track with a flock of Inland Dotterel and beautiful red sandhills with Eyrean Grasswren, from which we had wonderful views as a Black Falcon flew over. Leaving Mungarrannie the next morning we were treated to a flock of eight stately Brolgas leisurely crossing the road towards a waterhole and leaping about in their ‘dance’ as they made their way through the lush surrounds. It was a spectacular sight. Stopping to pick up a souvenir gibber rock

we spotted a very accommodating Gibberbird which ran around close to us for ten minutes. There were Cockatiels and various ducks at waterholes along the way. We spent that night at Lyndhurst and next morning drove north again up the Strzelecki Track looking for Letter-winged Kite beyond Montecollina Bore. Unfortunately, the wind was strong enough to create a sandstorm when we reached the Cobbler section of the track, which is composed of white sandhills, and turning into the bore we found we had a flat tyre. Changing that in the conditions was an experience I’m

not in a hurry to repeat. Nevertheless, we headed on after coming so far and were rewarded with fantastic views of these beautiful raptors staring at us with large eyes like rubies from the very same Coolibah as last year. With no spare tyre, we were relieved to get back to Lyndhurst and onto bitumen as we were eager to head home and finish this fantastic trip with a sighting of Painted Snipe which had been reported at Whites Road, right on our route, a handy 30kms from home.

Painted Snipe (Alana Dare)

And we did! Alana Dare

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OVER THE WATER – A THAI DISH Birds, Their Names and Colours The reason why some people enjoy birds is not always black and white. In fact, many of us are drawn to the colours of birds, and these are often reflected in the colourful names that

birds are given. Some groups of birds are more colourful than others and as a result have names that include some of these colours. Other times the names understate how colourful the birds really are. Sometimes you see what you expect to from the birds name. Then there are groups of birds that are less flamboyant, with just a splash of colour to attract a mate, and any passing birdwatchers. Scientists tell us that colours are the result of light of different wavelength from the electromagnetic spectrum being refracted by the chemical structure of the birds’ feathers and bare parts. Refraction being due to the varying angles that

different photons of light are bent as they are emitted from the chemical compounds in birds’ feathers and body parts. Rainbow Bee-eater immediately springs to mind when you mention colourful birds, but they do not occur here in Thailand. It does have several of its bee-eater relatives in Thailand, like Green, Blue-tailed, Chestnut-headed, Red-bearded, and Blue-bearded Bee-eaters. There are other colourful birds with colourful names like Painted Storks of course would be expected to have some striking colours.

Other birds like Kingfishers are also colourful, but don’t always have striking colours in their names, in spite of their vibrant colours. The small and dazzling Black-backed Kingfisher is a good example. White-throated Kingfisher is another member of this colourful group of birds. Black-naped Oriole doesn’t tell much about the dazzling yellow colour that dominates the plumage of this bird. Other subtly coloured birds might include the Silver-breasted Broadbill and the White-crested Laughing-thrush. Some birds that have the colours you would expect to see, include the Brown Shrike and Red Avadavat. As for birds that

may surprise with the colours not hinted at in their name, examples could be the Common Hoopoe or male Plain-backed Sparrow. There are many more birds that I could mention, but there are editorial limits on this kind of story. A quick look through any field guide will provide a long list of colourful birds, some with colourful names and some without. We may even hear colourful names unsuitable for publication from people who lose part of their food crops to hungry birds. On the other hand, birdwatchers are often bent on seeing as many of the broad spectrum of colourful birds as they can,

whether their names are colourful or plain. Barry Heinrich

December 2017 25

Black-backed Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Common Hoopoe, Red-

bearded Bee-eater (Barry Heinrich)

Green Bee-eater, Painted Stork, White-crested Laughing-thrush, Red

Avadavat (Barry Heinrich)

26 Warbler

Silver-breasted Broadbill, Brown Shrike, Plain-backed Sparrow, Black-naped

Oriole (Barry Heinrich)

THAI BIRDING SPOT – PETCHABURI COAST Located two hours or so southwest of Bangkok, on the coastal plain of the upper gulf of Thailand is a large area of coastal farmland and coastal wetlands. The land use is a mix of salt water evaporation ponds, aquaculture ponds, and rice farms, with mangrove forests, tidal mudflats and sandy beaches.

