While looking (unsuccessfully) for Swift Parrots at Yellow Gums Estate,
Ocean Grove, very late on Saturday afternoon, I found a single Fantailed
Cuckoo (or Fan-tailed Cuckoo for the purists). It was perched on a dead
branch but flew before I could get close enough for a photo. I glimpsed it
again when I followed it, and then heard it call from a bit further away
(or possibly another bird).
This is a fantastic bit of woodland remnant adjoining the Ocean Grove
Nature Reserve. Swifties have been seen there for the last few weeks, and
there can be over 10 parrot and cockatoo species on a good day:
Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Yellow-tailed Black and Gang-gang Cockatoo, more often in winter
Eastern, and occasionally Crimson Rosella
SB, Rainbow, Musk and Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Red-rumped Parrot
Blue-rumped Parrot
Swift Parrot
I think I heard a Little Lorikeet on Saturday but haven't seen them there
myself.
This is one place that's fairly reliable for Scaly-breasted Lorikeet -
probably from escaped stock originally but they now breed ... with
everything! There are some odd combinations, probably Rainbow x
Scaly-breasted, Rainbow x Musk, Musk x Scaly-breasted. There are a few
pairs with one bird Scaly-breasted and the other a hybrid, and a Rainbow -
hybrid pairing occupying a hollow in a dead trunk right at the end of
Yellow Gums Drive. Are any of these hybrids likely to be fertile? There are
a lot of pairs wasting there time if they are not!
I'm told that the developer recognises the importance of keeping some of
the older trees, and that's happened right through the developed parts of
the estate, so we can be hopeful of seeing many of these birds visit in
coming years when trees are flowering.
Russell Woodford
Ocean Grove
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