Less numbers

[martin butterfield <>]

Geoffrey

My references disclose no evidence for the pictured invasive species dining on birds.  However they have been recorded munching a duiker - about the size of a small canid, so perhaps the fox is the one that should be worried.  

Of course it is possible that anything that emerges from a PMs office has been dramatically changed by the experience compared to what went in to said office.

Martin

On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 5:16 PM, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

And for those who can stretch the imagination to contemplate one more possibility, here is a snipe-eating Mandate that has eluded its custodians in the Prime Minister's office ...

 

From: Sharon Rusk [
Sent: Tuesday, 17 February 2009 1:03 PM
To: COG
Subject: [canberrabirds] Less numbers

 

Hi!

     Geoffrey,if it's only the L. Snipe numbers that are down you are not doing too bad.    Maybe it's my eyes that are getting old but nearly all species compared with last year are down and not only the glamour species i.e:- Sq/Tailed Kite, Ospreys, Bazzas and Channel-Billed Cuckoos.  Last year these would be seen on a regular basis at least once a week with the C/B Cuckoo seen or heard once or twice a day, I would have been lucky to have heard or seen these cuckoos half a dozen times in the whole spring and summer season. Even the commoner Cuckoos weren't calling in the numbers you would expect and even allowing for the bird flu or laryngitis there would have been some calling surely,along with the H.E.s, Pardalotes and other small bush birds. The only bird that was so common that at times it seemed in plague proportions was the Red Wattlebird and that has now thankfully tapered off.    Possibly last year was outstanding due to the bumper crop of Cicadas along the coast and are not present in anything near the numbers of last year,which at times could almost be deafening.   I don't know the time frame of the Cicada explosion cycle so we will just have to wait and see if this was a factor.

 

Cheers

Bob

Ps- Regarding the L Snipe,  when they are sunning themselves around the perimeter of the pond at sunset or sunrise after a cool day or evening, the whitish belly is easily spotted.