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gemfyreWhat's happened since I wrote last? I can't exactly remember everything because some days blend in to each other. It's like "Did that happen yesterday? Or was it two days ago?"
Went spotlighting - didn't see much more than lots of frogs and a king brown snake.
Magnificent storms - one morning the thunder crack was so loud everyone in the shadehouse jumped and Brian began to tell stories of being in British air-raid shelters when he was 4 years old. Got a decent amount of rain in those few hours but still nowhere near enough to stave off a very dry wet season. We're 200mL short of last year's average - which is pretty much half of the rainfall that fell here last year.
Almost stepped on a Stimpson's Python right outside my room. He slid back into the crack between the two dongas before I was able to get a photo. Lucky my encounter was just with a small stimpy - apparently on the other side of the dongas near the office a large king brown snake took a frog and dragged it below the office.
First day off I spent most of the morning in my air-conditioned room listening to music and doing longstitch. It was ridiculously humid outside but I had decided I'd go to the day's netting anyway because I need the experience, and it's an interesting way to kill time.
The raptors are learning what the commotion of netting means for them - potential easy meals. So we had a total of 5 black kites and 2 whistling kites circling over when we arrived. They were later joined by 2 sea-eagles and a brahminy kite. Their presence made it very awkward to twinkle birds into the exact area they were needed in. The majority of the team was crowded into a small hide at the base of the pindan cliffs while we waited for the nets to go off. We waited about 2 hours in there, chatting, playing noughts and crosses in the dirt, learning sign language off Alice. Clive told everyone (via 2-way radio) to get ready multiple times, only to be told that no, birds were not in the right spot.
Eventually we had another get ready and prepared to run again. After having Clive crying wolf so many times a lot of us had lost that initial push to dash for the nets. I think we were all suffering stress myopathy crowded in that hide. (Stress myopathy occurs when birds get hot and/or stressed and sit down, sometimes they can't stand up again, which is bad. When handling the birds it's vital to let the legs hang rather than folding them - and birds that sit in the holding cages are given priority and closely monitored. Birds with stress myopathy are taken back to base for a few hours to recover before being released).
Anyway, we got a get ready and didn't even here a 3, 2, 1 before the cannons went off and we poured from the hide and sprinted down the beach. Despite having to sit for two hours the speed was still on. I think that initial sprint and adrenaline rush could become addictive. Once you've stopped running your heart pounds and your mind just focuses to what needs to be done before you can take a break again. Push the net onto the sand to get the birds out of the water. Get the cover over the birds. For God's sake DON'T run on the net! (Running on the net can easily end up in squished birds - bad thing). Sand the back of the net up. Set up holding the holding cages (making sure the sand beneath is not too hot - which sometimes requires shovelling off a few inches). Extract the birds from the nets. Run the birds from net to holding cages.
We got quite a shock when we arrived at the nets because both had been fired. Luckily one net didn't snare any birds or else we would have drowned casualties. Only the large net was meant to fire on this day, a short circuit had caused both to go off. The catch in the large net was exactly as intended - a majority of terek sandpipers, accompanied by grey-tailed tattlers, curlew sandpiper, greenshank and a lone ruddy turnstone.
I weighed tereks. Slippery little suckers they are. They'd put their feet against the egde of the weighing tube and push themselves out but I managed. I think I should start an in-hand list. A few birds weren't too successful at flying off after release and landed in the water. Lucky someone went after them immediately and deterred a black kite eagerly swooping hoping to take one of our charges home for dinner. Bergita threatened to put Kite Kebabs on the night's BBQ menu. 3 birds had to be brought back to the BBO for a while to recover and the rest were released in large groups to encourage them all to fly off and flock once again - safety in numbers.
Eventually we finished and returned for the farewell BBQ for the AWSG (Australian Wader Study Group - the bunch of people who descended on the BBO and made our lives interesting and chaotic for 2 weeks). It was a free feed for us BBO staff which was good. Clive's speech made everyone feel all warm and fuzzy then Peter took the stage to hand out some slightly more novel awards. He DID manage to raise almost $100 for the Twitcher's Tax jar which is great, but he and Brian especially just reiterated my feeling that drunk people are amusing for maybe 2 minutes then it all becomes idiotic. Ricki shares my sentiments about alcohol, it's nice to find someone who feels the same.