From the provincial capital of Petchaburi it takes about half an hour to drive to the coast through the agricultural land. In Thailand, up to three crops of rice are grown each year, so as you drive through the farmland you can see rice fields and rice crops at various stages of the crop cycle. After harvest the paddy fields are flooded and tilled. Turning the soil attracts significant numbers of egrets, herons and shorebirds looking for an easy meal. The rice stubble provides just enough cover with snipe, pratincoles, pipits and lapwings. After the fields are left fallow for a few weeks, the fields are rotary-hoed and leveled ready for planting. These fields provide a prime

foraging area for wading birds, including resident and migratory species. These include stilts, lapwings, plovers and sandpipers, along with the egrets and herons. You can also see Asian Openbills at times looking for aquatic snails and other molluscs. Not all the agricultural land is devoted to growing rice. There are areas of trees, grassland and irrigation canals that provide habitat for various bushland and grassland birds like weavers and coucals. Beside the doves, coucals, mynas, sparrows, munias, prinias and swallows, you can see swifts, bee-eaters,

kingfishers and rollers. If you are lucky you might see raptors like Black-shouldered Kites and Harriers. Deeper more permanent water bodies will attract Lesser Whistling Ducks, Little Grebes, Little Cormorants, Whiskered Terns, White-breasted Waterhens and sometimes White-browed Crakes. If you look in the right places you might find Spotted Owlets or Freckle-breasted Woodpeckers. During the northern winter you can also hear and occasionally see reed warblers. If there are trees with nectar you might find sunbirds, while fruiting trees will attract Asian Koels, Coppersmith Barbets, Small Minivets, Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers and various mynas and starlings. If there is an abundance of insect you can find

Malaysian Pied Fantails, Oriental Magpie Robins, Common Ioras and other insectivores.

Painted Stork, Great Egret (Barry Heinrich)

If you happen to drive past one of the larger shallow freshwater ponds near coast early in the morning, you are likely to find lots of egrets, cormorants, herons, Painted

December 2017 27

Storks, and Spot-billed Pelicans, and around the edges you might find more waders. If the canals become overgrown with aquatic plants you might get to see crakes, bitterns, pond herons and jacanas.

Black-tailed Godwit and Asian Dowitcher, Brown-headed Gull, Common Redshank (Barry Heinrich)

Once you have made your way to the coast you will find large areas devoted to salt evaporation ponds. These extend from around Ban Laem district, south through Pak Tale district and Laem Pak Bia district. Large areas of shallow hypersaline

ponds provide ideal habitat for both feeding and roosting migratory shorebirds. Thousands of birds can be seen in the salt ponds and along the bunds between the ponds. Dominant species include Lesser Sand Plovers, Red-necked Stints, Brown-headed Gulls, Whiskered Terns, Little Terns, Caspian Terns, Eurasian Curlews, Common Redshanks, Marsh Sandpipers, and Black-winged Stilts. Many other species can also be seen in and around the ponds, too many to mention here, but a few rarities include Spoon-billed Sandpipers, Slender-billed Gulls, Nordmann’s Greenshanks and Eastern Curlews. The mangroves provide habitat for birds like Common Iora, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Collared Kingfisher,

Black-capped Kingfisher, Pied Fantail and other birds. Prinias, tailorbirds, warblers and other birds can be found in other vegetation. As you travel further south you come to the sandy beaches that have many hotels resorts and restaurants. You can enjoy a delicious seafood lunch after a morning of intensive birdwatching. Then in the afternoon you can head west to Kaeng Krachan to find some of the colourful birds of the forest. But that’s another story.

Little Ringed Plover, Paddyfield Pippit, Common Greenshank, Seafood Banquet

(Barry Henrich)

Barry Heinrich

28 Warbler

THE BOOK CORNER

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE – AUSTRALIAN BIRDLIFE IN DANGER - GEOFFREY MASLEN BOOK REVIEW – Gil Porter Hardie Grant Books - 300 pages 23 x 15 cm – weight 700 gm – paperback $37.99 – ISBN 9781743793237

From the foreword by ex Senator Bob Brown (previous leader of the Australian Greens political party) through the 20 chapters by Geoffrey Maslen, this book celebrates our wonderful bird species and also decries the wasteful extinctions in our over 200 years of living in this unique and ancient land. The book starts off with the Introduction then launches into the recent studies that signal the Sixth Mass Extinction effects as raised by scientists worldwide. From the practice of widespread habitat destruction that is supported by state and federal Australian governments (as well as others in

international areas) and the effects of climate change that are increasingly intrusive, this book brings some good news and the seriously bad outlook for our birds. Maslen points out that “Birds play a crucial role in maintaining our living environment because of the numerous crucial tasks they perform.” I recommend this book to as many as possible for the usefulness of Maslen’s timely research and action on Australia’s birds. It is filled with interesting and useful data and has good information on what has been done as well as some recommendations for future action.

