Serendipity and the Nordmann's Greenshank.

 

Alexander von Nordmann, I have beheld your Greenshank and it all began with a new shirt.

David and Janet Mead sent me a beautiful polo shirt with their Great Northern Birdwatching Tours logo with a Yellow-billed Kingfisher embroidered on it! I contacted David on Tuesday 9 February to thank him very much. We chatted a bit and then he invited me to come to Cairns and twitch the Nordmann’s Greenshank and then do a day trip up to Cooktown (their old hometown) to try and find me a Black-winged Monarch. I could add that mega-rarity Greenshank and possibly another Lifer. I contacted James, he was keen and I booked flights for us for Thursday morning. I was finally going to go for that extremely rare visiting wader. The total population of Nordmann’s Greenshank is estimated to be only 500 to 1000 total. Rare indeed. 

James’ mother generously drove us to the airport. Our direct flight to Cairns was on time and easy (except for non-mask wearing morons and a constantly yelling toddler in the row right beside us. Evidently his young mommy was utterly unaware of the existence of other people). We arrived in Cairns at quarter to noon and David collected us, and took us straight down to the Esplanade to look for Nordy (the twitcher nickname for the Greenshank). The tide was perfect, but despite several hours of careful scanning, we did not find it. It had been seen there the evening before (and every day before that back to early January when Adrian Walsh first found it). We went back and gave it another good try in the later arvo/early evening, but no Nordy.

The next morning, we were back at 6am. We spent the next few hours intently scanning the flats for the bird with no joy. We decided to make the drive up to Cooktown and see if we could find a Black-winged Monarch. They are normally only seen further north in the Iron Range in the wet season. But they can occasionally be found as far south as Cooktown, if you know where to look. David knew where to look (he used to live there).

 

On the way up, we birded a few spots briefly, bearing in mind that it’s a good eight-hour trip to Cooktown and back. We were able to find James a few Lifers: Crimson Finch, Tawny Grassbird, Northern Fantail and a brief, but unmistakable look at a Pale-vented Bush-hen. So including Black-necked Storks, that made five Lifers for him so far this trip. He had already seen the Black-winged Monarch in the Iron Range a couple years ago on another trip.

     

We arrived in Cooktown and went to the road where David had seen BW Monarch before. After a few hours of wandering up and down this little dirt road, we were in the shade by a small stream just waiting and watching. Then silently, the bird flew in and landed on a branch just above us! Then it called a couple of times before flying off. I had great views, but my old camera had issues with the intense humidity and would not “fire” so to speak (later in the day, it did function again). Thank the heavens James got a few photos. I have jokingly said that he is becoming the official photographer of our expeditions, but it is not really a joke. He is faster and has much better eyes than I do. He usually gets a photo.

We drove through Cooktown to show James the lovely little village and while we were there, I got one of the Virgin Airlines F-you texts that begins, “VirginAus apologises…” This message said that our Saturday flight “may have changed.” This may or may not have been connected with the new COVID breakout in Victoria. A lockdown had been implemented there from Friday midnight to Wednesday midnight. Scary. Virgin suggested calling their customer service number. I did and I even got through. I asked if VA1294 was cancelled. The person just recited my original itinerary info to me. I said that I had that information, and I was asking if that flight had been canceled. She said (in a very crap tone of voice), “I think I just explained that to you.” I gave up. I later found that the flight was indeed cancelled and again they suggested contacting the service number, but due to high caller volume it was not possible to get through. Short rant coming. 

Virgin, you have now lost me. If your service is the same as an ‘economy airline,’ I will merely switch to an actual economy airline. I ‘was’ willing to pay a bit more for quality and service, but that is sorely lacking anymore. Virgin rant over. 

Back in Cairns we tried for Nordy again the next morning. After that, David took us to his house so we could say hi to Janet and so that they could wash a couple things for us. I had only brought one pair of shorts. Janet saw my distress and wanted to help. She jumped on her computer was able to figure out some of what was going on and helped to sort it for us. It seemed we were to leave about noon Monday on a flight connecting in Brisbane. I cannot adequately put into words how grateful I was for her calming assistance. My anxiety dropped from close to a ten to a much more manageable 6 or so. 