So, that was the first day. The second day Ricki also had a day off and we retreated to Anna Plains - about 200km south of Broome on 80 Mile Beach. We intended to search for such reported birds as black honeyeaters, pied honeyeaters, crimson chats and little curlews. On the way we counted at least a million brown falcons and nankeen kestrels I'm sure (okay, so I exaggerate a little, but not too much).
We went to the beach near the station and collected a few shells. I've been inspired to make some more jewellery using the shells - so now I need my beading gear sent up and a fine drill, hrmmm.
Didn't see any new and exciting birds on the way or at Anna Plains (although we did see a lot of the usual suspects which are always nice anyway). Loads of terns near some flooded paddocks and hundreds of oriental pratincoles flying over near the station. Disheartened we found somewhere on the station to have lunch. Fate much have taken us there because there they were - pied honeyeaters - all flying about after being harrassed by a flock of yellow-throated miners. We saw about 20 in that area and left pretty chuffed at that.
The stormclouds gathering in the sky and the bolts of lightning over the paddocks of Roebuck Plains were spectacular as we returned home.
And this morning - I'm the only one on. Ricki and Chris headed out to check out some of the lakes. The wader study group is leaving and many wanting to finalise their payments.
There are no credit slips left.
There are old credit slips in the drawer, I'm not sure if they're usable.
I ring the bank to see if I can use them. It's Sunday, the bank is closed.
I try to ring Chris's mobile, he's out of range, no huge surprise.
Eventually, after Bergita's suggestion I just took down details to fill out credit slips like mail orders later on. *pulls hair out*
They're gone now. Some will return throughout the year to continue with the netting and banding schemes but most will return to their normal lives. I'm stuck here another 8 months. But Ricki did let me know that towards the end of the stint there is a possibility of visiting Bush Point (which is at the other end of the bay and quite trecherous to reach) and the Lacapede Islands, which will be brilliant, a lot of the non-migratory seabirds nest there and the trip will be great for pelagics.
The rest of today was relatively drama free. Had to move a couple staying tonight into a bunk room from the double because the air-con kept shorting the power in the Woodside Block (the dongas). They're only here one or two nights and want air-con above all else, at least it works in the bunk room.
It's now raining. Those storms are so speccy to watch come over. Huge cumulonimbus clouds, black skies, dull rumbling, streaks of lightning and cracks of thunder, and a cool, refreshing rain.
Went spotlighting - didn't see much more than lots of frogs and a king brown snake.
Magnificent storms - one morning the thunder crack was so loud everyone in the shadehouse jumped and Brian began to tell stories of being in British air-raid shelters when he was 4 years old. Got a decent amount of rain in those few hours but still nowhere near enough to stave off a very dry wet season. We're 200mL short of last year's average - which is pretty much half of the rainfall that fell here last year.
Almost stepped on a Stimpson's Python right outside my room. He slid back into the crack between the two dongas before I was able to get a photo. Lucky my encounter was just with a small stimpy - apparently on the other side of the dongas near the office a large king brown snake took a frog and dragged it below the office.
First day off I spent most of the morning in my air-conditioned room listening to music and doing longstitch. It was ridiculously humid outside but I had decided I'd go to the day's netting anyway because I need the experience, and it's an interesting way to kill time.
The raptors are learning what the commotion of netting means for them - potential easy meals. So we had a total of 5 black kites and 2 whistling kites circling over when we arrived. They were later joined by 2 sea-eagles and a brahminy kite. Their presence made it very awkward to twinkle birds into the exact area they were needed in. The majority of the team was crowded into a small hide at the base of the pindan cliffs while we waited for the nets to go off. We waited about 2 hours in there, chatting, playing noughts and crosses in the dirt, learning sign language off Alice. Clive told everyone (via 2-way radio) to get ready multiple times, only to be told that no, birds were not in the right spot.
Eventually we had another get ready and prepared to run again. After having Clive crying wolf so many times a lot of us had lost that initial push to dash for the nets. I think we were all suffering stress myopathy crowded in that hide. (Stress myopathy occurs when birds get hot and/or stressed and sit down, sometimes they can't stand up again, which is bad. When handling the birds it's vital to let the legs hang rather than folding them - and birds that sit in the holding cages are given priority and closely monitored. Birds with stress myopathy are taken back to base for a few hours to recover before being released).
