Accessing birding data for Mallacoota

From my experience the best data set to use for longer term broad-scale information about the birds in an area is eBird.  The Birdlife Australia Birdata application has some benefits, but is far less popular so I will discuss that later.  I will also conclude with some personal thoughts comparing eBird with Birdata.

Use of Ebird 

There are several ways of getting at the data of which the most authoritative is the final data which can be downloaded (at no cost).  There are a few inconveniences about this process:

1. The smallest geographic unit in Australia for which data can be downloaded is the LGA level (in our case East Gippsland.  The file of all records is about 25 Mb which can make an impact on download limits, and a file of records for the past 6 months is 0.5 - 1.0 Mb.
2. East Gippsland is about 8,000 sq miles in area (bigger than 6 States of the US) so I have to subset the data to make it relevant to Mallacoota.  (It would be reely reely good if eBird had a polygon tool as does Birdata (see below). but this seems to not to be realised by the mega-brains at Cornell who need to get out and talk to their users a little more.)
3. The names used by eBird Central (at Cornell U, in upstate New York) use "American" names not those in the Australian portal to eBird used for data entry .  For example:
1. You'd think a country that can put a man on the moon could spell 'Grey' properly.  
2. You'd think that Australians should say whether Chenonetta jubatta is called Australian Wood Duck or Maned Duck.  
4. Nope.  So every update requires a couple of hours fiddling to get it consistent with existing data downloaded and cleaned for previous months.
5. The  data for a month doesn't become available until the 15th of the following month.  This allows time for records to be submitted but is a cramp when trying to produce timely output.

However it is possible to do what is needed with some fiddling around.  

My observations

My starting point is to get a list of what I have seen in the area.  This used to generate a list of sites visited during a period from which those out of the area of interest could be deleted.  However eBird was then "improved" so that the the list of birds seen could only be limited to an LGA: see point 2 above.  I then delete birds listed only seen elsewhere in the shire (eg Cann River; Cape Conran).  I can then use the list of species I have seen. By way of example this gave a basic list of 94 species for December 2020.

Another inconvenience rears its head in that the name of species appears in the form "Common Name - scientific name".  The problem is that most of my information is stored under common name only.  So the next step is to split the name field.  As the EXCEL facility Data>Text to Columns only works on a single character (and splitting on '-' causes havoc as many common names use hyphens eg Black-faced Cuckooshrike) the requires a further step to replace ' - ' with '#'.  Then split the name on the character '#'.

I then import the list of names to my ACCESS database as a table with a name in the form "t <date> MB <month>".  My next step is to add to that table any incidental records I have accumulated from reports to the Mallacoota Birds FB group, conversations with residents, eBird rare bird alerts etc.  This step added about 10 species in December 2020.

As an aside, if the rare bird report alerts me to the presence of someone I consider to be an expert birder visiting the area I will often look at the checklist concerned which can give rise to several other additional species.  No names. no pack drill!

Other Observations x Hotspot

My next step is to go to the eBird "Explore>Explore Hotspots" page and enter the word Mallacoota.  That gives a list with 20 entries of which I start by selecting "Mallacoota, East Gippsland, AU-VIC".  That is a generic site of little use for detailed studies but given my aim is to generate a list for a fairly large area it is fit for purpose, especially as many visitors use the hotspot for all their observations during a short stay.  I typically scan the list of species shown within the month of interest (filtered as part of the eBird process) and note the names of species not previously included in my list.  I then append the new names to the table "<date> MB <month>".

I repeat this for other popular hotspots: this usually includes Captain Stevenson's Point, Bastion Point, Betka Beach, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Gipsy Point; Howe Flat.  This added about 20 species.

Other Observations  x Species

The first step in this is to compile a list of the species seen for the study month in other years, using my ACCESS database.  I then use an ACCESS query wizard to identify the species seen previously in the month and not for this year (which I refer to as MIAs (Missing in Action).  In doing this I score the number previous reports of each of the species to prioritise remaining investigations.

I then work my way down the list of MIA sorted by number of previous records.  The next step is to use the eBird Explore>Species Maps facility.  I enter a species name and zoom the map to show my area of interest around Mallacoota.  If the species has been seen in the last month an orange pin is shown and I add the name to the table.  If no orange appears I move to the next species.

The process is rather time consuming and thus I tend to desist when I have had several species which continue as MIA.  In December 2020 this step added about 20 species to the list.

