Having read and followed up all the sightings of Yellow-tufted honeyeaters
this autumn/winter and dipped, Steve Holliday and I conspired to follow up PV’s
sighting and we wandered up Mt Taylor this morning. Near the dam we found a Yellow-tufted
in amongst Fuscous, White-plumed and White-eared Honeyeaters and a single red wattlebird.
Having commiserated with numerous Canberra birders in recent times on the paucity
of honeyeaters during bird watching excursions, we were pretty pleased with this
result. Obviously the conditions today, in the cold and with Mt Taylor shrouded
in fog, were different from Saturday, but the yellow-tufted was alone and
was not calling.
On our way out were alerted to a couple of calls which we followed
up and found three more yellow-tufted, including one sans tail. Feeling fulfilled
with a tally of four, as Holliday and I together normally results in bad luck, we
observed a large flock of calling honeyeaters flew over and landed in a
nearby eucalypt. We counted at least 12 yellow-tufted, including 11 in one binocular
view.
A excellent morning’s birding…thanks Philip for the
advice.
Cheers
Alastair
From: Philip Veerman
[
Sent: Sunday, 3 June 2007 3:38 PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Western side of Mt Taylor - Yellow-tufted
Honeyeaters
Yesterday
I did one of my usual strolls at the western side Kambah side of Mt Taylor (off
Colquhoun St). This time I found a small group of at least five Yellow-tufted
Honeyeaters. They were just above the dam and being quite noisy would be easy
to find - if anyone is interested. I don't recall them from there before. Lots
of other birds there. Mostly the usual suspects.