In addition to the actions of BirdLife Australia and the work of the Australian Research Centre, Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) at the University of Queensland and the many citizen scientists we have a lot of concerned people involved in efforts that are significant. The hope is that these efforts are still not too late to reverse the extinctions that are close at hand. The message is making

headway through publications like Maslen’s book, BirdLife Australia’s The State of Australian Birds and the CEED’s free publication Decision Point Online. Many of our long time species like kookaburras, magpies and willy wagtails are significantly fewer in number than only 15 years ago. Maslen comments that human-driven loss of habitat, a warming planet and changing fire patterns are all major causes behind the collapse of Australian bird and animal species. Federal and state government plans for rescue of threatened species fail to deal with the loss of habitat and are therefore largely ineffective.

The catastrophic collapse of seabirds draws out the amazing feats of migration as well as the diminishing shore refuges and feeding habitats that these birds relied on. In addition, the looming threat of changes due to warming of the world’s oceans as well as intermittent oil spills and the cumulative effect of waste plastics affect the lives of millions of these unique birds. It seems that despite international agreements for better management of the important flyways feeding grounds that not much real progress has been made. The figures available from research done by Wader Study Groups and others show some amazing facts.

A chilling chapter (3) entitled Secret, Silent Killer of Sea Life highlights the effects of the unbelievable volume of toxic plastics that have ended up in our oceans even reaching to Arctic and Antarctic seas. The impact on seabirds is an absolute catastrophe of starvation and poisoning. Unfortunately for us too the impact reaches us through fish that ingest the microplastics that find their way into the flesh of fish that is passed on to the eaters of these fish! A bit of good news then on Ashmore Reef (chapter 4) Ashmore Reef: A Tropical Paradise for Seabirds - Research by Dr Rohan

Clarke and his teams over the years from 1996 has been rewarding and it is one of the few places that have provided good protection for many species. Chapter 5 – Traversing the Globe: The Bass Strait Mutton-birds highlights Short-tailed Shearwaters, and their amazing migrations to the northern hemisphere and the lives of these presently numerous birds are also under threat. The challenges facing this once very numerous species are noted.

Christmas Island Frigatebird (Rohan Clarke)

In chapter 6, Saving Australia’s Threatened Species, attention is given to government attempts to save some of Australia’s threatened species. Maslen notes some of the federal government attempts and the failure to consider the effects of saving habitat from continued destruction. This makes the

legislative action virtually useless.

December 2017 29

Another species is given attention in chapter 7, Giving New Life to the Babbler – the Grey-crowned Babbler – that was once very widely dispersed around Australia particularly the northern, eastern and southern woodlands. Unfortunately they are rarely seen in the southern regions due to the extensive loss of habitat. Some success in restoration of some areas has been promising.

Noisy Miner (Rohan Clarke)

The next two chapters (8 – A Multicoloured Mob of Angels and 9 – The East Coast Mafia: Masked and Dangerous) consider species that are making increased numbers. They are the Rainbow Lorikeet and Little Corella (8) and that bane of suburbia etc – the Noisy Miner as well as the other one – Bell Miner. Drastic control measures have been used for the Rainbow Lorikeet and Noisy Miner species that despite being endemic are often in numbers and actions to be considered pests. Then Maslen turns to “one of Australia’s most loved native

birds” – the Magpie. He comments on the intelligence, the aggressive defence of their territory and the lifestyle of this popular and sometimes dangerous bird. His chapters 10 and 11 (parts one and two) heading – Magpies: Mozarts of the Bush catches up their marvelous caroling that characterizes their territorial advertising claims.

Chapter 12 – Selfish Genes and Cooperative Breeders – has a quote about this widespread Australian practice of our birds from Dr. Tim Flannery – “it is extremely widespread, almost characteristic of many Australian birds of Gondwanan origin. Elsewhere, it is an extremely rare strategy and about 85 per cent of all species worldwide that exhibit it are Australian.” This is explored further with the advantages of this strategy for breeding success. The complication of the birds that assist the

main couple are not as simple as you would think! The next two chapters (13 and 14) are devoted to Lyrebirds: Scratch and Scramble Life. Firstly the emphasis is on the male with its glorious mimicry and spectacular display on his special mound. The two species live in deep forested places along the east coast from eastern Victoria to the border areas of NSW and southern Queensland. Its habitat is threatened by population pressures. Their habit of scratching the forest floor litter for food items is legendary and it is estimated at moving 1.6 tonnes per hectare. Part two discusses the lifestyle of this

species, including breeding and the mimicry of the male with lots of insights from those who have had close contact with Lyrebirds for many years. Chapter 15 – Corvids: The Smartest Birds of All – opens with a comment “some neuroscientists arguing they (the corvid family) are more intelligent than chimpanzees.” And further, “they can live among the humans, often feeding on what we

throw away, with no threat of becoming extinct – in Australia at least.” This chapter picks up on what some of the previous book reviews over past issues have mentioned. For example Maslen refers to University of New England Professor Gisela Kaplan’s book Bird Minds that was reviewed. An interesting quote from Dr. Stephen Debus, a postdoctoral researcher in environmental sciences at the University of New England. “Crows and Ravens are really more like primates than birds.” And further - “It’s thought that the mental abilities of the early corvids developed as a response to the challenges of adapting to a drying continent…” Brisbane based Matt Brown - researcher for PhD at Griffith University is investigating local

Torresian Crows to see how they measure up in the IQ stakes! When you get into chapter 16 – The Clever Birds People Like to Eat – I’m sure you’ll be surprised at how smart chooks are! Maslen says it is estimated that there are 20 to 50 billion of these much eaten birds that developed from the wild Red Jungle fowl. These birds apparently recognize around 24 different vocalisations each with a different meaning that are understood by other chooks who they also are able to recognize. Even young chicks are able to recognize different shapes and learned quickly for a food reward. Lot’s of surprising information in this chapter.

The next chapter (17) celebrates Australia’s Songbirds: Gift to the World that has been mentioned in a previous review of Tim Low’s book Where Song Began. The link with eastern Gondwana with the developments also helps explain the birds’ close relationship with Australian vegetation and the important behaviour of the pollination of plants – more so than anywhere else. How birds learn songs from adult birds is explored in this chapter. Studies in DNA also showed that Australia is the ancestral home of parrots and pigeons. Tim Low says “The two groups of birds that overwhelmingly stand out for intelligence

are the songbirds and the parrots and they both originated in Australia.”

Noisy Miner (Rohan Clarke)

The Origins and the Future of Birds (Chapter 18) starts off with the following “Birds are living dinosaurs. Or at least they are the descendants of one branch of dinosaurs”. The studies of fossil records and the migrations as Gondwana’s plates moved

apart showed up around 24 million years ago although land bridges still existed for movement of birds to the northern hemisphere. The momentous day of Friday 12 December 2014, when the release of research into the understanding of the evolution of birds from more than 200 researchers was announced. New directions in many old long held assumptions were overset including showing that the origins of songbirds was from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere instead of the other way around. A significant finding was that the ancestor of the land birds that are our raptors, eagles,

30 Warbler

owls and falcons was probably an apex predator that also gave rise to the songbirds and woodpeckers. Chapter 19 (Tackling the Extinction Threat) brings us to the crux of this book. A 2016 quote from “five senior biologists from five Australian universities issued a grim warning that the nation is confronting an ecosystem collapse affecting plants, animals and birds across the country.” This followed historic declines “primarily due to land clearing” with two thirds of bird species facing serious declines that have continued. According to Maslen, “Australia ranks among the forty most underfunded countries for biodiversity conservation.” And more chilling is

the statement “decisions will have to be made regarding species that may have to be officially abandoned to climate change”. Samantha Vine (BirdLife Australia’s head of conservation) says “If birds in Australia are to thrive, we need a new generation of environment laws and governance that actually protects the places and birds that Australians love….to protect and recover threatened species we must protect critical habitat…”

Torresian Crow (Rohan Clarke)

Further comments - “Australia needs new objectives that focus on diversity and ecosystem function and health” from the team of McCormack, McDonald and three other environmentalists.

“We need to have a national conversation about how we value species and ecosystems in a changing world.” Strong laws can help threatened species to recover as a study by American biologists has shown. As more volunteers, particularly young people, put pressure on for things to be done there is still some hope for action, but time is running out. BirdLife Australia is fighting to save birds from extinction with its nation-wide army of supporters, and action in Key Biodiversity Areas. Finally, a whimsical chapter - Epilogue –“Here’s a Spot for a Home” They Said. This tracks the nesting of a pair of Welcome

Swallows in the carport and successfully raising a couple of families before the nest collapsed. Maslen says in closing “ That image of an empty nest was to stay with me as I researched this book and came to realize how threatened birds now are by the actions of so many humans. Habitat destruction and climate change loom like a mushroom cloud over the future of all life on this planet. We need to contemplate the dreadful prospect that, unless we act now, tiny fledglings will never again occupy their parents’ nests – that every nest will be forever empty.” The last few pages have 11 with notes to the chapters, and

four for an index of birds named in the book. Gil Porter

THE MOST PERFECT THING – INSIDE (AND

OUTSIDE) A BIRD’S EGG - TIM BIRKHEAD BOOK REVIEW – Gil Porter Bloomsbury Publishing – 2017 - Paperback 304 pages – 128 x 198 mm - $21.99 - ISBN - 978-1-4088-5127-2

Professor Tim Birkhead teaches animal behaviour and the history of science at the University of Sheffield UK. He has studied guillemots continuously since the early 1970’s. In his preface to this book he says, “At one level it sounds trivial - who cares why guillemots lay pointed eggs? But at another it was wonderful, encompassing everything that science is supposed to be.” Tim goes on to explain “But there is much more to birds’ eggs … and my aim is to take you on a journey like no other. … We will travel from the outside of the egg

towards its genetic centre and on the way we will witness the three great events of bird reproduction.” Tim then goes on to outline expectations of the chapters. “After contemplating the irresistible appeal of eggs in Chapter 1, we look next at the most obvious part of an egg, its shell, examining how it is created (Chapter 2), how it acquires its wonderful shape (Chapter 3), its often beautiful colours (Chapter 4), and what those pigments and patterns mean in the bird’s life – asking why they have evolved (Chapter 5). Moving inwards from the shell we next encounter the egg white, or albumen, which in its fresh, glutinous state … turns

out to be more sophisticated and crucial in safeguarding the embryo’s development … (Chapter 6). As we continue inwards we reach the yolk (Chapter 7). The climax to all this is fertilization … the first of three major events in the life of an egg. The other two are laying, and the egg’s eventual hatching … to produce a chick (Chapter 8).”

December 2017 31

There is plenty of research on eggs but most of it is for the commercial chickens/hens familiar eggs. Tim Birkhead says that a lot of it applies to all eggs but there are lots of gaps to be filled for better wild bird knowledge. Chapter 1 (Climmers and Collectors) is mostly historical of the times when birds’ eggs were collected before legal protections were adopted. The plunder by the Climmers (Climbers) were often family affairs. Nowadays most collections are held by museums. My deeper interest started with Chapter 2 (Making Shells). I

was intrigued with the processes to form the structure, shapes and colours of the shells, which is continued through chapters 3 (The Shape of Eggs), 4 (Colouring Eggs – How?), and 5 (Colouring Eggs – Why?). From the laying down of calcium and other layers of the shell (four in all) plus how provision is made to allow a developing embryo to breathe and yet be protected from dangerous bacteria - I was astounded. The thickness of the shell also needs to be strong enough to withstand the weight of the brooding bird! The similarity to a system of spray guns in the oviduct for laying down the calcium for the shell and also to add any colours to the shell was likewise amazing. A lot goes into forming these complicated little treasure boxes

for potential new life of the species.

Colouring eggs, page 86

Then chapter 6 (Much Ado About Albumen: The Microbe War) where I found that it is not just a filler, but is a most essential and remarkable mysterious combination of water and proteins as well as being a cushion for the developing embryo. Tim says “But much more crucially, the albumen provides a

sophisticated biochemical firewall against the microbes that, given a chance, would consume the developing embryo.” The question arises – where does the albumen come from? This chapter explores that question and also other external protective measures for the egg and including through the four layers of the albumen. I never imagined the complexities of this seemingly humble organic item.

We come to chapter 7 (Yolk, Ovaries and Fertilisation) which brought a few more surprises to me. How long does it take to produce an egg? How big does the yolk need to be? What does it contain?? This chapter also covers the mysteries of fertilisation of the bird’s ovum. Then follows chapter 8 (Stupendous Love: Laying, incubation and Hatching). This process is more complicated than I imagined too. Included information on nest building and how this affects the hatching process that is also filled with the actual hatching marvel in how to break free from the shell and the changeover of systems such as breathing, feeding etc.

Which end first?, page 180

The final chapter (9 – Epilogue: Lupton’s Legacy) refers to the

first chapter and the egg collections that were assembled by many, including George Lupton. Lupton was a rich collector of guillemot eggs in the 1930’s and eventually his collection ended up in a Natural History Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire where Birkhead visited during his research for this book. Birkhead raises the question again - “Who cares about eggs?” He then makes a statement “But the study of eggs can aid conservation”. He estimates that “Overall about 10 percent of all eggs laid by wild birds fail to hatch”. Some species have higher failure rates than that too.

Then follows 24 pages of notes, 19 pages for a bibliography, plus a glossary (four pages), bird species mentioned (five pages), acknowledgements (three pages) and an index of eight pages. I have skimmed through all of the chapters in this book that contains a wealth of interesting material. I certainly recommend it to all as a book of interest and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I have done. I received it from my eldest daughter for this year’s Fathers’ Day as she knows of my long time interest in birds. It was a very pleasing gift for

me. Gil Porter

32 Warbler

RAPTORS–THE CURIOUS NATURE OF DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY – KEITH L. BILDSTEIN BOOK REVIEW – Gil Porter Footprint Books – 2017 - Hard cover 336 Pages - $74.99 -

ISBN 9781501705793

As you will note from the title, this is not a bird ID book, but is written about many aspects of the life of diurnal birds of prey from around the world. Keith Bildstein has experience from his years watching and studying raptors on five continents and including his position as Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, (Pennsylvania USA.). He comments that although a lot is known about raptor biology it is mostly in the scientific, technical literature. This book uses that knowledge and presents some highlights in this more widely acceptable

media. If you have an interest in raptors, you will find this book has a lot to offer you. Bildstein says, “This book is an attempt to reveal highlights of the closely held technical literature about raptors so that lay naturalists, birders, hawk-watchers, science educators, school children and the general public, … can begin to understand these birds.” Check through the following chapter headings and you will see the areas of interest - Introducing Raptors; Form and Function; Senses and Intelligence; Distribution and Abundance; Breeding Ecology; Feeding Behaviour; Migration; Raptors and People. Each chapter has special sections and

ends with a Synthesis and Conclusion with a number of points that are covered in the chapter. And following the main chapters there is an Appendix of Scientific Names of Raptors,

Owls and other birds and their distributions and the scientific names of other animals cited in the text. A Glossary, References and recommended readings by chapter and finally an index, rounds out this useful book.

The book covers hawks, eagles and their allies, and comments are made about owls from time to time. The names “eagles” and “hawks” are noted as applying to a large group comprising approximately some 235 -240 species.

Each chapter covers interesting facts about items that make these birds special. Some of the covered items may also apply generally to other species, but there are species particular facets as well as the general comments. Two features illustrate this - legs and feet and eyesight. In raptors the legs and feet (talons) are their main means of capturing prey, despite the fierce appearance of their beaks that are mainly

for tearing up the prey. And their sharp eyesight is attributed to the facts that the large space occupied by the eyeballs in most raptors (at least 50 percent of their cranial space) and they have more rods and cones as well as two foveae in each eyeball for superb retinal function.

Many of the chapters have tables to illustrate features such as body mass and weight of some of the raptors, geographic areas for the breeding location of some of the migratory species, migratory behaviours of those species that migrate, and status of endangered species. A number of chapters have

special information panels as well. As expected there is discussion on the future of many species. A telling comment in the Synthesis and Conclusions for Chapter 8 (Raptors and People) is “Only one raptor, the island dwelling Guadalupe Caracara, has become extinct in the last

December 2017 33

330 years”. That sounded promising to me for the survival of these birds, despite the many challenges they face. If you would like to listen to a chat with Keith L. Bildstein, author of Raptors: The Curious Nature of Diurnal Birds of Prey about these fascinating birds and their place in the world and our society visit 1869 Cornell Press.