Use of Birdata

This application has improved dramatically in recent years.  When first launched it appeared to be only useful for repeated scientific-quality surveys of limited appeal to recreational birders (or indeed professional birders working more widely).  Thus most birders took up eBird and, having put in the effort to get their life lists into eBird, and become familiar with using the app in the field, continue to use it.  However some folk do use Birdata to report for the Mallacoota region so I scan the output for the application each month to see if additional species have been reported.  There are 3 major advantages for Birdata:

1. The names used are those commonly used in Australia and are in most cases the official common names for the species; and
2. It is possible to download data for a custom polygon which is a massive benefit for analytical purposes; and
3. Once reported, the data is available more or less instantly across the whole system (rather than having to wait 15 days as with eBird)

The access path to Birdata output may not be familiar to readers so here is an annotated screenshot of how I get at, and use, it.

The yellow arrows point to the 5 sites for which data has been reported in the month.  Note the polygon I have drawn (1) which is close enough to the same as my definition of the Mallacoota area I use in eBird.  Dates are set at (2) to filter results for the month of concern.  I have circled (3) the observation of Painted Button-quail (in eBird, Painted Buttonquail) as that is not included in the eBird output.  (As an aside there are only 3 reports of Painted Buttonquail in all eBird data for the area, none in December.)  So I have added Painted Buttonquail to my table for the monthly report.

Comparison of EBird and Birdata

I stress that what follows is my personal views which, with $5, will get you a cup of nice coffee at Lucies'.  It is my strong belief that the two organisations should work harder to exchange data, since I believe that considerable useful information is lost to researchers under the current arrangements.

I also stress that what follows is written from a perspective of data utility for reporting birds seen each month in the Mallacoota area.  As Birdata is (quite reasonably) restricted to Australia it will have less appeal to those who - if the national borders ever open - travel for birding and have world-wide lists.

The advantage of eBird is well illustrated by elements in the graphic above.

1. The Birdata report covers 5 locations in the area.  I have personally submitted reports for 16 areas in December 2020 and know that others have reported for many more areas.  However data for the area as a whole is not yet available (see point 5 under inconveniences above).  In December 2019, which is probably broadly comparable in terms of birding effort, 41 locations were birded (a few of these - at a glance 4 names affecting 2 localities - are different only in the detail of the locality name (eg Pebble Beach is obviously a typo for Pebbly Beach) so perhaps 39 localities is a better measure).
2. The Birdata report covers 52 species.  At the time of writing eBird has 157 species for the area.  

I mentioned some advantages of Birdata above.  A further point is that Birdata is focused on Australia and can be influenced by Australian Birders.  In contrast there are 614,000 eBirders worldwide as against 13,000 in Australia: which is the dog and which the tail is clear.

Some supporters of Birdata complain that eBird data is of lower quality as "anyone can report anything".  I do not accept that view since:

• eBird data is routinely reviewed to the extent sensible by very experienced moderators familiar with the areas involved;
• filters to identify likely errors are set at quite tight levels in eBird and reviewed as often as possible (of course, the difficulty with making a system idiot-proof is that 'they' keep making bigger idiots); and 
• I have seen extremely dodgy reports enter, and remain for some time in, the Birdata dataset.  By way of example a report of Black Currawong (a Tasmanian endemic) was shown against Central Victoria for several years.

A further criticism of eBird is that the much used travelling and incidental protocols in eBird are too loose for scientific analysis.  Again I do not accept this since:

• the incidental protocol is clearly identified and if wished those records can be filtered out of an analysis;
• Many of the travelling protocols must by definition fit within Birdata protocols.  For example any eBird travelling record with a distance >1km and < 5km must fit within a Birdata 5km radius protocol.

From my view it is difficult, without invoking attractive conspiracy theories, to understand why the two systems cannot talk to each other.  It would be extremely beneficial for birders, analysts and birds if the two groups could work together on data exchange so that the benefits of both systems became available through a common interface.  

An expedition to Howe Flat

 I was invited to join Wendy, a visitor from Melbourne, on a walk along the Howe Flat track.  We used the services of Mallacoota Hire Boats to ferry us across to the Parks Jetty.  The trip over took about 40 minutes and was a little damp from the chop below the boat and a shower above it.  We got a few birds along the way, mainly hauled out on the Goodwin Sands.  We were dropped off at 12:40 and were scheduled for Rohan to return at 16:00 to pick us up: this gave us some parameters to guide our times.

Here is the approximate route we followed (for reasons that escape me now - and that I really don't want to think about in detail because they would be too embarrassing - I didn't have the eBird track logger running).  According too Google Earth this is 2.8km each way With a ridge to be ascended in each direction.

We had not gone too far when Wendy spotted a large reptile looking up a big tree, which it duly ascended.

I do think they are attractive beasts.  I do not think about what those claws could do, if one got between the goanna and where they wanted to go

A view of the forest on the ridge.

A magnificent old tree - I suspect an Angophora.

