Dear Philip, Chris & Canberra birders,
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday Saturday 29 April to see a Spangled
Drongo /Dicrurus bracteatus /perched on a transmission wire at around
2pm at Currarong, on the coast about 25 km east of Nowra on the NSW
mid-south coast.
Initially I thought that it must be an overwintering bird but Hoskin's
Bird of Sydney assures me that the peak months for this bird in Sydney
and south are March through July, with more recent guides stating that
south of c. Macksville on the mid-north NSW coast it is a winter
migrant, arriving in March-April and leaving in September-October.
I was unable to get a close enough view to check the age status of the
bird.I did not hear the bird call though a 9 year old in our group (who
is familiar with the bird from Darwin) said that he had heard the bird
call earlier that afternoon.
Cheers and I'd be interested in further sightings from the south coast
or eastern Victoria to see if it's winter migration range is changing.
BTW - is anyone aware of other winter migrants to this part of the world
we might also look out for?
And three cheers for Chelsea, back to back Premier League championships!!
Bob Gosford,
Vincentia
Jervis Bay
South coast of NSW
Philip Veerman wrote:
I recall that Bruce Lindenmayer's son David said years ago (during the
Tumut survey days, so about 1998? but the observations may have been
well before that) that he regularly (or maybe irregularly but more
than once) saw one Spangled Drongo in the local area. I don't think
that these observations ever made it onto COG's records. The species
gets 3 mentions in Steve Wilson's book.
Philip
|