If raptors are your special interest you will want this book in your library. In any case there is good information for any keen birdwatcher to expand their knowledge of this special group of

species. Gil Porter

BIRDSONG, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE –

EXPLORING THE EVOLUTION OF MIND AND BRIAN – EDITED BY JOHAN J BOLHUIS

AND MARTIN EVERAERT BOOK REVIEW – Gil Porter Footprint Books – Softcover - 556 pages – 177 x 227 mm - $72 – ISBN 9780262528849

Johan J Bolhuis (co editor) is a professor of Cognitive Neurobiology at Utrecht University and Martin Everaert is Professor of Linguistics at Utrecht University. The outside back cover has the following description - ‘Scholars have long been captivated by the parallels between birdsong and human speech and language. In this book, leading scholars draw on the latest research to explore what birdsong can tell us about the biology of human speech and language and how this

affects our understanding of evolutionary biology. After outlining the basic issues involved in the study of both language and evolution, the contributors compare birdsong and language in terms of acquisition, recursion, and core structural properties, and then examine the neurobiology of song and speech, genomic factors, and the emergence and evolution of language’ Comment by Pedro Tiago Martins, Biolinguistics - Birdsong, Speech and Language is recommended not only to anyone who is interested in the foundations of birdsong and its relation to human language and speech, but also anyone who wants to

take a look at where biolinguistics is hopefully heading.

And further from Morris Halle, Institute Professor and Professor of Linguistics, Emeritus MIT. “The authors of the different chapters are the world’s leading experts on the topics they discuss, and their chapters contribute information, of which much is totally new and of obvious importance." This book has 36 chapters by 39 contributing authors, and two of these authors (Robert C Berwick and Noam Chomsky wrote the foreword entitled A Birds-Eye View of Human Language and Evolution. There are five main sections – I - Introduction, II - Acquisition of Birdsong and Speech, III - Phonology and Syntax, IV - Neurology of Song and Speech, V – Genes, Song,

Speech, and Language. VI – Evolution of Song, Speech, and Language, plus two pages of contributor names and titles then the final five pages for the Index. You will no doubt have already deduced that this book is suitable for those who are well versed in the topics covered in the sections noted above. You would confirm that deduction from the various chapter headings and also the list of contributions that lists their positions and specialties in the various universities, institutes and colleges. I read through the Foreword (3 pages), the Preface (about 1.33 pages) and the Introduction (4 of 25 pages) before it convinced me that it was

way beyond my ken (knowledge, qualification and training.). The arguments, propositions and the methodology of charts and symbols are quite foreign to me.

However I am assured by the comments of the co-editors noted in the beginning paragraphs above that this is a volume of great value to those working in the fields covered. As such I recommend that those working in the areas noted ask to see the book from editor Peter Crane.

Gil Porter

34 Warbler

VANISHED AND VANISHING PARROTS –

PROFILING EXTINCT AND ENDANGERED SPECIES – JOSEPH FORSHAW AND FRANK KNIGHT BOOK REVIEW – Gil Porter

CSIRO Publishing - October 2017 – Hardback 352 pages – 220 x 310 mm – AU$150 – ISBN 9780643096325

The author, Joseph M Forshaw and illustrator Frank Knight are both well known for other works they have both produced. The two of them collaborated in the book Parrots of the World. This latest book has singled out the parrots of the world that have either become extinct or are at high risk of that status as an endangered species. Forshaw brings the latest information on this group and uses

sub-headings to organise that information. He has taken care to include all the information for each species and where some of that is similar to that of another species has nevertheless provided the full information with each species. This makes it easier for those doing research to have all the details in one place so that it is unnecessary to turn to other pages to find needed data. Knight has provided full-page illustrations of the parrots from his lively paintings. They include not only the bird(s) but also the settings of habitat to suit the species. Small illustrations of the location maps are placed in the text.

Each parrot has a text description and comprehensive information is included under significant sub-headings such as Other Names, Distribution, Subspecies, Status, Habitats, Habits, Calls, Diet and Feeding, Breeding, Eggs etc. The latest available information is used in the text. At the end of the book there is a section on the References cited, an Index of scientific names and an Index of English names. Noel F.R. Snyder, Portal, Arizona USA wrote the Foreword chapter. Walter E. Boles wrote the chapter on Fossil History of

Parrots. The Contents pages provide an overview of the regional presentation of the species. In his Preface, Forshaw presents the plan of the book in these words “This book is planned as a reference work, and the text is set out so that information can be located easily and quickly.” Importantly, he gives explanations on some words, abbreviations and the contents parameters for the sub-headings mentioned above. His Introduction covers information pertaining to his research for the book.

