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Hi Elizabeth and other COG list members.
Today I saw my first flocks small groups of migrating
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, passing through Robertson (on top of the escarpment,
south-west of Wollongong, above Macquarie Pass.) Roughly 200 Km NE of
Canberra.
Classic migration pattern of behaviour:
"Chip, chip, chip" call. Flying from tops of tall trees to the next group
of tall trees. Small groups "Leap-frogging" previous groups, then resting,
and others catching up and passing them. Approx 30 birds, (all YFHE), in 5 or 6
small groups, spread over about 5 minutes duration as they passed.
Weather warm (mid 20s C). Clear blue sky.
Direction NE, which would take them to the Illawarra Escarpment, beyond Mt
Murray (above Macquarie Pass). That is the closest Sandstone based Eucalypt
forest. That habitat has Lambertia and Banksias in flower, plus some of the
Eucalypts are flowering presently.
There is little food for them in the Robertson Rainforest, and this species
in not a resident bird in the rainforest. Passage migrant only - here.
Cheers
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