Anyway, we got a get ready and didn't even here a 3, 2, 1 before the cannons went off and we poured from the hide and sprinted down the beach. Despite having to sit for two hours the speed was still on. I think that initial sprint and adrenaline rush could become addictive. Once you've stopped running your heart pounds and your mind just focuses to what needs to be done before you can take a break again. Push the net onto the sand to get the birds out of the water. Get the cover over the birds. For God's sake DON'T run on the net! (Running on the net can easily end up in squished birds - bad thing). Sand the back of the net up. Set up holding the holding cages (making sure the sand beneath is not too hot - which sometimes requires shovelling off a few inches). Extract the birds from the nets. Run the birds from net to holding cages.
We got quite a shock when we arrived at the nets because both had been fired. Luckily one net didn't snare any birds or else we would have drowned casualties. Only the large net was meant to fire on this day, a short circuit had caused both to go off. The catch in the large net was exactly as intended - a majority of terek sandpipers, accompanied by grey-tailed tattlers, curlew sandpiper, greenshank and a lone ruddy turnstone.
I weighed tereks. Slippery little suckers they are. They'd put their feet against the egde of the weighing tube and push themselves out but I managed. I think I should start an in-hand list. A few birds weren't too successful at flying off after release and landed in the water. Lucky someone went after them immediately and deterred a black kite eagerly swooping hoping to take one of our charges home for dinner. Bergita threatened to put Kite Kebabs on the night's BBQ menu. 3 birds had to be brought back to the BBO for a while to recover and the rest were released in large groups to encourage them all to fly off and flock once again - safety in numbers.
Eventually we finished and returned for the farewell BBQ for the AWSG (Australian Wader Study Group - the bunch of people who descended on the BBO and made our lives interesting and chaotic for 2 weeks). It was a free feed for us BBO staff which was good. Clive's speech made everyone feel all warm and fuzzy then Peter took the stage to hand out some slightly more novel awards. He DID manage to raise almost $100 for the Twitcher's Tax jar which is great, but he and Brian especially just reiterated my feeling that drunk people are amusing for maybe 2 minutes then it all becomes idiotic. Ricki shares my sentiments about alcohol, it's nice to find someone who feels the same.
So, that was the first day. The second day Ricki also had a day off and we retreated to Anna Plains - about 200km south of Broome on 80 Mile Beach. We intended to search for such reported birds as black honeyeaters, pied honeyeaters, crimson chats and little curlews. On the way we counted at least a million brown falcons and nankeen kestrels I'm sure (okay, so I exaggerate a little, but not too much).
We went to the beach near the station and collected a few shells. I've been inspired to make some more jewellery using the shells - so now I need my beading gear sent up and a fine drill, hrmmm.
Didn't see any new and exciting birds on the way or at Anna Plains (although we did see a lot of the usual suspects which are always nice anyway). Loads of terns near some flooded paddocks and hundreds of oriental pratincoles flying over near the station. Disheartened we found somewhere on the station to have lunch. Fate much have taken us there because there they were - pied honeyeaters - all flying about after being harrassed by a flock of yellow-throated miners. We saw about 20 in that area and left pretty chuffed at that.
The stormclouds gathering in the sky and the bolts of lightning over the paddocks of Roebuck Plains were spectacular as we returned home.
And this morning - I'm the only one on. Ricki and Chris headed out to check out some of the lakes. The wader study group is leaving and many wanting to finalise their payments.
There are no credit slips left.
There are old credit slips in the drawer, I'm not sure if they're usable.
I ring the bank to see if I can use them. It's Sunday, the bank is closed.
I try to ring Chris's mobile, he's out of range, no huge surprise.
Eventually, after Bergita's suggestion I just took down details to fill out credit slips like mail orders later on. *pulls hair out*
They're gone now. Some will return throughout the year to continue with the netting and banding schemes but most will return to their normal lives. I'm stuck here another 8 months. But Ricki did let me know that towards the end of the stint there is a possibility of visiting Bush Point (which is at the other end of the bay and quite trecherous to reach) and the Lacapede Islands, which will be brilliant, a lot of the non-migratory seabirds nest there and the trip will be great for pelagics.
The rest of today was relatively drama free. Had to move a couple staying tonight into a bunk room from the double because the air-con kept shorting the power in the Woodside Block (the dongas). They're only here one or two nights and want air-con above all else, at least it works in the bunk room.
It's now raining. Those storms are so speccy to watch come over. Huge cumulonimbus clouds, black skies, dull rumbling, streaks of lightning and cracks of thunder, and a cool, refreshing rain.
