In the preening tree I counted 12 Swift Parrots.
As well as the flowering yellow gum, it's worth checking the nearby eucalypts. There were three Swift Parrots feeding quietly on lerps in the canopy of a neighbouring eucalypt. They stayed there for over half an hour but allowed only occasional glimpses.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2015 11:29 AM
Subject: FW: [canberrabirds] Ainslie Swifties
Arriving there about 0740 I followed the ink-ink calls and found not only Lindsay but the last of the flock as it headed off to the north-east. Following the ink-ink calls for about 400m I was about to make visual contact when the flock flew back over my head in the direction from which I had come. Retracing my steps I found the flock preening in a tree about 50m N of the profusely flowering yellow gum. After a bit of snapping I left to get a different camera and on return found Leo Berzins who reported the flock had left the preening tree and was feeding in the yellow gum. After a bit, Leo left to get a different camera, and, as you might have expected, just before he returned the flock again took off towards the NE.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, 17 May 2015 11:01 AM
Subject: [canberrabirds] Ainslie Swifties
This morning from sometime about sunrise to 7.40 am there were at least
8 Swifties including at least one juvenile (brown iris) feeding in the slender, profusely-flowering, smooth-barked gum 100 to 150m north from
the Foveaux St entrance and on the east side of the levee. There were
a few juvenile Superbs with them. All were eventually driven off by Noisy Miners.
