Contact Call
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Contact Call Newsletter of BirdLife Northern Queensland Volume 9 Number 3 September 2020 Spotted Catbird One of the zaniest sounds in the wet tropic’s rainforest comes from our Spotted Catbirds. Some people say they are secretive, but it’s a bit hard to miss them with their yowling, cat-like calls. They are a fairly common resident in rainforest at all altitudes from Cooktown to Townsville, where they forage for fruit, flowers, leaves and stems, invertebrates, nestling (and small) birds and eggs. The male and female are almost identical. Spotted Catbirds are a species of bowerbird that mate for life so there is no need to create a bower. The breeding season is from September to December. The females build the nest and usually lay 2 eggs, which they brood. The males care for the nesting females and help to feed the chicks. Sources CB & DW Frith, 2001. Nesting biology of the spotted catbird, Ailuroedus melanotis, a monogamous bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae), in Australian Wet Tropics upland rainforests. Australian JournalGrey of Zoology-crowned; Babblers. Image courtesy of DominicNiel Chaplinsen, 2015. www.pinecreekp Birds of the ictures.com.auWet Tropics & Great Barrier Reef & where to find them; Menkorst et al., 2017. The Australian Bird Guide. Image courtesy of Dominic Chaplin www.pinecreekpictures.com.au BirdLife Northern Queensland In this issue… Crane Counts on the Atherton Tablelands, 1997-2017, by Elinor Scambler, Tim Nevard, Graham Harrington, Ceinwen Edwards, Virginia Simmonds and Don Franklin Annual monitoring of cranes has been a BirdLife Northern Queensland activity for many years. This article discusses why this activity is important and takes a close look at 20 years’ worth of crane count data….. page 5 closely followed by The Crane Count Report 2019….. page 7 National Leadership and Action for Conservation, by Peter Valentine Learn about the review of ‘The Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999’ currently before Parliament and how you can help to reform it to actually protect the places we love….. page 9 Volunteers wanted for Threatened Coastal Birds Project, by Paul Fisk Learn about the Indigenous Collaborative Management of Threatened Coastal Birds Project and how you can become involved….. page 11 Cairns Centenary Lakes Radjah Shelduck Nest Box Project, by Hidetoshi Kudo (Mikey) Radjah Shelducks at Centenary Lakes lost their home, but not for long. Read about how Mikey and team have come to the rescue….. page 13 News from Mount Isa, by Rex Whitehead Read about encountering Spotted Nightjars and unusual behaviour observed in Red-browed Pardalote….. page 16 Travels in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, by Gary & Robyn Wilson A tantalising report about travelling by campervan to visit two large national parks in the Lower 48 States of the USA in 2019….. page 17 Book Review: The Falcon Thief, A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird, by Gary W Wilson….. page 19 Also From the Convenor… page 3 Citizen Science Birding Birds in the News..…. page 22 25 Years on… ….. page 3 dramatically increases…… page 15 Head West..…………….. page 24 Obituary: Vale Sandi Oswald page 12 Where have all the ladies Noticeboard…………….. page 28 gone?........................... page 21 2 Contact Call Contact Call Peter Valentine, our Conservation Coordinator, writes a From the Convenor compelling article in this newsletter about the appalling state of our nature laws and their inability to protect Welcome to the spring edition of Contact Call. A big the birds and the places we love. You can do thanks to all our contributors of reports, stories and something positive about that. A moment of your time images. Thanks also to Gary Wilson, assistant editor is all it takes. See the article to learn how you can extraordinaire and Kath our proof-reader, and of respond. Together, we might just be able to persuade course, thank you to all our advertisers who support our leaders to strengthen the laws, rather than dilute BirdLife Northern Queensland by advertising in our them further. newsletter. And finally it is with a sad heart that we learnt of the This year continues to present us with challenges that loss of a dear BirdLife friend, Sandi Oswald. Sandi was impact on our ability to plan and deliver birding a member of BNQ for many years. There is an article activities and community events. So perhaps at our about Sandi on page 12. peril, we are planning a celebration in the Malanda area on the weekend of 17 & 18 October to mark our Ceri Pearce 25th anniversary (COVID restrictions permitting). Did you know we are 25 years old in 2020? Thanks to a group of like-minded people with a passion for birds and bird watching who came together in 25 YEARS ON…………. 