I extended our motel booking for an additional two nights. I highly recommend the Cairns City Palms Motel. The staff could not be more helpful and friendly, and the rooms are very reasonable and very nice. My bed had as good a mattress as I have slept on. We went back for the late arvo tide and again there was a lot of intense looking and no finding.

Sunday, David had some stuff to do and I slept on and off until 6:45am. I got about eight hours. Amazing for me. And I needed it. Later in the arvo, I even took a nap. Then I got a message from David that the Greenshank had been seen way out on the flats well after we had left on Saturday. It had been spotted by a friend of David’s who is known as the Barefoot Bushman. I met him and I did marvel at his feet. He is 70 and never, ever wears shoes. He also has no mobile phone or does any sort of social media. Thank heavens David bumped into him at the market! So we went down there that evening, even though the tide was already too far out. We still gave it a very good looking over. 

Monday morning, we were back down there at 6:30 am. The tide was still pretty far out but rising. With at least some hope in our hearts, we began scanning. About 7am, David had a distant Greenshank that he thought was a possibility. Then James said he thought that it looked good too and for what it was worth, so did I. 

And it was. We had found Nordy. 

I rang a new birder friend there, Dick Jenkin and alerted him. As the tide rose, Nordy and the various other waders came slowly closer as they do. Soon the Nordmann’s Whisperer himself, Adrian Walsh, rocked up. He did not know that the bird was back yet. We got to share that joyous news with the man who originally found this bird. He had thought it was gone for good as well. At this point, it was David, James, me, Dick Jenkin and Martin Cachard and now Adrian too. We were all looking at ‘his’ Greenshank. It was a genuine pleasure meeting him. I took some recording shots, but it was still quite a distance for my old 100-400mm lens to capture anything impressive, but make no mistake, I am extremely happy and very grateful for the shots I got. Here are quite a few of them.

We left Nordy and went to poke around a couple of local birdy places before heading to the airport. And then I got another dreaded text that began, “VirginAus apologises...” This was telling me that our flight departure was being delayed an hour. That would be tricky to say the least, since we had 40 minutes to make our connecting flight in Brisbane. Long story short, there were twenty-seven of us that needed to make that connection, so they just held the plane for us. We went straight from one plane to another and two hours later, we arrived in Melbourne. James and I both had arranged for taxis to collect us. My ride was quite dear because of the distance, but absolutely worth it. I arrived back in Lara at 7:30pm. Phew! 

So, on Friday as the flight chaos began, I got pummelled in my most vulnerable anxiety spot. My flight was cancelled, and Victoria was going into lockdown and I had no idea what was going to happen. I had the "trapped away from home" anxiety. It is a very primal fear for me (and the reason I hated The Wizard of Oz as a kid). I was infused with anxiety. Yes, my buttons being pushed to the extreme. But thanks to a bit of personal growth I reckon, and some wonderful friends, especially Janet Mead, things had been mostly sorted. 

The amazing serendipity is that we had dipped on the Nordmann's Greenshank on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The bird had not been seen for three days and everyone (including me) thought it was gone for good. If my original flight had not been cancelled and moved to noon Monday, I would not have seen this very special bird.

Serendipity. How often does this sort of thing happen? It happens very often in my life. The seemingly "bad event" leads to a wonderful event or outcome. I am not saying that it is painless or easy, but I am saying that it is usually worth it. Usually.

The Victorian “Circuit Breaker” lockdown is scheduled to end tonight at midnight. I am at my desk in my study. I am so very grateful. Here I am in a bathroom selfie in Cairns wearing the shirt that started it all.

    

 

I write therefore I am. I share therefore it's real. Sending love as I do.

I Love Button-quail!

James' photo of the Red-backed Button-quail. We did it!

"I love Button-quail" is not a sentence I would ever have expected to write. Yes, I did at one time refer to that whole family of birds as “bucking-futton-quail.” That is because they certainly tended to be difficult birds for me. Lynn and I still have nightmares remembering searching, and searching, and searching Inskip Point, Queensland for almost a week without a glimpse of the Black-breasted Button-quail. Even though a friend had seen them there three days before we arrived. This tale is told in Chapter 25 of the first book. 

