Gloomy though the news is from the Olympic Games, an oblique reference to the Green and Gold is overdue. Most comments are missing the point: they should have called them off years ago when we were ahead, as I have said repeatedly about the cricket.
The species dealt with below, despite the label ‘Australian’, is not of Gondwanan stock, and is a relatively recent arrival here, like some of our better sportspersons. Not so long ago its presence in Winter might have seemed very unusual, but these records over the two years justify a general statement that ‘small numbers’ stay about over Winter. Numbers for both years are similar, the birds being recorded at widely separated sites around Canberra. Difficult to detect and seen only on isolated days, it seems likely that a handful of birds was present, quietly, over the whole period.
