I notice that the unusual numbers of Black-faced
Cuckoo-shrikes moving through over the last month (mainly young birds) have finally
abated. During the last week I needed to drive along the road between
Naas and Glendale Crossing on 3 separate days, and found small numbers of
Diamond Firetails at 3 roadside points each time. There were also flocks
of Dusky Woodswallows on the move, staying down low on the fence lines and low
bushes when the wind was strong. I noticed few Yellow-faced Honeyeaters
at Glendale,
but there were quite a few Fuscous and White-eared. Yesterday, pursuing a report
of nesting GB cormorants as a consequence of Marnix’s sighting, I climbed
to a vantage point above the Cotter reservoir, but found it innocent of waterbirds,
so far as I could see. With various distractions, I missed the prescribed
window for the Symonston woodland survey, but managed to do it today.
There was an unusual aggregation of 13 species at one 0.8ha site, but not much
else of interest except for a flock of 5 Diamond Firetails including 2 juvenile
birds. As a result of regular monitoring of the area over several years,
I am sure that the species is not present all the time, which raises the
question where the birds that are now being reported so regularly in the
Canberra area have come from. I remember being told of a fairly
long-distance banding recovery, so perhaps they range over a wide area
according to cyclical conditions. If so,
it will be no simple matter to assess how the species is faring overall.
