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 The annual fund-raising Twitchathon takes place on the last weekend of October each year. It's a bird watching competition which you can take as seriously (the Main race) or as lightly (the Champagne Race) as you please. The aim is to have fun, see as many birds as you can in 24 hours and raise money by sponsorship for a bird conservation project. You can start anywhere in NSW or the ACT or a place of your own choice.Prizes go to individuals and teams (what crazy team name can you come up with?) for the most funds raised, the rarest bird and most species seen. Children receive a special children's kit and prizes too.
The 2010 Twitchathon, organised by BASNA, will be held on 30-31 October - commencing at 4 pm on Saturday 30 October and finishing 4 pm Sunday 31 October.
This year's Twitchathon aims to raise money to assist both the Murray region's NCWG Bush Stonecurlew Captive Breeding and Release Project, and the Kangaroo Island SA Glossy Black Cockatoo Recovery Project.
The Bush Stone-curlew Project involves an informative education campaign about these birds, a variety of on-ground habitat works, and the promotion of an extensive predator control program amongst the local landholders. It also provides support and management for a captive breeding and release program for this threatened woodland bird. Working under a Scientific License from DECCW and Animal Ethics Approval from DPI, their Bush Stone-curlew program first commenced in 2002 with a breeding facility being established at Jindera NSW. There are now two breeding facilities located within the Murray Catchment - the original base at Jindera which houses four pairs of curlews, and the other at Moulamein which currently has five breeding pairs. In October 2008 they undertook their first release of 15 captive-bred Bush Stone-curlews at Moulamein. This was followed in 2009 by the release of a further 11 birds. Their tracking and monitoring data has indicated that the majority of these released birds have successfully survived. Currently there are another 13 Bush Stone-curlews being prepared for release in spring 2010. Our Twitch funds will assist in predator control, maintenance of release pens, and monitoring of released birds.
On Kangaroo Island SA, a Glossy Black Cockatoo Recovery Project was established in 1995, and there has been a gradual increase in the population from less than 200 to 340-360 birds in 2009. The Glossy Black Cockatoo is a specialist feeder, relying almost entirely on seed on the Drooping Sheoak, Allocasuarina verticillata. The Glossies are threatened by nest predation from the Common Brush-tailed Possum, nest hollow competition from feral honeybees, Little Corellas and Galahs, and a shortage of suitable nest hollows. Inappropriate fire regimes, drought, and land subdivision continue to contribute to losses of feeding and nesting habitat or reduction of its quality. The Glossy Black Rescue Fund is maintained by the Nature Foundation of South Australia. Our sponsorship money will be given to the GBRF to be used to help keep core project activities going such as annual nest box maintenance, annual census, and nest monitoring and revegetation/habitat restoration works. This Twitchathon 2010 aims to raise about $20,000 to assist these two projects, with $10,000 going to each.
How to Join the Twitchathon
Contact Pixie Tel: 02 9647 1033 or
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at the BASNA Office for your 2010 Twitchathon Kit.
Form a team with two or even a dozen friends and family and go birdwatching over this October weekend. You can travel anywhere in NSW and/or the ACT. See how many species of birds your team can find between 4 pm Saturday and 4 pm Sunday.
Get Sponsors
In the weeks before this event, persuade family and friends to sponsor you so many cents or even dollars for each species your team sees. You just need lots of little sponsorships or a few big ones. There are prizes for the most species seen by two winning teams in the Main Race and the Champagne Race Sections, as well as prizes for the most money raised, the rarest bird seen by an individual, and prizes for children. There are also prizes to the team that sees the most birds in the shortest distance travelled, providing that they see over 180 species in the Main Race and 130 species in the Champagne. Participants in the two main races are invited to record the distance travelled from 4pm on the Saturday to 4pm on the Sunday.
Prizes
The prizes include trophies, a pair of EL 8.5x42 WB Swarovision Binoculars, a weekend in a motel at Leeton with a personal guided tour of the internationally famous Ramsar site Fivebough Swamp Wetlands (sponsored by the Fivebough & Tuckerbil Wetland Trust), 2 nights for two at Chorleywood B&B at Burradoo - a known birding site, a digital camera, books, book vouchers, champagne, wine, special T-shirts, and other prizes to go to the winners in the various categories of the Twitchathon.
Don't think that you have to be an A-class birdwatcher to take part. Whichever method you chose for your Twitchathon - the laid back (i.e. the Champagne Race), the deadly serious, or the donor only version - remember it is all about educating others into the importance of nature conservation, particularly the conservation of Australian birds. Last year we raised $24,000 and the two years before $23,000 and $17,000 respectively. This is a great achievement and we have been able to make a significant difference for the birds in the Cowra District, the Education Unit at Gluepot Reserve and the Discovery Centre at Sydney Olympic Park, the Australian Bird Study Association Research Fund, the Gosford Friends of the Bush Stone Curlew, the Hunter Bird Observers Club's Shorebird Roost Protection Scheme, and BASNA IBA Monitoring project.
Major Sponsors for 2010
Swarovski Optics
Fivebough & Tuckerbil Wetland Trust
Digital Camera Warehouse
Alison Green T-Shirts
Chorleywood B&B
Andrew Isles Natural History Books
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