This shows the nature of the vegetation on the Howe Flat.  Basically a dense tangle of shrubs.  I think these are mainly Meleleuca sp.  

It also shows where the "road" crosses Howe Creek which we took as our turning point.  It took us about an hour to get here with brisk walking and a few pauses to investigate interesting bird sounds,  There is a boardwalk crossing the Creek which we took but the foot path beyond the boards looked rather more muddy than we felt like exploring in our limited time (and non-waterproof footwear).

Coming back slightly from the Creek this is where the track heads off to the beach.  

As we didn't make contact with either of our target species: Ground Parrot (Wendy) or Eastern Bristlebird (Martin),I suspect that attacking from the beach with 1.5 km of heath might be a better approach if the mouth can be crossed.

On the way back we we able to look around a little and were surprised to find the track was a very short distance from the shore of the Inlet.

A Caspian Tern was taking 5 on a sandbar.

Just after I commented about not having seen a single orchid we came across this Dipodium roseum (and did notice a few others on the more relaxed walk back).

The most surprising thing on the way back was finding a car coming along the track towards us!  Someone coming camping.  

Rohan was waiting for us and we trundled back.  The wind had died down and the showers had moved on giving a gentle ride back.

We ended with 34 species of birds with a few other "observations" of noises-off such as clattering wings of a departing pigeon, that we didn't identify to species.

Sundry Wildlife

 Pretty much just a set of wildlife photographs.

We often have Silver Gulls fly over but this was the first time they have taken a snack.

A walk along the Casuarina Walk showed a good lot of flowers and fruit.  Olearia myrsinoides, showing the shape of the leaves rather well..

Fruit of Dianella caerulea.

Dipodium rosea

In the evening at least 3 Red-necked Wallabies were grazing over the fence.

Using my flash, with the animal at least 15m away, revealed its inner demonic nature.

The next morning (21 December) I had driven in to the Bakery and on return saw someone parked on the path on Lakeside drive looking into a tree.  Excellent warning of a koala presence!  With bonus joey!!!

That was a phone snap so I went back with a better camera and grand-daughters to get another!

The joey's grip seemed a bit tenuous but it held on well as Mum shinned up the tree.  I left them in peace and when we walked past 40 minutes later she had gone elsewhere.

Parrots

 The first few images are of a pair of Australian King-Parrots that have taken to visiting our deck.  They're quite unafraid of me - allowing me within about 50 cm.

Payng with focus!

Later in the afternoon I became aware of a lot of noise coming from the blossom on some Angophoras on the next block.  This was feeding Musk Lorikeets.  The light was very murky for photographing birds against a dark background but I think the snaps show the marks needed.

This first image shows the range of colours visible when they are in flight.

An outing to Cann River

 As Janine and Roger had come East for a few days we arranged to meet them in Cann River for coffee and then head off to explore a few spots.  We were joined at Wild Rye by Joe Stephens who shared his local knowledge with us.  This enabled a PLAN to be developed (quoting the late Sir Terry Pratchett via the Wee Nac Mac Feegles "Now we have a plan, all we need is towork out what we're going to do.")

Step 1 of the PLAN was to go to the Beehive Falls on WB Line Rd, about 20 km up the Monaro Highway which was an existing eBird Hotspot.  According to the altimeter in the Pajero the Falls are 450m AMSL.

Here is a slightly better map of the area from iNaturalist.  The x is - I think - the location of the falls.

We started a bird list where we turned off the highway 

...  and added to it as we drove up about 3 km to the Falls and added quite a few more species at the end circle (in the middle of the blue line) where we stopped for a snuffle. 

These are a couple of images of the Falls, which didn't have a great flow.

A close up of the Falls, trying to get the milky effect that good photographers get with flowing water.

As we drove along we spotted a few Dipodium rosea (Rosy Hyacinth Orchid).

At the last stop there were a few, somewhat used, Caleana major (Large Flying Duck Orchids.

A large Persoonia sp (Geebung) - I think at the high point.

Lobelia gibbosa: this species is having an excellent year from the coast upwards.  I presume the fire has removed much of the competition.

Lomatia ilicifolia: also flowering much more this year that I have ever seen before.  I have made the image large because (a) its spiffy and (b) that shows the visiting ants better!

A Chrysocephalum, probably C. baxteri.

A mystery plant.  I have called this Wedding Bush in the past.  Frances was dubious about that ID, as was Janine today, so I shall lob it into iNaturalist.  Advice there is definitely genus Olearia with a suggestion of O. myrsinoides with O. erubescens as another possibility.  Looking at those two species in Vic Flora suggests that there is no clear distinction between the two species: the leaves are the best marker but even they seem to have a fair overlap in shape.  Lump them!

