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The Welcome Swallow is definitely back from its
winter migration, with at least 30 hovering over the dam at the end of Kathner
St Chapman early this morning. This species is not a complete migrant but
the above numbers compare with a maximum of 6 seen together in the Chapman area
in June/July.
A pair of Australasian Grebe have also been on this
dam for the past week, with both having a very visible yellow spot to the base
of the bill, so perhaps they will attempt to breed. This dam filled up
after one single storm event in February, after being very low/empty for at
least 5 years which is the reason this species has not been seen here
previously that I can recall. There is also another pair on a dam about
1.5 km away on the track that runs along the SW edge of
Cooleman Ridge, where they are seen more regularly (the dam is usually
fuller as it collects the water that runs off the large covered ACTEW
water tank nearby) and have attempted to breed a number of
times.
Benj, the dam at the end of Kathner St is also a
reliable place to see Diamond Firetails at the moment - seven were sitting and
calling in the dead branches in the large trees nearby. It's possibly the
closest spot to central Canberra where you can see them. They have been
seen regularly in a number of spots in the local area (and also the nearby
Bibaringa) since the January 2003 fires, with very few records previous to
that.
Jack Holland
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