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.
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