Bird Words Inspirations

Sometime in 2006 or 2008 (I cannot remember) I first read the book, “The Big Twitch” by Sean Dooley. As I mentioned in An Australian Birding Year, it was one of the contributing factors in my becoming a birder in Australia. I was fascinated with the places he had gone and the birds he had seen. I never dreamt that I would ever get to some of the places he had gone and see some of the birds he saw. I have now been to almost everywhere in Australian that he went in his book and more.

I’ve seen Princess Parrots in the North Gibson Desert which he described as being “as beautiful as they are rare”. He did not try for them during his big year because he said, “They live about as far from anywhere as you can go and still be on Earth”. Well, I have seen them, thanks to Bernie O’Keefe’s organising our little expedition. 

Princess Parrots in the N. Gibson Dessert near Jupiter Well

During his year, Sean went up the Torres Strait to the Australian islands that are close to PNG. I never, ever thought I would be able to do that trip. No, not if it was ever so. But thanks to Richard Baxter, last March I spent a glorious week on up there (read back in these Blogs to March 2024). The only bird that remembered from the Torres Strait chapter in Sean’s book was the Red-capped Flowerpecker. When I first read his book, I had never heard of a Flowerpecker, red-capped or otherwise. And now I’ve seen two. One in the mangrove jungles of Boigu Island and one up a little river on Saibai Island. So when I got back to Lara, I reread the section in Sean’s book about his trip in the Torres Strait. 

Heading up the Torres Strait

Sunsetting in the Torres Strait

Jame's photo of the Red-capped Flowerpecker over the river on Saibai Island, QLD

  

Saibai Island river

Fashionable on Boigu Island having seen the Red-capped Flowerpecker for the first time. 

That was wonderful. I could picture the places I had first read about over fifteen years ago. I had now seen them for myself. Because of words. Bird words.

I hope that people who have read my books will do the same sort of thing. Share the Gonzo.

Stay weird my friends ❤️