Hello everyone,
This is just some notes on early feedback on the Swift Parrot counts.
It appears that the best counts have come from the Maryborough-Bendigo
St.Arnaud region. Three observers have sent in forms for this area, and did
they
have a picnic! 270 birds between them, at about 15 locations. All these birds
were using either Grey Box or Yellow Gum, both are flowering and have lerps on
them. The Swifties have hit the Red Ironbark in the whipstick forest near
Bendigo- They are thick in there, moving around in small groups among a
cacophony of small honeyeaters. The evening before last I stopped on a road in
the Whipstick to count the birds as they flew west, probably to a roost site
(which I havent found). In 15 minutes I counted 88 birds, all flying west.
The other side of the story is that NE Victoria and NSW western slopes have
been very quiet indeed, with results to date indicating few or no birds from
these
districts. Comments like"very dry", "no blossom" and "few birds" have been
frequent. It appears that there are no swifties in the Capertee at the moment,
and some traditionally good spots in NE Victoria had few or no birds.
New South Wales east of the divide and central western Victoria has accounted
for most of the birds to date.
Simon Kennedy
"There goes a swifty"
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