The weather for the appointed blitz weekend was a modest improvement on the previous two years. It did not snow this time, though blitzers who left their surveying in Namadgi till the Sunday afternoon got rather wet. The cut-off for the receipt of datasheets (30 November) has not been reached, so the following figures are preliminary only.
At least 79 named participants and probably up to 100 persons in all took part, some for the first time, with many spending two full days surveying ACT birds. We managed far more complete coverage of the ACT this year, with 132 grid cells of a theoretically possible 165 being surveyed. Most of the unsurveyed cells were inaccessible for a variety of reasons, and none represented habitats not surveyed elsewhere. Thanks go to the many COG members who volunteered to “mop up” the unloved areas, ensuring that we achieved the best coverage by far of any blitz weekend to date So far, 163 bird species have been recorded, two more than last year and including two highly unusual species for the ACT, Red-backed Kingfisher and Bar-tailed Godwit. A surprising number of Red-capped Robins were also recorded, from widespread locations. Two of the major highlights of the ACT birding year – the Powerful Owl in the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and the Painted Snipe at Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve – were not recorded over the blitz weekend, despite the best efforts of the experienced observers concerned. And a number of other relatively localized species appear to have been missed.
More participants and greater coverage no doubt had a positive influence on the numbers of breeding records, with 84 species recorded as breeding (when the broadest possible indicators of breeding were used) compared with 76 in 2006 and 67 in 2005.
Several of COG’s talented members donated copies of their recent books as blitz prizes and at the November COG meeting, new President Chris Davey drew the following winners’ names:
Noel Luff won Penny Olsen’s Glimpses of Paradise, for most unusual record (Red-backed Kingfisher)
John Brannan won North’s Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds (facsimile, donated by Chris Davey) for a breeding record of an ACT-listed vulnerable species, the White-winged Triller
Mark Allen won Ted Edward’s A Guide to Australian Moths for participation in the blitz
Chris de Bruine won Suzanne Edgar’s The Painted Lady for participation in the blitz
Stuart Harris won Don and Betty Wood’s Flowers of the ACT for participation in the blitz.
Dick Schodde presented a prize bottle from his cellar for “significant effort” (participation over two days or more than 10 datasheets), the lucky winner being Con Boekel.
Many thanks to all prize-givers; to the staff of Namadgi National Park and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve for facilitating access; and especially to all participants for making blitz 2007 a great success.
A full report on the blitz will be prepared for Canberra Bird Notes.
Barbara Allan