Dear Coglisters
For this breeding season I set myself a challenge of recording breeding
attempts by a total of thirty species in the ACT. I aimed to concentrate
on woodland birds. I had no idea of how realistic the challenge would
be, but it was a target, almost random as to quantum, to aim for. I
enjoy the challenge of overcoming the various ways in which birds
practice to deceive - and although sometimes frustrating, I respect them
when they are successful in hiding their nests. Some species are so
careful! In terms of finding the actual nests of Buff-rumped Thornbills,
it is Thornbills 1 and myself nil.
Over the weekend, a small spate of Buff-rumped Thornbills with dy, and
some additional instances got the total to over 200 instances (ie
records of separate attempts to breed - I have additional multiple
records of some individual attempts). Colony nesters are counted as a
single instance.
The best weekend find was the nest of a Common Bronzewing. I had been
tracking a pair at the Northern edge of CSIRO Black Mountain complex for
about six weeks. Low calls, changes to flight patterns and a certain
indefinable way of hanging around, convinced me that they were up to
something. Earlier they seemed to be hanging around a clump of pine
trees. A careful study of several hundred pine cones revealed several
hundred pine cones. On Saturday a single bird was ooming in a eucalypt
which had some very large mistletoe bunches in it. Careful study through
the binoculars - no nest. Sunday, did a small detour to go to the same
tree. Again a single bird ooming away. Again a careful check with the
binoculars. About to give up, I finally saw just the head of the sitting
bird - almost completely hidden in the dense mistletoe. Joy!
This evening, walking through ANU at dusk, mixed with the noise of
traffic and the calls of the players practising football on the nearby
oval, I overheard the calls of young in the nest of a Noisy Miner. They
gave me my fiftieth breeding species for the breeding year - and also a
breeding 'lifer'. Yes Barbara, they will all end up in the COG database.
There are some interesting (to me) patterns, and at the end of the
breeding year I aim to provide some informal notes for Gang Gang.
Con
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