EcoTwitching
A Twitchathon is another name for a birdwatching race. Teams compete to see who can tick (twitch) the most birds off a list within a given time limit, usually 24 hours. In most events there are several categories to choose from, including the ‘EcoTwitch’ category. In this category teams are not allowed to use private transport - only bikes, kayaks, buses, ferries, walking etc…
Last weekend, Alex and I grabbed our mountain bikes, packed our panniers and took part in the Birds Queensland EcoTwitch. Unfortuantely, we got off to a slow start by missing the ferry to Magnetic Island. However, after retiring to the pub to reconsider our strategy, we caught the next one over and spent the afternoon twitching mangroves, woodlands and vine-thickets. By 8pm we had ticked 52 birds and were hoping for a strong finish the next morning.
We woke in our hammocks at about 5:30am to the screeching of a Peregrine Falcon and some Orange-footed Scrub Fowl action. The dawn chorus was pretty pitiful and only got us about 5 birds closer to our target of 100 species. To remedy the situation we did a mission of a bike ride over a massive hill and back to the 7:50am ferry home. Once back in town we made a few quick stops for Varied Honeyeater and Wompoo Fruit-Dove, also managing to pick up both Orioles!
It was then out to the common for a mad dash around the hides in the hot mid-morning sun. Luckily there were heaps of birds about, including Brolga, Jabiru, Brown-backed and Rufous-throated Honeyeaters, Green Pygmy Goose (a lifer for me), most of the Egrets and a few duck species. At about 5 minutes to noon we were languishing on 99 species, with little hope of making 100, but a sudden burst of activity saw us get to 105, with Pacific Baza, Black Kite, Brush Cuckoo, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater and Little-Bronze Cuckoo all making late appearances. Because we were the “Dominators” we also twitched beers, consuming 8 different types in the 24hr period!
More photos by Alex can be found here, while a video is here,
October 19th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
I see you went with the ‘healthy’ low carb beers, leaving Alex to stack on the keegs with the Coops.
Those wetlands look sweet. Are they natural? Whats the catchment for them? Tidal or FW? Etc…?
How did the video camera work out? We going to get some new broadband content?
Also, how did you guys go in comparison the rest of the competitors?
October 20th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Good on Yaa boys, congrats on a great birding 24 hrs, I have to say that I have witness an interesting event here in The gold coast, for the last 2 days and during this weekend, the Indy race brings the well known fakebubbie blondy bird by the hundreds, is madness at the moment, even for the untrained eye twitching becomes second nature. I have been told that this high octane weekend is legendary for the species gatherings in the flood plains of main beach and surfers paradise, I have been unwillingly caught up in this migration pattern, since my place of work is in the outskirts of the track, I will try to take some pictures for scientific research.
cheers.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:35 am
Jac, can you not think of something else for a change!
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:20 pm
it’s for science Kiki, it’s all about the birds
October 24th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Jac, good to see you’re keeping an eye on those birds!
Dunc, apparently we tied for first (after taking two species with marginal identifications off our list). I have posted a short video trailer and will be putting up a 10 minute vid on YouTube.com when I get a chance. The wetlands are natural, but are kept wet by a bund wall at the downstream end. They are freshwater, although surrounding areas experience saltwater intrusion with high tides and cyclonic activity (storm surges etc.).
October 29th, 2006 at 8:52 am
loved your video…. great work..like your style.
can you post a list of the beers??
any new ones?
October 29th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
what are you doing drinking “pure blond”-
I thought we’d brought you up better than that….
October 30th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
Ah yeah… about the pure blond… It was a party leftover in the fridge, and Tom picked it over Tooheys old (!) but before you lynch me… beer twitching is about diversity. I just scored 41 on the bogan test… COME ON!! (Think it was the take-aways and the rats-tail that did it).