Annabel wrote
>
> ...Regular spring arrivals that haven't made it this year include striped
> honeyeaters, western and yellow throated gerygones, white browed wood
> swallows, southern whitefaces and I haven't even seen a mistletoe bird.
>......
Dear Annabel
I live in Melbourne ( Victoria on the South coast; and for those who don't know
where Gunnedah is its in NSW inland and NW of Sydney ). The season is certainly
an odd one. I suspect that absolute numbers are down but species are turning up
that are very uncommon in other years.
Out and about in Vic. Rufous Songlarks are present in unusual numbers and its a
bumper year for Cuckoos. Black Kites have made an early run of it and
Letter-winged Kite has been reported from Werribee. White-throated Gerygones
are
numerous in the Goldfields and Northern Regions and there are plenty of
White-browed Woodswallows up Chiltern way and also the Mistletoebirds.
I suspect that the message in this is that ENSO induced drought has hurt
absolute
population size and displaced species from their normal pattern BUT they've
been
through this many times before and even the bloody Sparrows will recover when
La
Nina brings some rain our way. But by all means turn into a radical greenie.
Regards
Rob Berry
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