Twitching in Australia

Twitching of birds is alive and well in Australia. A few days ago someone reported the first ever sighting in Australia of a Grey Headed Lapwing. A report today estimates that over 60 birders have so far been to see this bird at Burren Junction in northern New South Wales. Now this number is tiny when compared to twitching in the USA or the UK where literally thousands of birders descend on the location of rare birds. But considering the vast size of Australia and its small population, this is probably the most twitched bird in Australian birding history with many more birders likely to visit over the coming weekend.

And that is amazing considering that it is in a rather remote location. To get there would take many hours of driving from any of the capital cities. At least 4 hours from Brisbane or Sydney, possibly 10-12 hours from Melbourne and 15 hours from Adelaide. These are very, very rough estimates just to give some idea of the effort some Aussie birders put in just to see one bird.

To see a photo of a Grey Headed Lapwing click here. Note: I did not take the photo nor do I intend driving all that distance to do so.