Swift Parrot Sighting - Budderoo Plateau

[Denis Wilson <>]

I
 wish to report a sighting of a solitary Swift Parrot on the Budderoo
National Park on Sunday 25 March 2012 at approximately 11:00am. I was in the company of a group of Canberra ANPS people at the time.

I heard, then saw this bird fly into a flowering "Bloodwood" Eucalypt (Corymbia gummifera) tree. It did not stay long, but flew off, calling.

I recognised this bird by the call, the fine, pointed wings and the longish pointed tail. I could not make out colour of the bird's throat or under-tail or underwings as it was against a grey sky. But the call, habits, flight pattern all fit with Swift Parrot.

• What it was not: We seldom get Lorikeets on the Budderoo Plateau, but I am familiar with them from the Shoalhaven region, where they are common. And I know the calls of the Rainbow, Scaly-breasted and Musk Lorikeets and even the Little Lorikeet, and it was none of those birds.

This report seems "early" in the season, to me, but it could match with the commencement of the
Bloodwood flowering season on the Sandstone plateaux of the Shoalhaven
and Illawarra Escarpment regions. The Budderoo Plateau is adjacent to
the Barren Grounds Nature Reserve - a mere 5 km away.

The altitude of the Budderoo Plateau is just above 600 metres altitude. The location is above the Minnamurra Creek (Jamberoo Valley) on the coastal side and Kangaroo Valley on
the south-western side.

Birds Australia have maintained the Swift Parrot  Recovery Plan in previous years.
I have drafted a report, complete with Google Earth placemark (kmz file). I am awaiting a call back from Melbourne, to confirm I have the correct name and contact details for the appropriate person.

Denis Wilson
"The Nature of Robertson"
www.peonyden.blogspot.com.au