birding-aus

White-browed Babbler at The You Yangs, Victoria

To: "Paul Dodd" <>
Subject: White-browed Babbler at The You Yangs, Victoria
From: "Margaret Cameron" <>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:01:29 +1000
Thanks Paul

One of the reasons I put my message on birding-aus (and this one too) is that I thought it might stimulate more reports, either in the You Yangs or close. (Don't tell me, people who have been seeing White-browed Babblers in the You Yangs, because I'm not there any more - tell Paul, tell Marilyn Hewish for the Geelong Bird Report, tell the Atlas and the Victorian Wildlife Atlas, and put it on Birding-aus.)

I have 2 hypotheses

1 The Little River Earth Sanctuary (Mount Rothwell) is supposed to be reintroducing animals that used to be in the area eg platypus. Maybe they introduced W B Babblers too and they got away. An enquiry there might be a good idea.

2 Ford has a lot of country on the north side and birdwatchers don't go inside it. A few years ago they did more works in there making more test roads or whatever it is they have. Maybe the babblers were lurking in there all the time and when the new works reduced the area of forest they were forced to enlarge their range. However Lawrie says he does not think any WB Babblers turned up in the surveys done for the environmental management plan. (If that's true, Earth Sanctuary seems more likely.)

If I saw a White browed Babbler in the You Yangs I would not believe my eyes and just try to turn it into something else. Needless to say if I decided it was a WBB I would write notes with a shaking hand then gallop back into phone range and ring up as many people as I could find to come and have a babbler hunt. (Any photo I took in such a state of excitement would probably be a blurred smudge but it would be better than nothing.) Marilyn Hewish's reaction is much the same. She has edited the Geelong Bird Report since the 1991 issue.

I am told you saw them along Hovell's Creek (this is not in your message) - this is private property so if your report is encouraging people to go searching there please remind anyone who contacts you to get permission from Wooloomanata first. The owners may know if there are any historic records on their property though I believe Grey-crowned Babblers would have been more likely.

Your paper should include the historic stuff as well as your record and Graeme's, and those of anyone else since the 1930's you can find! They are not in Belcher's Birds of Geelong. Trevor Pescott in Birds of Geelong (1983) mentions references in the Bird Observers Club Monthly Notes, especially a report by William Heathcote in December 1943. I have not looked at Ian Hore-Lacey's list of birds of the You Yangs which was a supplement to the Bird Observer July 1959 because I can't find it in my disorganized library.

These birds seem to be a long way from anywhere but we have been having a long and terrible drought, and there also already seem to be some distribution anomalies which might be attributed to climate change.

Good luck and I'm eagerly waiting to hear from you again!

Margaret

Margaret Cameron
2 Cintra Street
Eastern Heights, Qld
Australia 4305
07 3282 9151




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