On Thursday night, 28 January, I saw a Facebook post by Bruce Watts and Jeff Jones regarding seeing, and taking some gorgeous photos of a Red-backed Button-quail. This was up near Nabiac, New South Wales the night before. I contacted Jeff and he shared the location and details with me. I really wanted that bird, but I knew it was a longshot. It was my granddaughter, Delilah’s birthday on Saturday and James was out of town for the weekend. So, plans were made to leave Monday arvo. It is about 1350 kilometres to the birding site. 

James arrived at noon, and after picking up some groceries we headed up to stay a night at Glenrowan Caravan Park (the home of Turquoise Parrots). We rolled into the park about 4pm and set Troopi up to camp in a beautiful area under a tree out the back where I have camped before. And yes we saw Turquoise Parrots as we always do there. I was also quite flattered that the park owner, Kylee, came over to Troopi for me to autograph her copy of “An Australian Birding Year.” 

We had a peaceful, lovely night’s sleep inside Troopi. It was the first time I had slept in her in well over a year. The next morning we drove on to stay the night at Robert and Judy Shore’s in Parkes. We arrived in the later arvo and had a delicious dinner and a wonderful visit with the Shores. I do wish they lived closer. I would love to see them both more often. 

Wednesday morning we headed for Nabiac, but first we checked into one of my favourite motels in Australia. We arrive early arvo at the Mount View Motel in Buladelah where I had reserved a room. We would be using Troopi as transport, not accommodation. The rooms there are excellent and so reasonable. Our room with two beds and a kitchenette was only a hundred bucks. Not knowing how long our quest might take, we asked to if it was possible to keep it for two nights if necessary. It was and we did. 

   

I was able to grab a short nap before we drove the 40 minutes to the area near Nabiac where Jeff was meeting us at 7pm. Just a few kilometres from the coordinates we flushed a probable RBBQ off the shoulder. We arrived where Jeff and Bruce had seen the birds on the 27th and soon Jeff joined us. After parking, we saw a few Brown Quail and flushed another possible RBBQ. In a later examination of James’ photos it was indeed revealed to be an RBBQ crossing the road. 

Jeff arrived and we went to the spot where he and Bruce had seen them, and the birds were calling! Even I could hear the distinctive, ascending, oom, oom, oom, oom, oom call. It was not far from us either. We heard at least 3 separate birds in there, but none were interested in coming out and being seen. Once it was full dark, they stopped calling, not a sound out of them. We trudged about in the very wet brush in hopes of flushing one without success. We bid Jeff farewell and he went home, and we went back our motel. 

I got into my comfortable bed about 11pm and as I checked my phone, I saw that Victoria had gotten a locally acquired case of COVID and new restrictions were coming into effect. Damn. I managed to go to sleep but at 2am I awoke and before I could go back to sleep, I remembered the virus news and anxiety shot through me like an electric shock. And that was that for any more sleep for me. Less than three hours, damn. I finally woke James at five and we drove up to Nabiac for first light. We went back to the same spot and soon heard them calling again! But even though one sounded pretty close, we could not see it. We moved about trying to locate it as it got later and lighter, but it continued calling. We headed out to the road, walking back to Troopi and I suggested that James walk into the shoulder a little to see if he might flush one. And in less than a minute a Red-backed Button-quail erupted at his feet and flew across the road. It was a quick view, but it was a RBBQ! It disappeared into the bush. 

We heard calling again and walked down the road toward the area that the calls were coming from. There was a track going in that was covered in water (there was heaps of standing water everywhere). We stood at the gate for that track and heard it calling again. Then, only about ten metres in front of us, she flew diagonally across the track. It was a beautifully coloured female, they are the more colourful of the two. We both had heart stopping, gorgeous, full on side views of the bird. The sun was behind us and I will never forget that beautiful bird. She landed in the scrub well on the other side of the track and disappeared of course. Sweet! 