1994, a North Queensland bird group was formed. Lindsay Fisher From that illustrious start, and with a few name changes along the way, BirdLife Northern Queensland Birdlife Northern Queensland began life with an was born. inaugural general meeting at Broadwater State Forest Park, near Ingham, on November 19th 1994. At that Sandra Christensen and Lindsay Fisher have been busy time we were part of the R.A.O.U. (Royal Australasian planning a relaxed social program of bird watching and Ornithological Union) and Townsville and Mackay were a festive dinner. Please do RSVP, so that we can part of our North Queensland Chapter. manage COVID requirements and minimise risk to participants. The first issue of Contact Call was produced the following month and a few snippets from it show how A lot has been achieved in 25 years, much has some things have changed and others not at all! We changed and some things haven’t changed at all, as were “enjoying being together and sharing jokes, bird Lindsay Fisher’s article, 25 years on…, illustrates. stories, victuals and the odd noggin.” Projects included Capturing and assessing 21 years’ worth of annual monitoring populations of Gouldian Finch and the crane count surveys is just one example of the white-bellied form of the Crimson Finch, Cattle Egrets incredible work that has been achieved by BNQ (which were expanding rapidly), finding the Cairns members and supporter volunteers since the Esplanade was once again under threat and asking beginning. To learn about the history behind our members to write letters to the Cairns City Council annual crane count and how valuable these surveys (this had a good outcome after a lot of input from our have been, read the article in this newsletter by Elinor Group.) No email, websites or mobile phones in those Scambler, Tim Nevard, Graham Harrington, Ceinwen days so it was landline phone calls and letters! Edwards, Virginia Simmonds and Don Franklin on Continuing this theme, the next issue of Contact Call Crane Counts on the Atherton Tablelands, 1997-2017. reports how “Arrangements for the Easter Campout Additionally, congratulations to the authors for the were thrown into disarray with the late release of recent publication of their scientific paper on the topic. Wingspan. This was due to problems with the This is just one example of a significant bird printers....” In those days national office printed monitoring project undertaken by BNQ. Others include Contact Call and inserted it into the national magazine Kalkadoon and Carpentarian Grasswren surveys, (now called Australian Birdlife) and posted it out. This Gouldian Finch surveys, Bowerbird monitoring, meant we had to have the copy ready over a month Torresian Imperial Pigeon counts, beach nesting before our members got it. We soon changed this and shorebird and wader surveys and so the list goes on. got it photocopied at our local member-of-parliament’s office and then posting it out ourselves. I remember This information, as well as the data that you capture evenings spent stapling, folding, putting in envelopes in eBird and Birdata, contributes to our broader and sticking on address labels followed by a trip to the understanding of the status of northern Queensland post office and writing a cheque! It is easy to forget in birds and can be used to identify and monitor the these days of instant communication how different it impacts of threatening processes. was not so long ago. September 2020 3 BirdLife Northern Queensland BirdLife Northern Queensland Committee Convenor Ceri Pearce Email: [email protected] Phone: 0488131581 Secretary and Communications Renee Cassels Email: [email protected] Coordinator Treasurer Lindsay Fisher Email : [email protected] Cairns Area Coordinator Mikey Kudo Email: [email protected] Phone: 0402343610 Cape York Area Coordinator and Kath Shurcliff Email [email protected] Phone: 07 4069 6595 Grasswren Survey Coordinator Cassowary Coast Area Coordinator Sandra Christensen Email: [email protected] Phone: 0448 845 842 Tablelands Area Coordinator Graham Harrington Email: [email protected] Stickybeak Coordinator Golo Maurer Email: [email protected] Project Technical Support Ray Pierce Email: [email protected] Conservation Coordinator Peter Valentine Email: [email protected] Phone: 07 40966171 Website Manager Mikey Kudo Email: [email protected] Phone: 0402343610 Committee member Wayne Young Email: [email protected] Committee member and Birds in Pippy Cannon Phone 0438645293 Schools Coordinator Newsletter Editor Ceri Pearce Email: [email protected] Phone: 0488131581 Assistant Newsletter Editor Gary Wilson Email: [email protected] BIRDLIFE NORTHERN QUEENSLAND 25TH ANNIVERSARY SOCIAL WEEKEND AND DINNER 17th-18th OCTOBER 2020 MALANDA AND SURROUNDS Join us for a social weekend to celebrate our 25th Anniversary BNQ 1994 The weekend includes: ➢ Dinner and festivities at the Malanda Hotel, Saturday 17th October, 6.30 pm (dinner and drinks at own expense). ➢ Bird watching activities Saturday, and Sunday morning in the greater Malanda area. Wave the Waders Goodbye 2009 & Fawn-breasted Bowerbird Survey 2012 Accommodation is plentiful at the Malanda Falls Caravan Park, Malanda Hotel/Motel, Malanda Lodge Motel and local B-n-Bs.