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To all those who participated in the
honeyeater survey on Saturday 8th, a big thankyou. It was the first good
day after the cold snap and certainly not unpleasant for birdwatching, however
the results were surprisingly low.
At the different locations along the river, the
totals of honeyeaters migrating were:
Shepherds Lookout 20
Casuarina Sands 321
Kambah Pool 131
Pine Island 60
Point Hut 31
Tharwa Sandwash 109
Smiths Rd (instead of Angle Crossing)
1680
The vast majority of birds were Yellow-faced, with
some sites recording no White-naped, although perhaps 5% of the total at Smiths
Rd were White-naped. There were occasional Wattlebirds, Friarbirds and the odd
Spinebill. Interestingly at Smiths Rd there were about 40 White-eared
honeyeaters seeming to move with the flocks and a few small groups of Spotted
Pardalotes. The Smiths Rd/Angle Crossing area again proved to be the major
route.
Unfortunately (?) Sunday seemed like it would have
been a much better day (colder overnight and stiller), and there seemed to be
more movement of honeyeaters across the suburbs (see Lindsay Hansch's email). I
would've loved to go back to Smiths Rd as I'm sure there could've
been several thousand crossing there in the morning but
I couldn't make it. Thanks to Matthew Frawley who went down to Kambah Pool
on the Sunday and counted c.800 between 9-11am.
Just for comparison, in 2003 (3 months after the
fires) we held a similar survey on 6 April in good weather conditions, with a
total of 13,700 counted across the same sites (8,400 at the old Angle Crossing
site). The migration seems to have started a bit late this year, perhaps because
of the warm dry March.
The next survey will be held on Sunday April 23rd.
After Easter I will contact all those who have already said they will be
available, but if anyone else wouuld like to join us, just let me
know.
Nicki Taws
02
6251 0303
0408 210736
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