Anoraks to Zitting Cisticola: A Whole Lot of Stuff About Birdwatching pptx

BIRDNERD/NCETHEFAVOUREDTAUNTOF SCHOOLYARDBULLIESINTHISERAOF BILLIONAIRECOMPUTERGEEKSNERDISTHE NEWCOOLANDBIRDWATCHERSARENO LONGERAFRAID/FCOURSEONCETHEFICKLE WHEELOFCULTURALFASHIONINEVITABLY TURNSBIRDNERDSWILLBELEFTEXPOSED FRIENDLESSANDWITHTHEIRUNDERPANTS WEDGEDUPPASTTHEIRBINOCULARS  @!NORAKSTO:ITTING#ISTICOLAISAGUIDETOTHE SECRETWORLDOFBIRDWATCHING)THASALLTHE STUFFTHEOTHERBIRDBOOKSDONTTELLYOUHOW TOLOOKCOOLINBINOCULARSHOWTOSPOT SOMEONEWITH!SBIRDERS3YNDROMEANDHOW TOAVOIDTHEMATPARTIESWHATNOTTOWEAR WHICHWEBSITESWITH@BIRDINTHETITLEYOUCAN SAFELYVISITWITHOUTTRIPPINGANYFILTERSON YOURCOMPUTERNOTTOMENTIONHOWTO PRONOUNCE:ITTING#ISTICOLA 3OWHETHERITIS!FOR!NORAKS0FOR0ARABOLIC 'ROTOR3FOR3HAKESPEARE@2OMEOAND*ULIET CONTAINSTHEFIRSTRECORDEDARGUMENTOVERBIRD IDENTIFICATIONTHIS!TO:ISAMUSTFORTHE AMATEURTHEWANNABEORTHEFANATICALBIRDER !NDITISGUARANTEEDTOKEEPEVENTHEMOST CASUALBIRDNERDAMUSED 3EAN$OOLEYHOLDSTHE!USTRALIANRECORDFOR THEMOSTBIRDSSEENINONEYEAR.EEDLESSTO SAYHESABIRDNERD  #OVERDESIGNANDILLUSTRATION BY-ATT#LARE-ONO$ESIGN ")2$7!4#().'(5-/52 Sean Dooley is a Melbourne author who has worked as a television comedy writer. He is a contributor to The Age, ABC radio and 3RRR, writing and talking about birds, environmental issues, sport and, well, anything, really. But his greatest claim to fame is that in 2002 he broke the Australian birdwatching record for seeing the most species in the one year. He then wrote about it in The Big Twitch, thereby publicly outing himself as a bird-nerd. This page intentionally left blank [...]... z -A Anorak / an all-weather, waterproof coat, universally recognised as the uniform of the bird-nerd Seemingly more popular in the UK, the anorak doesn’t often make an appearance here in Australia, due to it being exceptionally uncomfortable to wear in the heat That and the fact that it hasn’t rained across most of the country in the last ten years means that the anorak tends to stay in the back of a. .. BIRDWATCHING at a sewage farm watching birds, or at a restaurant having a meal, or packing my shopping into the back of the car in a St Kilda car park, and somebody comes up and asks me, Birdwatching hey? What’s that all about? ’ I won’t have to answer I can just throw a copy of this book at them, and scream, ‘Read this, it’s all in there!’ ~5~ MA 83:50:9 70/01/03 5 ddni.01-51 z -A The cheat’s guide to using... www.birdata.com.au Australia / a country south of New Guinea, west of New Zealand and a long way east of Africa Australia has 5 per cent of the world’s land mass but around 8 per cent of the world’s bird species In the past 220 years, around 840 species of bird have been recorded in Australia, although if you took its external territories out of the mix that number would drop under the 800 mark So in... principles of a Big Day for 365 days of the year; a birding marathon where the aim is to build the biggest year list The Australian Big Year record of 703 species was set in 2002 At the time of writing (2007), nobody had been stupid enough to give up a year of their time and a substantial chunk of their savings, not to mention their sanity, to try and break it For this I am truly grateful because to try to. .. ‘poofter’ jibes Binoculars, how to use them / coordinating hands, eyes and brain in an attempt to focus on something that is very small, a long way away, and constantly moving about Those who have been birdwatching for years often forget how very frustrating it can be for novices to get the hang of using binoculars; it can literally leave you with a headache But this is one area where practice and... first Atlas began as a one-off project between the years 1977 and 1981 Thousands of birdwatchers around Australia reported their sightings to a central database, forming a snapshot of where our birds were during this period A follow-up project with over 7000 volunteers was begun in 1998, primarily to track the changes to our avifauna (see AVIFAUNA) over that time Even more comprehensive than the original,... terms, labelled a stringer (see STRINGER) With a massive wingspan that allows it to ply the ocean waves for months at a time, the graceful albatross has long inspired poets (see RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER), but in a case of life imitating art, we, like the mariner, are killing our albatrosses as we bring natural disaster upon ourselves Nine species of albatross regularly visit Australian waters (or... birder’s wardrobe Anoraks are most often seen on pelagic boat trips (see PELAGIC) where keeping dry and warm is a priority Looking cool in an anorak is always a big ask, as wearing one automatically makes you look like a trainspotter (see ASBIRDERS) Bill Oddie’s aphorism that ‘Seriousness is in inverse proportion to cleanliness’ still rings true You can’t be taken seriously as a twitcher if your anorak isn’t... Atlas, published in 2003, painted a generally depressing picture While some birds had increased in range and numbers, a sizeable number of our bird species, particularly our woodland and grassland birds, had suffered a decline Here was direct evidence that the clearing of woodlands and grasslands was having an effect on our wildlife ~ 13 ~ MA 14:50:9 70/01/03 31 ddni.01-51 z -A ATLAS Birds Australia... them, a fine brush for removing dust and particles and a soft cloth for cleaning the surface are best Often you get these with the bins themselves Avoid tissues, as they are often impregnated with fragrant oils which may affect the lens coatings The best way of keeping your binoculars clean is to put them away when you are eating This may go against your desire to be constantly loud and proud that you are . www.allenandunwin.com National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Dooley, Sean, 1968- . Anoraks to Zitting Cisticola : a whole lot of stuff about birdwatching. . shopping into the back of the car in a St Kilda car park, and somebody comes up and asks me, Birdwatching hey? What’s that all about? ’ I won’t have to answer.