We listened to that bird call sporadically for a while before walking back to Troopi. We were both soaked from the knees down from walking through the wet brush. I got into the back of Troopi to change pants and James saw “something” run across the road in front of the vehicle in the same spot where he flushed the bird on the road shoulder. He went and looked and an RBBQ had crossed the road and stopped for a moment in the grass. He got a photo! Joy, joy, joy. As James and I say after a successful twitch or what-have-you, “We did it!” We actually continue to say it many times over the coming days because we did! There were still RBBQ calling. I reckon they are more of a diurnal bird. 

    

James' wonderful photo, but heavily cropped.

Lifer Pie courtesy of James

I was stupid-tired and we drove back to the motel where I took a short nap. Then we went to a spot that Liam Murphy had given us the coordinates for and we found James his Lifer Mangrove Gerygone and I took a couple of photos of it.

     

After an excellent night’s sleep, we drove to a stormy Gundagai where we stayed before driving back home on Saturday. And yes indeed I will say it again, we did it!

James took some lightning photos in Gundagai

I write therefore I am. I share therefore it’s real. Sending love…

Red-chested Button-quail Joy

It took four days, 27 hours of driving, approximately 2400 kilometres travelled, and I have finally added a new Life Bird to my Aussie list. The Red-chested Button-quail is my first Lifer since the plague came to Oz. Once again, my old friend Robert Shore alerted, and encouraged, me to go after a bird. Also, once again, my buddy, James Cornelious went with me. Team Troopi got RCBQ.

     

James and I left Lara at 9:20am Sunday and drove to Robert and Judy Shore’s home in Parkes, NSW arriving there about 6:30pm. That’s over 750 kilometres and more than 9 “Troopi hours.” To save diesel, I usually drive about 95kph and that does make for longer travel times than Google maps estimates. 

We had a lovely visit with the Shores. Then went to sleep fairly early and were up and on the road by 6am. We arrived on Cattle Lane in Warrah Ridge, NSW by 11am (not exactly ideal Button-quail birding time). Yet still, within only about ten minutes we had our first bird. Joy. 

We walked up and down the shoulders of that road and saw, or flushed, about a dozen birds including a young bird that somehow gotten tangled in the brush. James retrieved it and helped it on its way safely back into the scrub. 

     

Mid-afternoon, we checked into the nice little Sunflower Motel in Quirindi. I was as exhausted as I have ever been. Walking up and down the road shoulders as well as the long travels had taken its toll. Without exaggeration, I was staggering like a drunk person when I walked up to the reception desk. I could not even remember my mobile number (I am still on daily steroid meds and dealing with the effects of those and the sarcoid symptoms that they treat. Fatigue is a part of all that crap). 

I was able to take about a 2-hour nap in the motel before we went back over to the Cattle Lane site (only about 20 minutes away) around 7:30pm. We ran into friends Jeff Jones and Bruce Watts who were also birding there. The late arvo light was beautiful under the cloudy skies as we waited for darkness to look for the RCBQ’s. We hoped to see them out more in the open and get some photos. 

     

We were successful. We had two particularly cooperative birds (and thank you Jeff for holding the torch as we photographed one of them). After we had taken a few photos, we left them be. Those little birds owed me nothing more. I had seen them well (and even had photos). I will no longer refer to that family of birds as “Bucking-futton-quail.” 

The next morning, we drove to West Wyalong, NSW and spent the night. We left there at 6am, arriving back in Lara, VIC early yesterday afternoon. I was riding that “Lifer High” that I have so often written about. It reverberates through me for days. It is a lovely feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. I am tired and still dealing with all of the physical (and mental/emotional) issues that have vexed me for the last months, but I have a new Lifer. I am truly not as attached to the “number” anymore, but of course I do keep track and RCBQ was number 754 on my Aussie list. I am grateful. 

Btw, John Beaufoy Publishing has committed to publishing the sequel to my book. It is tentatively titled, “More Australian Birding Tales (Life After An Australian Birding Year).” I will be writing a lot more about this soonish. I write therefore I am. I share therefore its real. Sending love…