canberrabirds

Massed inward migration of honeyeaters 4.09.06

To:
Subject: Massed inward migration of honeyeaters 4.09.06
From: "terry gourlay" <>
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 04:12:39 +0000
Hello All,
I think Muriels is indeed a remarkable sighting,I have never seen Spring numbers a tenth of what she spotted.... 30 years ago I followed themwith Gerald Horey and Simon Bennett in the Autumn to Ballallaba Bridge,but not in these numbers,in Autumn these Honey Eaters flew Easterly along Creeks,but the Wattle Birds in straight Northerly lines...Did you get any reverse migration later in the Day Muriel?Another great Funnel is The Top of the Clyde River,and then along to Yadboro,they then go over the Top near Mt Corang....

From: Muriel Brookield <>
To: 
Subject: [canberrabirds] Massed inward migration of honeyeaters 4.09.06
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 10:18:05 +1000

On September 4, following Julienne's message from Hoskinstown on Saturday, I checked out the Upper Shoalhaven route where I had first seen a concentrated inward migration on Sept. 17 in 2000.

It was on again! I counted 5500 honeyeaters in one hour, between 1100 hrs and 1200 hrs: they were flying west, along the Jerrabattgulla road. There were more down in the valley, and more flying along the ridge top among the trees on Harts Road.

This time the composition of the flocks was different, with a ratio of 4:1; _ 4 Yellow-faced Honeyeaters to each White-naped Honeyeater. There were also a few Red Wattlebirds, but mainly singles, twos and threes: none of the flocks of 25 that I had seen in the past. Also a couple of White-eared Honeyeaters. The mixed flocks were mainly larger than before, up to 300 at a time, and in a hurry. We later paced them in the car, and reckoned they were going 20 - 30 kph.

Again they assembled in the bare poplars and willows at the bottom of the hill, on Jerrabattgulla creek past the Warraganda homestead, and built up numbers before tackling the open space which confronts them before reaching Tallaganda State Forest to the west. Groups of 3-400 would burst out and whirl up, some quite high, presumably on a recce, and then would swoop back to the bare trees. This could be repeated two or three times, by which time more HEs would have arrived, and then a large number would make the dash.

It is a great sight to see, as you can stand right next to the trees, and have the HEs whirl over your head. Their undersides often look silver in the sunshine. And your binocs are filled with disappearing dots.

Directions for anyone wanting to see this phenomenon (it is much more impressive than the Murrumbidgee autumn outward migration was this year):

Go via Captains Flat to the Braidwood/Cooma Rd, turn right for about 6 kms, then right along the Jerrabattgulla Road for about 2kms. Here there are trees to the left of the road, and a few on the northern side. This is where the flocks meet the road. They then tend to zig and zag across the road, flying west.
GPS  for this spot    35  40.162 S
                             149  36.412 E

Muriel

PS. If you are going to count, take a second observer - it helps.


*******************************************************************************************************
This is the email announcement and discussion list of the Canberra Ornithologists Group. List-Post: <> List-Help: <> List-Unsubscribe: <> List-Subscribe: <> List archive: <http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds> List manager: David McDonald, phone (02) 6231 8904; email <>




*******************************************************************************************************
This is the email announcement and discussion list of the Canberra Ornithologists Group. List-Post: <> List-Help: <> List-Unsubscribe: <> List-Subscribe: <>
List archive: <http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds>
List manager: David McDonald, phone (02) 6231 8904; email 
<>

<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 Canberra Ornithologists Group 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 list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU