Colin and all,
They generally fly north through the Blue Mountains albeit by a
slightly convoluted route which seems to be determined by topography
and weather. Over my street this morning they were appearing from the
south then turning east or north-east around the head of an
amphitheatre. On some mornings they fly straight over my house,
northwards, and at other times they go more towards the west. As far
as I can tell these are all just small-scale fluctuations and part of
the general autumn northward movement.
I cannot explain the south-westerly flight direction at Lake
Macquarie, without knowing that area well.
Here in Katoomba a very good place to watch them is on Narrow Neck, a
long narrow peninsula dividing the Jamison and Megalong Valleys on
the southern side of town. The honeyeaters come up onto the plateau
at some point distant from the township and then follow the clifftops
northwards. Wherever the peninsula narrows to an isthmus the birds
are funnelled into a narrow pathway. For example this happens at a
point just beyond the Golden Stairs walking track head - on a good
day you can stand on the rocks beside the road at the bottom of the
steep paved hill and watch them streaming past. These are possibly
the same flocks that fly over my street a few kilometres further on.
Then again "my" birds might come up from the valley at Katoomba
Falls. I think the only way to accurately map their routes would be
to have an army of people at various points on the ground at the same
time on a good migration day, or else a few people madly tearing
around the bush following the flocks (I've tried this myself with
limited success)!
It's all so fascinating and mysterious.
cheers
Carol
At 11:35 AM +1000 22/4/06, Colin Driscoll wrote:
Carol, what direction were they flying? There have been continuous flocks
flying around the western edge of Lake Macquarie (Toronto area) this
morning- flying SW. Far too many for the Noisy Miners to keep up their
harrassment!
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Carol Probets
Sent: Saturday, 22 April 2006 10:48 AM
To:
Subject: [birding-aus] Over 7000 honeyeaters per hour
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