This is a species of Senecio (groundsel) which was rather tall with a purple stem.  Flora of Victoria lists 45 species possible in East Gippsland so I settle at genus level.

This is a leaf beetle Paropsis atomaria which seemed quite happy walking around on Rogers hand.

The iNaturalist app reckons this next one is Ecnolagria grandis the Honeybrown Beetle.  However a  guru on iNaturalist reckons it is only identifiable to subTribe Lagriina (within which the Honeybrown Beetle, along with 5 other genera, is classified).

This was a cicada.

A couple of the termite mounds had taken some serious damage during the fire.  As a naturalist friend commented there is a lot of organic material in such mounds.

There was much discussion about just what this was, ptions included scat; a coughed up pellet and a nest under construction.  It was being well visited by ants but some of the components looked a bit large for ants to schlep around.

We were the second group to visit this area, recording 16 species, bringing the area total to 20 taxa.  While none of the species were rare, I think it is worth revisiting as the vegetation continues to regenerate.

We then drove up Buldah Rd to check the vegetation in the bed of Chandlers Creek.  Basically all burnt out.  I wouldn't say the area looked regressive, but I would have panicked if someone had turned up with a banjo (even more than I usually get alarmed if a banjo appears).

On the way up to WB Line Rd, Janine had heard the distinctive call of a Rufous Songlark so we had to stop to see if we could relocate it.  It turned out the spot was the junction of West Cann Rd and the Monaro Highway a little North of Noorinbee.  

When we arrived the weather greeted us by changing from 'average' to 'ordinary' so scoffing the lunch we had purchased from Wild Rye was in order.  I had a steak and kidney pie which on the official pie rating scale scored a pure 7.  That is not a bad rating - the cellophane wrapped jobbie at Chillagoe scored 0, and probably only got that high because I was damn hungry.  However today's sample lost 3 points because it was barely warm: not surprising since it had been sitting in the car for about 2 hours!  So the honest rating should be 10, as is typical for a Wild Rye pie.

We had some discussion about a call we heard with a choice between Mistletoebird and Jacky Winter.  As we saw a heap of Jacky Winters but no parasitic plants - let alone the birds named after them -  the conclusion was the Robins won.  Here is a photo of one of them.

We did eventually work out where the Songlark was calling from (in fact there were two of them) and it then proceeded to fly round us as we stood at our turn point.  Every time I tried to photograph it on auto mode my camera focused on veg nearer than the bird.   Every time I switched to manual mode the bird flew away just as I zoomed in on it.  This is the best I got - I leave it to you to imagine what the bad shots look like.

We recorded against a new personal Location, which should appear, once moderated as "Monaro Hwy at West Cann Rd South". Our list of 27 species is here.  (Later in the day Joe rang to say a Channel-billed Cuckoo had been reported from what sounded exactly like this spot!)

Our final call was to the Cann River Rainforest Walk which starts in the caravan park beside the highway.

Here is a particularly rainforesty area.

This weir on the Cann River produced an Australasian Reed-Warbler and looked to have potential for lots of other stuff.

Throughout the area were many fruited plants.  These attractive small red berries were Coprosma quadrifida (Prickly currant bush - and they did look rather like Red Currants) 

Lower in the profile were some Dianella - I think D. caerulea.

Definitely a Clematis and I will go for the default C. aristata.

I hope someone will get to this with a set of secateurs and some Round-up (or Agent Orange - I'm not fussy).   Honeysuckle is not what is needed in this lovely area.

There were many Muttonwood trees around, most with a lot of developing fruit.  It should be Pigeon heaven in a little while.  In the meantime it seems to have have attracted a far less desirable species, Taxonomist vulgaris: in some places it is called Myrsine howittiana and in others Rapeana howittiana.  Flora of Victoria doesn't register Muttonwood at all!

While Janine and I were looking at the weir we heard a loud squeak which we recognised as the alarm call of Frances.  She had come across a 1.6 m Red-bellied Black Snake try to absorb a few rays (although there were few rays available. at the time).  It didn't hang around for a photo but disappeared down its hole- possibly 5cm diameter.

 Common Brown Butterflies were quite common.

So were Yellow-faced Honeyeaters.

This young (by streaks) Brown Goshawk was quite chatty and very cooperative.

A Red Wattlebird was enjoying a Coprosma.

Our list for this site - proposed as a hotspot "Cann River Rainforest Walk" to distinguish it from the generic "Cann River"  hotspot"- contains 39 species (of which I saw 33)

.

After this Frances and I were feeling our years and headed for home.  The birdlist for the outing was 58 species of which I observed 56.