Swift Parrot (Frank Knght)

This book falls into the category of special interests and provides excellent research for readers. It provides a valuable source of the latest information on this special group of parrots.

Gil Porter

December 2017 35

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY AND ECOLOGY

OF MORETON BAY – DARYL McPHEE BOOK REVIEW – Gil Porter CSIRO Publishing - August 2017 – Paperback - 208 pages 170 x 245 mm – $69.95 – ISBN 9781486307210

Daryl McPhee has written this comprehensive book on south east Queensland’s important area of Moreton Bay. His inter-disciplinary approach has been organised into nine chapters on the significant areas that will be valuable for anyone who is working on a project impacting on this region.

Chapters cover the information on the physical environment that developed over time, the human history, including both indigenous and white settlers, and the various habitat areas and industries. He then assesses the conservation needs and the impact of many activities to analyse how the future may be managed. There is a wealth of information that will be of interest to planners and to all those interested in learning more about the areas in which we live. The introduction chapter outlines what is to be found in the following chapters. Chapter 2 - geology and geomorphology.

3 – human uses over time. 4 – the various marine habitats. 5 – the fish and invertebrate communities. 6 – species of conservation significance. 7 – the commercial and recreational fisheries. 8 – water qualities in Moreton Bay. Chapter 9 discusses the new directions and possibilities to manage Moreton Bay more effectively.

Each chapter has substantial references throughout the text and these are expanded at the end of each chapter. Monochrome pictures of interest are included as are tables as appropriate.

Shorncliffe Pier c1900, Brisbane City Council Libraries (photographer unknown)

This is a well-researched volume that looks at various aspects of interest. It is not a novel, but covers a wealth of information for those who work in or study this region. Chapters can be read according to your interest in the presented topics. Whilst I don’t have any special reason to read this book, I found a lot of interest as a long term resident of Brisbane over

the last 64 years. Gil Porter

Australian Pelican, Silver Gull (Peter Crane)

36 Warbler

LYREBIRD LOUNGE

POWERFUL OWL – BELLE MINERS Album review – Peter Crane MGM Distribution - $20.00 CD album, $16.90 digital album - Belle Miners

I received a newsletter with information on this music group some time ago and recalled it because of the name. Imagine my surprise this week when I received anther email announcing their debut album – Powerful Owl. The birding connection continues. Belle Miners is a Canadian-Australian folk-pop trio comprised of Canadian musicians and long-time friends Felicia Harding and Marina Avros and Aussie singer-songwriter Jaime Jackett.

Very nice music driven by soaring harmonies, powerful melodies and personable lyrics. If I can track down the birding connection I will report further. I am listening as I type to the preview available here - the music.com.au Peter Crane

THE BACK PAGE IMPORTANT NOTICE - FINAL

BirdLife Australia is in the process of implementing a 'digital first' policy to reduce paper wastage across the whole organisation. As part of that policy, the March 2017 ediiton was the last time that all our members received our hard

copy four page newsletter exerpt in the BirdLife Magazine. If you are a member of BirdLife Southern Queensland who wishes to continue to receive this excerpt please let us know. You can do this by writing to us at: BirdLife Southern Queensland, PO Box 375, Annerley, Queensland 4103, or by emailing us at southernqld@birdlife.org.au. OUTINGS Enquire with Local Branch Convenors directly (email

addresses on page 3) or see our events page for details. Gold Coast Branch Outing every Thursday: Meet at various locations in the region. Contact Beth Hall ADOPT-A-FARM – GRANITE BELT, BSQ SEASONAL SURVEYS @ 800-900 METRES Each season we survey a group of properties from Braeside, Dalveen and Pozieres on the Granite Belt Queensland. Shearing shed accommodation and plenty of campsites are available. Overflows can be located at the ‘Happy Apple’

caravan park Thulimbah. Teams are organized to accommodate beginners or those a bit out of practice. For dates and accommodation arrangements go to the Events page or email Neil Humphris or phone 0409 341 214. CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS BSQ will have a stall at the Woodford Folk Festival (Dec 26 to 1 Jan) to help spread the word about all of our good work.

If you are interested in volunteering please consider: 1 owl monitoring throughout southeast Queensland; 2 waterbird monitoring in the Sunshine Coast; 3 reporting of any Painted Honeyeater sightings in BirdData; 4 helping run the BirdLife Woodford Folk Festival stall.

Just get in touch with me if interested. Dr Rob Clemens 0425 805 087