Leaden Flycatcher
Myiagra rubecula
Monarchidae
The movements of the Leaden Flycatcher are poorly understood. There are several subspecies, making interpretation difficult. In northern Australia, some populations of Leaden Flycatchers are resident. On the other hand, populations which breed in south-eastern Australia are highly migratory, vacating their breeding grounds and flying north to winter in eastern and north-eastern Queensland, with a few birds crossing Torres Strait to winter in southern New Guinea. The extent of these movements is not known as it is often difficult to distinguish different subspecies in the field.
Description
The Leaden Flycatcher is a small bird, mainly dark blue grey above and white below, with a small crest and a broad black-tipped blue bill surrounded by small bristles. It is sexually dimorphic (two forms), with males having entirely dark blue-grey upperparts, head and chest, while females have a blue-grey head and back with a distinctive reddish orange chin, throat and breast merging gradually into white lower parts, as well as a pale eye-ring. Young birds are brown-grey above with streaked wings and mottled brown chests with a reddish wash.
Similar Species
The Leaden Flycatcher is similar to both the Broad-billed Flycatcher,M. ruficollis, and the Satin Flycatcher, M. cyanoleuca. Both sexes of the Broad-billed Flycatcher are similar in colouring, but lighter and less glossy, to the female Leaden Flycatcher. They differ by having a broader, wide-based bill and a brighter orange on the chest; this species is also found only in far northern tropical habitats. The very similar (and sexually dimorphic) Satin Flycatcher has females and young birds that tend to be darker above, while the males have more glossy heads and chests and a darker chest, wings and tail.
Distribution
The Leaden Flycatcher is found across northern Australia and down the east coast of Australia, from the Kimberley region, Western Australia to eastern Victoria. It is a vagrant to the Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia and to Tasmania. It is also found in New Guinea and nearby islands.
Habitat
The Leaden Flycatcher is found in tall and medium open forests, mainly in coastal areas, preferring drier habitats than the Satin Flycatcher.
Feeding
The Leaden Flycatcher feeds on insects caught while on the wing or gleaned from foliage. They feed in the mid-canopy, darting from tree to tree in pairs or alone, perching only briefly on exposed twigs where they call and fan their short crests.
Breeding
The Leaden Flycatcher builds a shallow, cup-shaped nest of bark and grass held together by spider web and decorated with pieces of bark and lichen, on an exposed limb about 3 m to 25 m above the ground. Both sexes build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the young. Unlike most other flycatchers, both adults may call from the nest.
The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates
This Wherigo converts your player into a virtual version of the "Reverse Cache Box" which tells you the bearing to the cache, but not the distance. You may begin your search from any spot in the world using your Smartphone or Whereigo compatible GPS to navigate to the cache.
**As the cartridge produces whole number degrees, the triangulation is not accurate from long distances especially if the 2 readings are taken close together producing an acute angle at intersection, so don't be disheartened by a GZ that seems wrong, go near there and take more readings.**
The cartridge was created by day1976 and is available to download from the wherigo website. day1976's Open Source Reverse Wherigo .
Start up the player, find and load the cartridge. > NewGame > Find a Geocache > Answer > Enter First Code > xxxxx > Answer > Enter Second Code > xxxxx > Answer > The bearing to this Geocache is xxx degrees. This bearing is from where you are standing. It is now up to you how many times you relocate and obtain different bearings so as to triangulate the cache. The ultimate goal would be to find the cache with just one bearing reading, but for most, it would need a minimum of two bearings. Bearings are with respect to True North, so If using an OS map, allowances will have to be made, as Grid North, Magnetic North, and True North are all different!
To begin, you will have to type these two codes into your player when prompted:
jm35a
5v875
It is suggested that you take the code with you on your journey. It will be needed if it becomes necessary to restart your player for any reason.
Have Fun!
How to download the Whereigo Cartridge
You may begin your search from any spot in the world using a Whereigo compatible GPS unit or phone app.
Link to day1976's Open Source Reverse Wherigo cartridge.
Log into wherigo.com using your geocaching.com player name and password. The cartridge type used on phone apps is the Pocket PC Device.