Hi Birders,
Mike Barth and I spent several hours in Aberdare SF south of Cessnock
checking out for Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters yesterday 13/8/05.
Our first stop was about 1km from Pelton, where I had seen Swift Parrots
one month before. At a site about 1km NE Pelton (S32 53 10, E151 18 58),
where we spent from 1050-1140 hrs we managed to locate 14+ birds. They were
feeding on lerps in Rough-barked Apple, Broad-leafed Ironbark and Spotted
Gum while about 10% of the Spotted Gums, particularly the older trees were
still flowering and some may have also be taking nector as well. The birds
were very quiet, and were it not for a short time when they decided to talk
to each over, we would have missed them. They were scattered in an area of
about 3 ha. Also present at this site were 12+ Grey-crowned Babblers, while
Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters were seen feeding dependent young on two occasions
and Little Lorikeets were feeding in the Spotted Gums flowers.
A shift to site further up the ridgeabout 3 km NE Pelton, where again about
10% of Spotted Gum was flowering, no target species werew seen.
At Black Creek, about 1 km south of Kitchener in the forest, where both
Regents and Swifties were present in 2000, no target species were seen
either. However there were plenty of Honeyeaters here including
Yellow-tufted, Yellow-faced and White-naped, Eastern Spinebill, Noisy
Friarbird and Bellminer. Of interest here was a group of Varied Sitellas at
a nest.
Finally we stopped at Kitchener itself and walked back into the forest, but
again no target species, although pair of Swans on the wetland had 5
cygnets, a good breeding record.
Alan Morris
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