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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Larry Sweetland" data-source="post: 1318213" data-attributes="member: 27337">More TassieNow if you'll excuse me a sec, and perhaps cover your ears......GROUND PARROT !!!!! B <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />B <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />B <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />Not even a new bird for the trip, as we heard them at Cooloola, but boy did seeing one feel goooood. We headed towards Strathgordon from Hobart and took the unsealed road down to Scott's Dam at the edge of Lake Pedder. This is a very potholey road, and poor Augustus Timpington-Rocket took a bit of a pasting. I spent several hours searching the buttongrass and heathland at stops on the way to Scott's Dam, and decided to park up about 3km before the dam where there is a huge expanse of likely-looking habitat on the left side of the road. When evening came I didn't hear a single Ground Parrot and felt rather dismayed. The vegetation all looked rather odd though, except for small patches, and I wondered if there had been a fairly recent fire in the area. There were very few other birds about, but at least 1 Striated Calamanthus was singing pretty much everywhere we stopped. I found seeing them surprisingly difficult though considering they do so from the top of a bush. Yesterday morning we drove to where the road ends, at a hill top called Red Knoll. The vegetation looked good round here, and it was by the car park at the top of the hill that we flushed a Ground Parrot twice before we lost it due to the unfavourable topography. From up here we could see the start of the Port Davey walking track below, and it appeared to traverse a lot of good habitat, so as we were now hooked on the buzz of flushing these things, we returned to the Huon camping area and started on the Port Davey track. After about 3km we hadn't had any luck, but we did see 2 Olive Whistlers. We also came upon an information board which explained how huge tracts of buttongrass moorland were dying due to a phytophthera species spreading across the area introduced on people's boots! I felt that I'd probably helped spread it by thrashing about in the good stuff after being in the bad stuff. Oh no! Apparently it's good to wear clean boots if visiting the area.The Port Davey track continues to Melaleuca where the Orange-bellied Parrots breed. We considered trecking there and back, which would take about a week, but it would also have involved buying suitable equipment, as well as obviously carrying a week's worth of provisions. You can of course fly in if you want.On our way back along the Strathgordon to Hobart road we visited Camp Florentine, which we had noticed by the roadside. A short walk through the old growth forest around the camp produced the expected rainforest endemics including Scrub-Tit. This is a good enough patch of forest as any to stop and look for these birds on the way to or from the Ground Parrot site. If it's still there. The people living here have so far stopped the site from being logged, but have recently been subjected to violent attacks, and had 2 of their vehicles and the information hut torched 2 nights before our visit.So I've been pretty lucky on Tassie so far, with just a few more target birds to hope for, Tawny-cowned Honey, Cape Barren Goose, Spotless Crake, and given a miracle Aus Bittern or the (splitable?) Masked Owl.So glad I finally caught up with that sneaky little green thing though! And thanks for your input folks.Forgot to add Little Penguin to trip list, so:1235 Little Penguin1236 STRIATED CALAMANTHUSPS We didn't do too well for mammals on Bruny but had fantastic views of a platypus playing in Horseshoe Waterfall at Mount Field NP near Hobart. It came right out of the water. Parked up up Mount Wellington last night. Fantastic view from the top. Saw Flame Robin and Bassian Thrush on the trail between Chalet and Organ pipes this morning.</blockquote>

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