birding-aus

Woodswallows on the coast of Cairns a month or so ago...???

To: martin cachard <>
Subject: Woodswallows on the coast of Cairns a month or so ago...???
From: Dominic Funnell <>
Date: Thu, 21 May 2015 13:18:46 +1000
Hi Martin
Oddly enough Blue-faced HE are one of the commonest HEs in my garden - was
really surprised as had never seen them on the coastal plain before! I did
not see the Koah birds but I know via John Seales e-mails that Phil Gregory
had 40+ over Cassowary House on 2/5, the Koah record was from around then
as well I believe. There have been a few records of White-browed;
Black-faced and Masked in the general area east of Mareeba as per John
Seale e-mails - a mixed flock of all three at Clohesy River Rd reported by
Andy Anderson on 29/4 "near highway, hundreds have been there for three
days"
Would be good to meet up Martin, we did live in Yorkeys until about 7
months ago then had to move out but will be moving back in a couple of weeks
Dom

On 21 May 2015 at 13:01, martin cachard <> wrote:

> Hey there Dominic,
> nice to get a quick reply mate, thanx.
>
> I was sort of relying on you a little Dom, knowing (or assuming!!!) that u
> lived at Yorkeys Knob (that's on the coast less than 5kms to south of
> Trinity Beach for our non-local birders out there).
>
> do u recall the dates Dom of when these Masked WS were at Koah?
> did u see the birds yourself or just hear about them??
> I wonder if any White-browed WS were with them??
>
> even though I didn't get the best of light from 45-10mins before sunrise
> on the day I saw the huge flock at home, I reckon there would've been a
> smattering of White-browed's amongst the Masked's.
> the light actually got more difficult as sunrise got closer (I saw this
> flock from my beachfront balcony & I face EAST, so the light was tricky to
> say the very least!!).
> but I remember as soon as I heard them & looked up, they were fairly low,
> but once I got my trusty Swarovs onto a few of them, I did see one
> White-browed WS... it wasn't the best of looks, so I ran downstairs to get
> a better view(always an optimist!).
> but they were so much higher, & the height got worse & worse as the
> sunrise got closer & closer!!!
> but at least I got a much better handle of the number of birds by being on
> the ground with a perfectly clear (but by then DISTANT) view!!
>
> Koah is just inland of Kuranda for the non-locals, but in the eucalypt
> belt.
> so that's more normal than beachfront, shall we say...
> But these two WS species aren't recorded at Koah all that often either -
> probably once every 4 or 5 years a small group gets reported somewhere
> between Mareeba & Koah, usually a mixed species flock of both WS but not
> always... & not always in same species ratio either.
>
> & certainly never have I heard of 500++ being recorded in relative recent
> times in our district here either!!
>
> so Dom, thanx for that.
> but also mate, a Pied Butcherbird in Caravonica is also more than a bit
> unusual too!!
> I've never seen one there myself or even heard of one ever being there,
> but guess what Dom...??
> I totally believe you...
> because I often see Blue-faced Honeyeaters in that Lake
> Placid-Caravonica-Smithfield area, & even at home (seen only once at
> home) beachfront at Trinity Beach too!!
>
> So thanx so much mate for your reply & keep looking & stay open-minded...
> we will have to meet up one day too Dominic...
>
> cheers,
>
> martin cachard.
> trinity beach, cairns.
>
>
>
>
>
<HR>
<BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
<BR> 
<BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
<BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
</HR>

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU