Tufted Duck at the WTP!

All twitches are memorable, but this was one in particular I will never forget. Not only was the Tufted Duck a first for Australia, it was ten minutes from my house! It will be two years this month that we have lived in Lara just across the road from the WTP and there has not been a “mega” rare bird in those two years.

As most of you know, Lynn and I had just moved house (albet only about 60 meters to the new place, but still…). So we are in the midst of settling in (unpacking, arranging, sorting, etc and etc). Then the Citrine Wagtail showed up in Whyalla, SA (Wagtail blog link). James and I were over and back in 3 days time. And after a lovely “Lifer Day” on New Years Eve, I was back to doing the house things.

Lately I have been pretty fortunate with my migraines. I have had a few mild ones, but nothing overly intense. Yesterday (Thursday 3 January), I felt one coming-on, but I got out and did some morning errands anyway. When I got back I grabbed some lunch, 3 ibuprofen, and was lying down on the couch. My phone rang. It was James Cornelious. There are very few people from whom I would take a call when I am migraining, but James is on that very short list.

He said, “I’m at the WTP. Have you heard?” And my adrenaline spiked. Something rare must have shown up.

I said, “No, I am lying down with a migraine and not on Facebook. What?”

“Tufted Duck in the T-Section. I am here with Chris Farrell at the pond before the Crake Pond.”

”I'll be there in ten minutes, bye.” And I was too.

So I really only had ten minutes for the twitcher anxiety (FOMO as some refer to it) to build before I was there. I drove to the pond and looked through the scope and saw the bird in minutes. Far away but unmistakable. Sweet as. At that point only a small handful of birders had arrived, Dan Roman was in the first group. Soon Rohan Clarke, Alison Nesbit, Tim Bowden, Sue Taylor, James Mustafa and many others began to show up. A Lifer for us all, it was wonderful.

I will not attempt to list everyone because I am shite with names and I will miss a LOT of people. But it was glorious! Wondrous! JOY!

This is my point… there were at least a couple score birders and all (or damn near all) were in a state of Lifer High. It was like being at a NYE party with good friends that you know, but who you rarely see. People were smiling, laughing, joking, hugging, fist-bumping and patting one another on the back. It was the best of what birding is about for me. There where many of the rock-stars of the birding world. I mean, I got to point out a new WTP bird to Maarten Hulzebosch (he would have found it on his own of course). That put his WTP list up to 239 species! The man is legend. Dez Hughes, my friend and the Wader Whisperer, arrived to look at a duck! And I got to see Mike Carter, Sean Dooley and Kevin Bartam all get a Lifer! What joy! Surreal.

An historic moment! Kevin Bartram (very far left), Sean Dooley (checkered shirt) and the legendary and wonderful human being, Mike Carter on Sean's right. All three were getting a Lifer Bird!

This was the first time that this bird has ever been in Australia or any of its territories. A bloody FIRST! Credit where credit is due, the bird was spotted by Michael Dougherty (a Yank!) and reported to the Facebook Twitchers page by David Parker. Thank you both so very much indeed!  And thank you James for the call.

Peter Bright, Sean Dooley and me... Lifer Selfie

And today (Friday), the WTP is closed because of the Total Fire Ban. It is 44 C here (111 F). It is going to be a bit busy over there tomorrow I reckon. I will be taking some friends in to the farm. My old buddy Robert Shore is driving down from NSW, my old buddy David Stabb is coming over and my friend Eddy Smith is flying in from SA.

I took a tonne of mediocre photos yesterday, but they are okay recording shots and I am over the moon to have them. Here are too many of them.

   

I will write more soon. I wanted to get this recorded and down whilst I was having my Lifer Day. I am very happy (and yes I know the dates on the watermarks are still 2018. The next ones will be correct). This was number 706 for my Aussie list and utterly unexpected. It also seems I have found a very effective migraine treatment!

I write therefore I am. I share therefore it’s real. I love because that is why we are here.