Sara and I rose at 4am so Michelle could drop us at the upstream end of Roy Creek, about a half hour’s drive from here, just before sunrise. The two of us set off, each with GPS, field notebook, binoculars, speakers, food, and five liters (12 pounds) of water, for a long, rough day of fairy-wren surveying.

We walked a transect along the creek for seven kilometers to a point farther south, playing fairy-wren tapes every 100m. Diabolical grass seeds, heat and humidity, sunburn, thick vegetation, ticks, slips, falls, and scratches combined for tough going, and it took us almost 11 hours to cover those seven ks. In early afternoon, both of our GPS units failed simultaneously; one went in the creek (along with data sheets and, well, the whole researcher), and the other simply died – suicide, maybe. By the time Michelle picked us up at a prearranged point in mid-afternoon, we were happy to retreat with observations of 11 fairy-wrens, as well as 15 Black Fruit Bats, a pair of Golden-headed Cisticolas, and several Brown Quail. Popsicles and burritos for dinner were well-deserved!