Steve, very interesting to see them in Casuarina! You might be aware
of the (former?) sign at Uriarra Crossing and the story in Birds of the High
Country how in the early (post war) days they seemed to return to the
Murrumbidgee River to breed every year. This story is also included
in a bit more detail in Steve Wilson’s book Birds of the ACT Two Centuries of
Change. From there it seems the last bird seen at Casuarina Sands was in
1971 and as far as I’m aware all other ACT records have been of birds away from
the M River and I suspect in gums.
It’s interesting to speculate whether they have been overlooked because
they’ve been in the less accessible parts of the River (I’ve had trouble finding
the exact location of Stoney Creek Nature Reserve), whether they’re resuming
past habits, or were simply passing through escaping from the very dry inland as
so many other species seem to be at the moment.
While watching a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos at
Stoney Creek Nature Reserve this morning, two Painted Honeyeaters landed
nearby. They came and went three times before heading off towards the
east.
The table below (ACT records only) shows a summary of the ACT
records from the COG database.
Steve
ACT only
|
Number of
records |
Year end 30
June |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grid
cell |
2003 |
2004 |
2006 |
2007 |
2009 |
Grand
Total |
|
G17 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
J11 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
5 |
|
J15 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
J16 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
J23 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
K13 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
|
L11 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
M10 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
M11 |
3 |
|
|
1 |
|
4 |
|
M12 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
|
M13 |
12 |
1 |
|
|
|
13 |
|
N13 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
Grand
Total |
26 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
32 |
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