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"However, the rule is that you are allowed one
chatline report for a location where not previously heard." I wonder
whose rule that is. Various of us give updates and I don't think have been
warned off for transgressing. I was thinking the answer to John's comment
is that years ago the species was a big novelty, and there is still a bit of
that mentality, they are good at making themselves conspicuous or annoying, and
a fair bit of me-too-ism among contributors.
Philip
They
are heard daily at many locations, John. However, the rule is that you are
allowed one chatline report for a location where not previously heard.
That tends to give the wrong impression that they are not fairly common at this
time of year throughout the Canberra suburbs as a whole.
From: John
Harris [ Sent: Monday, 9 December
2013 2:19 PM To: chatline
canberrabirds
Subject: [canberrabirds] A tale of two
koels
Always plenty of
koels around here. Interesting interplay of two koels here in Nicholls yesterday
evening. Female Koel was calling from the lower branches of a eucalyptus tree
outside my back fence, with it’s typical three or four loud shrieks ( which
carry quite a distance). The much more musical, more melodious male Koel
answered antiphonally from about 200 metres away across the creek on Percival
Hill. It was nearly dusk but not quite and standing beneath the tree I
watched the pretty female calling at close range for 5
minutes.
The duet went on
for about half an hour and my wife and I enjoyed the little performance with a
glass of wine on the back verandah. They stopped on
dark.
Don’t often get to
hear this interaction, especially as prolonged as it was this
time.
PS I was bemused
by all the sudden excitement about koels on the chatline a few weeks ago. I
have seen and heard Koels here every year for the past 13 years I have
lived here and I thought them interesting but not remarkable. But when I looked
them up in the COG Annual Bird Report, I then realised that they were
considered uncommon and that people were therefore keen to hear and report
them.
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