The Pointer Sisters led the way in the quest to find a rare and protected bird ¬- the stubble quail.
With keen eye, ear and nose the Sisters came with all the equipment for their unique trade to locate the elusive bird hidden in a grassy, wet paddock in the wild country surrounding Bothwell.
The Pointer Sisters, of course, are dogs. To be more precise they are named Tessa and Maggie, Tessa a German short-haired pointer and Maggie a Vizsla-German short-haired cross.
To see the pointers at work, standing motionless “on point” when they had picked up the scent of both stubble and the more common brown quail, was a remarkable sight, almost as good as seeing the birds themselves finally taking flight.
The dogs were under the command of a member of the fishing and hunting fraternity, Les Baker, who with another sportsman, Guy Nicholson, had taken me to areas where they had flushed quails in the past.
Guy Nicholson, a keen birder who like myself hails from Britain, had promised a day of action and he did not disappoint.
Close to the quail territory he had spotted a banded plover in a paddock and more rare and unusual bird sightings were to follow. Another highlight was a wheeling flock of blue-winged parrots, a migratory species which tend to leave Tasmania in winter before returning from the mainland in spring.
It was a perfect winter’s day for birding, and as I travelled to Bothwell with fellow birder Denis Abbott the sun was burning off a lingering frost from grass verges. We then stalked open country framed by wooded hills, the snow-capped peaks of Mt Field National Park looming in the background.
Besides the birds, it was interesting to enter the world of the hunter and hear their perspective on hunting and conservation. Although I eschew hunting myself, it’s easy to see how sportsmen and birders share an affinity for the great outdoors. It’s in the interests of both to protect environments and maintain healthy numbers of wild creatures that inhabit them.
Guy Nicholson said hunters made a big contribution financially in protecting the Tasmanian bush and its flora and fauna. As he spoke, a juvenile wedge-tailed eagle landed in a newly ploughed field and he said people who randomly shot protected creatures gave genuine hunters a bad name. In recent weeks the shooting of a wedge-tailed eagle had made headlines, with pictures of the bird receiving treatment from wildlife carers.
The eagle we were watching on this occasion had nothing more to worry about than ravens trying to send it on its way.
Over lunch served from the tailboard of Les Baker’s four-wheel drive, Guy Nicholson was at pains to stress the hunting fraternity always acted responsibly and ethically.
“And it’s about sustainability,” chimed in Les, who added that his greatest pleasure was seeing his dogs at work.