canberrabirds

This is Winter

To: <>
Subject: This is Winter
From: "Geoffrey Dabb" <>
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:57:38 +1000

I agree.  In fact I would say this is quite normal for Winter.  I am prepared for my usual woodland spots to be either very hot or very cold, birdwise.   The smaller honeyeaters are highly mobile, and on top of that is the MFF phenomenon.    However I would think the tree-creepers, shrike-tits and J winters would not be far away.  That is, if a visiting billionaire was offering $5000 per species to see them before his private jet left in 30 minutes for James Packer’s wedding, and if he was prepared to run, I think I could turn them up in a nearby paddock. Naturally, it would be good strategy to employ a couple of scouts on a contingent fee basis.  (This reminds me to say that the adjacent paddock to the south – across Fireworks Boulevarde – has ewes with lambs and should be avoided.)

 

What I think is more striking is that these days my street trees often have more birds than any nearby woodland.  For most of yesterday before the rain , in about 40m of street verge, there were both pardalotes, y-r and striated and brown thornbills, golden whistlers (3), w-eared hons, e spinebill, wphes (4), w-b swrens, s fwrens, silvereyes, weebills (many).  With the usual RWBs, magpies, curras, king parrots, crested pigs, i mynas and a couple of e ros, I’d say 20 species and at least 60 individual birds in 0.25ha, not counting peafowl .       

 

From: Philip Veerman [
Sent: Wednesday, 20 June 2007 3:54 PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] the vicissitudes of birding

 

Quite true. That happens regularly, on the Saturday when I did the walk at Kambah Pool going out I found almost nothing. As I started going back, I came across (COG member) Kevin Windle, We did see about 10 Flame Robins there. I said that I hadn't seen much that day. I told him about the Wedge-tailed Eagle I'd seen the last week and how I hadn't heard the lyrebird this winter. On my return trip, I then found lots of thornbills, the Wedge-tailed Eagle flew along the ridge again and the lyrebird was singing.

 

By the way, there were Brown-headed Honeyeaters there too. (Someone else mentioned them.)

 

Philip 

----- Original Message -----

From:

To:

Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 10:27 AM

Subject: [canberrabirds] the vicissitudes of birding

 

On Monday I was at the Newline site in the rain in the middle of the day
looking at the Bl-chinned HE. I was absolutely surrounded by birds, as
reported by others. This morning, it being bright and sunny I slipped
back out to take some photos - and, apart from the reliable Brown
Treecreepers (and how wonderful is that?!), not a feathered sausage! No
honeyeaters, shrike-tits, Sp Warblers, Jacky 'Winters, etc etc etc.
Nothing to be deduced from this of course, other than that we should
never write a site off after just one visit. (Or maybe, we should go
birding in the rain in the middle of the day...)

And of course, it's that uncertainty which is perhaps the central joy of
this ridiculous passion of ours.

keep enjoying it, all.

Ian

--
---
Ian Fraser,
Environment Tours; Vertego Environmental Wordsmithing
GPO Box 3268, Canberra, ACT 2601
ph: 61 2 6249 1560  fax: 61 2 6247 3227
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