Ross,
That is an incredible photo on the Weakly Timed site.
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
On 28/02/2013, at 11:27, "Ross Macfarlane" <> wrote:
> This is definitely not an annual event. The consensus is no one has ever seen
> anything like it. One Ouyen local told me his wife was arranging a mini-bus
> to take people from the local nursing home down to see the birds as no one
> has seen this many in one place.
>
> (I have been having quite a few conversations with Ouyen-ites in the past
> month because the VMRG is organising its annual reporting back weekend there
> on 23-24 March - send me an email if you want details.)
>
> The nearest I can get to a similar sighting is that some of our members once
> saw about 12 malleefowl feeding in the same place in a clearing at the
> southern end of Wandown FFR in the early evening.
>
> The prevailing wisdom is the malleefowl are feeding on canola thrown off the
> grain trucks, but my Dad told me someone had dissected a road-kill bird and
> found mostly native seeds. The bird was apparently in good condition.
>
> Our general view is this is unusual behaviour and therefore it's probably not
> a good sign, but we don't know. The birds have had 3 very good breeding
> seasons after the improved rains, but this past season has been the best
> despite a dry winter.
>
> Here's a couple of links to stories about the sightings.
>
> The ABC one includes an interview with Colleen Barnes from Ned's Corner who
> talk the now-famous photo.
> http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/02/11/3687952.htm
>
> This one from the Weekly Times aka the pink comic book includes a quote which
> completely misrepresents what I told the reporter - but fortunately they've
> published my comment to correct the record.
> http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2013/02/15/559885_national-news.html
>
> Cheers,
> Ross Macfarlane
> Secretary
> Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group, Inc.
>
> www.malleefowlvictoria.org.au
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Philip Jackson
> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 8:12 PM
> To: Birding-Aus
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Malleefowl Bonanza
>
> A quick trip north to look for the reported Malleefowl along the
> Ouyen-Patchewollock Rd, was most successful. We saw 35 malleefowl feeding
> along the road between 6:15pm and 6:45pm. The birds were mainly in singles
> and pairs, with one group of three. The next morning we saw 8 Malleefowl
> along the same stretch of road at about 8:30am. I suspect that there would
> have been more birds earlier. To see so many of these enigmatic birds was an
> exciting and highly recommended birding experience.
>
> I do, however, have some questions. The birds were feeding on what I presume
> is spilt grain along with many Common Bronzewing Pigeons, Mallee Ringnecks
> and Red-rumped Parrots. Is this Malleefowl gathering an annual occurrence
> which has gone unreported in the past or a unique event? Is this large
> number of Malleefowl the result of a few years successful breeding who are
> now struggling after our current hot dry summer? We saw 35 Malleefowl along a
> 10km stretch of road. This seems to be a high population density. Is this
> usual or are the birds travelling large distances for an 'easy' feed?
>
> I would be most interested to hear other birders' opinions on what is
> happening here. When I think of my previous efforts to spot a Malleefowl!
>
> Philip Jackson
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