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After a brisk walk this morning at
Mulligan's Flat to the Black Honeyeater site, I found 3 males
(i.e. one more male than previously recorded) and 1 female.
At first 1 male appeared briefly at the usual site
on top of the dead mistletoes in the large Yellow Box, but conditions for
hawking were not ideal there and the bird left quickly. Later 2 males were
hawking for insects in a more open patch with several eucalypts of small
to medium size. Birds were sitting quite exposed and often very low on outer
dead branches. Several times 2 males chased each other, something not
really reported earlier. On two occasions 3 males were sitting briefly only
a few metres apart from each other in the tops of 2
neighbouring trees, followed by 2 of the males chasing each other. Two
males had a well developed black central belly stripe (1 more than the other),
the third bird only a narrower, more greyish one.
The female was present in the same area, but never
really associated with any of the males. It also hawked for insects
but seldom from exposed branches; mostly from the outer foliage of some
very leafy medium-seized Yellow Boxes.
Other obs.: Only 1 female White-winged
Triller, 1 male White-browed Woodswallow, 15
Little Lorrikeets, only a few small groups of Superb
Parrots (about 15 in total) flying over, the young Jacky
Winter almost fully grown; at some distance at least 40
Straw-necked Ibis landing on pasture land.
Michael Lenz
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