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While it started much like any other winter day,
today turned out to be a bit out of the ordinary.
It started with an early morning walk on Mt
Rogers. I had hardly left the car when a male mistletoebird appeared on a dead
branch in full sun and remainded there long enought to get some video
footage. The wind eventually chased me back home for a hot coffee and for
what I thought would be a quiet day but the birds just kept coming into my
yard.
My GBS list for the week so far quickly rose to a
record 30 species with 24 (not all new for the week) being recorded in a
short period today. The record number of species is not only
significantly more than any other week in winter, it is more than any other
week in any season in the the past three years.
While nothing I recorded was unusual for Canberra
at this time of year, some are unusual for my GBS:
o a Willie Wagtail, the first in many
years
o a mixed flock of Weebills, Brown
Thornbills and Spotted Pardalotes 15 strong (a large flock for my
GBS)
o 25 House Sparrows
in a flock, up significantly from 3 years ago when weeks would go by without
seeing one and most recent observations of less than 10 (I think they have
recovered from their well publicised slump in numbers)
o 13 Starlings feeding, small numbers usually only
fly over
o 7 Spotted Doves, the highest number I have
recorded
o a hybrid Eastern/Crimson Rosella
Winter can surpise and delight even on a windy
day.
Steve
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