BirdingNZ.net

Many people will know Scot Butcher, a former ranger with the CHCH City Council and Project Mgr with North Shore City Council, and also ex-OSNZ Council member. Currently Scott is working as a VSA volunteer, focused on conservation projects, in Choiseul Province, northern Soloman Islands. He's had difficulty accessing forested habitats (as they are all privately owned) but has been monitoring a small wetland on Taro Island, just off Choiseul. He's picked up what appear to be 2 new species for Choiseul Province (and probably 2nd records for the Solomans)- Little Egret and Glossy Ibis. And with regulkar monitoring of the year he hopes to get some good seasonal occurrence information for waterbirds, and maybe pick up some more uncommon species records.

If you've visited the area Scott would certainly be interested in hearing of species records, advice on good sites, etc. These could be posted here and I'll pass on to Scott.

Have just been chatting with Scott - based on Taro, next to Choiseul. He's now picked up quite a number of provincial records and a number of records of species hitherto seldom reported from the Solomans. He seems to have a knack for finding Channel-billed Cuckoos - or they for finding him. I think he has the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th records from the Solomans. 4 in the tree in his garden is a bit of a coup! But he's been finding them at various other places. No Ground Cuckoos yet, but he's been closely monitoring a wetland next to the airport on Taro and has being doing well with shorebird and waterbird sightings - habitat for which is generally scarce in his part of the Solomans