Stockdill Drive, Holt, often
a bidrful area. Last Friday afternoon I pulled off the road about a kilometre
east of the Shepherds Lookout burnout to watch about 10-12 Red Wattlebirds
moving among the blossoms of a Red Stringybark that’s held a good flush
of blossom for a couple of weeks. Wattlebirds very active but not calling.
After a while I sat back in the sun and opened a good book. Suddenly I looked
up – birder’s 6th sense – and glimpsed a white
bird flashing across my field of view. A minute later it returned – a
Black-shouldered Kite – and hovered over the paddock 30 metres away, a
moment later it moved closer, hovering 15 metres away until it moved to just 10
metres from the car and hovered briefly before flying away in the general
direction of Shepherds Lookout.
At 16:00 yesterday I drove
along Stockdill in the rainy gloom and saw three Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos
perched in a small, dead acacia at the roadside. Returning 30 minutes later I
noticed they were still there
Several weeks ago mention was
made that Christidis and Boles was out of date. Not surprising, But what is the
informed birder-around-town referring to now that C & B is
yesterday’s news?
John Layton.
