2020 Dodgy Drongo Twitchathon Report The Drongos last won the 30hr race back in 2017 and it was great getting that team back together again. Maxie the Co-pilot and Simon ‘The Whisperer’ joined the Capt’n for a week of birding out west before heading to our starting point in the mulga. It is here I should mention that the area is currently seeing an absolute boom period after recent rains and was heaving with birds. So with this in mind and with our proven ‘golden route’ we were quite confident of scoring a reasonably good score. We awoke to rain on tin and it didn’t stop as we drove to the mulga, in fact it got heavier.As we sat in the car with 20min until start time we were contemplating if this would kill our run. But as we walked around in the drizzle we soon realised the birds were still active. Simon found a family of Inland Thornbill (a bird I always like to start with), Max had found a roosting Hobby and I’d found some Bee-eaters and Splendid Fairywrens. As the alarm chimed we quickly ticked up all those species as well as Red-capped Robin, Masked and White-browed Woodswallow, Black Honeyeater, White-winged Triller and Budgerigar. The Little Eagle was still on it’s nest and a pair of Plum-headed Finches shot past. We then changed location within the mulga and soon flushed a Little Buttonquail!! Common Bronewing, Owlet-nightjar and Mulga Parrot soon fell and after 20min we were off. A little way down the road we stopped at a new Drongo stop (oiled the day before) and Maxie instantly called out “Black-eared Cuckoo!”. Crimson Chat, Crested Bellbird and Peregrine Falcon were added and as we started driving back to the main road we spotted a Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo sitting high in a road side tree….well worth the detour! As we continued east the birds kept tumbling but the road conditions soon worsened as we left the bitumen. Diamond Doves were everywhere, and we soon added Pallid Cuckoo, Banded Lapwing, Chestnut-crowned Babbler, Brown Songlark, Spotted Bowerbird and Hooded Robin. The salt bush plains gave us White-winged Fairywren, Orange Chat and Bustard and as we hit The Marra we ticked up Singing and Painted Honeyeater and finally some Whiteface. We were on fire and hadn’t reached the Marshes yet! We turned towards The Mole and soon added Spotted Harrier and Black-faced Woodswallow. The wetlands opposite the homestead were filled with Magpie Geese, Plumed Whistling-duck, Glossy Ibis, Intermediate Egret and various other waterfowl. I pinned down some Purple-backed Fairywrens while Maxie nailed a Brolga! Into the eucalypts and boom! a Pale-headed Rosella. Our oiled White-bellied Cuckooshrike turned up and then we were off to another new spot where we got White-fronted Chat. Monkeygar was next. Shelduck, Pink-ears and Shoveler were nice additions as Whiskered Tern, Swamp Harrier and Sea eagle hunted over the swamp. And with that we were done, time to head south. Recent eBird lists indicated that the Tiger Bay Wetlands at Warren were pretty devoid of birds but we found it to be quite good. We added Hoary-headed Grebe, Black-fronted Dotterel and Baillon’s Crake….oh and Feral Pigeon….ripper! In town we heard quite a few Blackbirds and then it was time to go again, this time east. After a 3hr drive, and adding Musk Lorikeet, Western Gerygone, Dusky Woodswallow, Stubble Quail and Bushlark on the way, we reached the southern end of Goulburn River National Park. Double-bars, Yellow-tufted and White-naped Honeyeaters, Cicadabird and Leaden Flycatcher were added at our first stop. Further into the park the really good birds started to appear. White-browed Babbler, White-eared and Fuscous Honeyeater, Speckled Warbler, Sittella, Painted Buttonquail and Turquoise Parrot were all recorded before we ticked up the well known Barking Owls. Our last new birdwasBuff-rumped Thornbill and then we quickly headed for Denman where we got White-backed Swallow. Long-billed Corella were ticked roadside at Jerry’s Plains and that was the end of our daylight birding. Our night run was quite disappointing with only a Tawny Frogmouth seen but we were rewarded in the rainforest with Boobook and Sooty Owl calling at the same time. We set up camp and slept like babies with 194 species under our belts. The dawn chorus was muted by the fast flowingAllyn River and a new Flying Fox colony but we soon heard both Russet-tailed and Bassian Thrush, Black-faced and Spectacled Monarch, Yellow-throated Scrubwren and Green Catbird. Up the path we added Topknot Pigeon, Rufous Fantail, Rose Robin, Shining Bronze-cuckoo and a female Paradise Riflebird. From here we struggled a little and we really had to work for easy birds like Brown Cuckoo-dove, White-headed Pigeon and Large-billed Scrubwren. Bell Miner were very welcome on the ridge road and the Brush Turkey was in its usual spot. We left the rainforest and hit the rolling hills of the Williams River valley. Channel-billed Cuckoo and New Holland Honeyeater were nice additions before we stopped at THE stop of the race. This area is just a grassy gully with a bit of water and some tall eucalypts yet it added Brown Quail, Pheasant Coucal and 4 species of wren: Superb, Variegated and Red- backed Fairywrens plus a cracking male Southern Emuwren! We clawed back Wonga Pigeon at Clarence Town, saw a Grey Goshawk being mobbed, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet in Seaham and a single White-cheeked Honeyeater at Green Wattle Creek. These stops were only adding 1-2 species but our Saturday run was so successful that we weren’t overly worried. After dipping on Little Lorikeet at Green Wattle we decided to change our run and head for Sheppeard Drive where we eventually found two birds as well as a Collared Sparrowhawk. Grahamstown Dam was next and we hardly stopped the car, Great Crested Grebe and Musk Duck…tick! tick! We arrived at Ash Island with high hopes but they were soon shattered. No waders! We did hear a Brush Cuckoo which was our 9th cuckoo for the trip and added Mangrove Gerygone, Red-capped Plover and Little Egret. The Osprey that was absent on the drive in was back on the nest on the way out. Shortland was a flop so we headed for Stockton. Tereks, Tattlers and Whimbrel were at Fern Bay. We dipped on Golden Plover but scored an unexpected Common Tern along the foreshore. Quite a few teams were at the Sandspit when we arrived but that didn’t hamper the birding. Black-tailed Godwit were easily seen amongst the wheeling flock of Bar-tails. Caspian, Crested and Gull-billed Terns, Pied Oystercatcher, Brahminy Kite, Striated Heron, Red Knot and Curlew Sandpiper were gladly added after the disappointment of Ash Island. We were now down to the last hour and with Captain Tubenose egging us on where else would we end the race but at Newie Baths. We spent 40min adding Sooty Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Gannet, Wedge-tailed and Short-tailed Shearwater and our last bird for the race with 2min to spare, an Arctic Jaeger! What a mega race! We knew the score would be big, we knew we’d beaten our previous PB but boy, we didn’t count on bagging 271 species!! What an epic total which was only made possible by the boom out west, some slight route adjustments and the absolute talent of the Co-pilot and the Whisperer. Until next time, Capt’n Drongo (AKA Grant Brosie) .