Over the past few weeks in Gippsland (on the south side
of the Great Dividing Range) I have seen excellent
flowering of Red Ironbarks. However, most blossom was past
its best and the ground underneath several trees was also
covered with discarded blossom. The probable "culprits"
that were still on site were many Red Wattlebirds and good
numbers of Crescent Honeyeaters and Eastern Spinebills. I
thought that there was a chance of seeing Regent
Honeyeaters given the state of flowering and historical
records from south to east Gippsland but no luck! Maybe I
was too late into the flowering? There were no Swift
Parrots either and the only lorikeets in the district were
in different forest types to the east around Bairnsdale and
Bruthen.
It's worth checking all these areas as there are plenty of
interesting birds and mammals about.
Cheers
George
On Mon, 10 Aug 1998 10:50:37 +1000
wrote:
> We checked State forest
areas in the Fryers Ranges area (between Malmsbury
> -Castlemaine-Guildford in central Victoria) and drew a blank for Regent
> Honeyeaters and Swift Parrots. Only ironbarks were flowering -
> box/stringybark areas were pretty quiet generally. The ground below the
> flowering Ironbarks was littered with discarded blossom, some of it looking
> very fresh, but we only saw one pair of Little Lorikeets and a few
> scattered Crimson Rosellas, so I think the bulk of the culprits had shot
> through. Lots of other Honeyeaters - Fuscous, White-naped, Black-chinned,
> Brown-headed, Yellow-faced, Yellow-tufted and the odd White-plumed and
> White-eared, plus a couple of Spinebills and heaps of Red Wattlebirds.
> Also heard our first Fan-tailed Cuckoo of the season on Saturday. Record
> sheets are on their way to David and Simon. The weather was great and all
> in all it was a good weekend.
>
> How did other people go?
>
> Regards,
>
> Jack Krohn
>
>
----------------------
George Appleby
Arthur Rylah Institute
123 Brown Street
(P.O. Box 137)
Heildelberg
Victoria 3084
telephone 03 9450 8656
fax 03 9450 8799
|
