Lost in action

I have been 'lost in action' since my last post in January.  I wasn't beamed up to a spacecraft or taken hostage by rebels in some far flung jungle but just extremely busy with work and field trips.  From the end of February to the end of May I was working as a team leader with the National Parks & Wildlife Service's Wild Count project.  This was a very demanding, but rewarding position.  I have worked on the project as a field support officer for the past three years with short bouts as team leader but this was the first time that I was team leader for the whole period.  At the same time I was carrying out surveys of the Coastal Emu and the Common Myna on alternate weekends with Russell Jago.  I have also conducted a few tours including a spotlighting tour of the Clarence Valley lowlands and have been on a few trips 'down river' to check on the local Black-necked Storks.  Val, Russel and I had some time off and visited some of the parks that I had worked in for Wild Count over a 12 day period.  I am also assisting a Griffith University student studying the birdlife of privet regrowth on the Dorrigo Plateau and working as a ranger with the National Parks & Wildlife Service.  Val and I also travelled to Booroorban, near Hay, for the Gould League Bird Study Camp.  I organise these camps at different locations throughout the state each year.  The 'Black-necked Stalkers' twitchathon team competed again this year in the NSW Twitchathon.  I will post a report on that activity today.

I will publish reports on the trips, tours and other work in the coming weeks.  During this period I have taken many photographs and will use them in future blog posts.

Gibraltar Range Waratah Telopea aspera, photographed during the recent Twitchathon