north east regional extra | October 21 - 27, 2020
nemedia.com.au
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October 21 - 27, 2020
By BELINDA HARRISON
Challenge accepted for birdmen
◆ I SEE YOU: Ian Davidson (standing) and Chris Tzaros (crouching) are engaged in challenge to identify 100 different species of birds in 100 days. PHOTO: Belinda Harrison
THE English-born poet, John Keats (1795-1821), perhaps summed it up best in his poem On the Grasshopper and the Cricket (later renamed The Poetry of Earth) when he wrote: ‘the poetry of earth is never dead’. He was referring to the way that nature provides a symphony of music which never ceases, regardless of the season. Simply explained; Keats was referring to the summer when the songbirds are silent in the heat, the grasshoppers take over, just as the crickets break the quiet of a winter’s evening when so many others are hidden away. He doesn’t mention spring or autumn, but for those who have spent any time outside in the past few weeks, you’ll be well aware of just how many different songs and symphonies are being trilled in our beautiful North East region at the moment. And the timing couldn’t be better with one of Australia’s biggest citizen science projects - the Aussie Backyard Bird Count - being held this week. For local biologists, Chris Tzaros and Ian Davidson who have been writing a weekly article about a bird species in the Wangaratta Chronicle for the last six months, their ‘counts’ extend outside just this one week in the year and they’re currently in a fierce challenge with each other and another keen ‘twitcher’ to identify and record 100 birds in 100 days. “For the past six months, Ian, myself and Doug Robinson have been having a 100 birds in 100 days challenge, where we’re trying to record 100 species on our respective properties in 100 days,” Chris explained. “We started it when COVID hit and we didn’t really expect to get anywhere near 100 birds,” Ian added. “But in the first 100 days Chris got about 90, Doug around 80 and I came in with just over 70.” When COVID and the lockdowns continued, Chris, Ian and Doug decided to go for another 100 days - which ends at the end of October. “We’ve already got more than last time and we haven’t identified all the same species either,” Ian said. “Chris already has more than 110, Doug has just cracked 100 and I’m in the 80s but I’m coming home with a late charge.
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