Fw: First local Koel fledgling - now two more!

[Jack & Andrea Holland <>]

I relocated my first Koel fledgling this morning in a more open position on the verge of the house next door before it was fed by a RWB and both flew behind the houses.  Five minutes earlier I heard very loud Koel fledgling begging at the rear of houses on the opposite (Chapman side) of Darwinia Tce about 200 m away to the SE.  Five minutes later a smaller looking and lighter Koel fledgling was begging softly from an open perch beside the driveway of a house about 100 m to the NW.  It too was fed by a RWB before flying towards the back of the house.

 

So now 3 fledglings in the space of about a linear 300 m by 10 January, with none so far in their more usual spots.  Also not where the noisy assemblies of the up to 4 adults currently around have been much, if at all.

 

Jack Holland

 

From: Jack & Andrea Holland

Sent: Tuesday, January 9, 2018 9:05 AM

To:

Subject: First local Koel fledgling

 

On only my second relatively limited search of the local area since I got back to Canberra a couple of days ago I found my first fledgling for the year fed by a Red Wattlebird this morning. 

 

It was on the Rivett side of Darwinia Tce in an area where I have not previously found them (around 200 away from the closest).  It is also an area where I found little, if any, Koel activity so far in the 2017-2018 season.  However, this is not unusual, my experience is that fledglings aren’t necessarily found where there has been much previous activity.

 

It certainly is a much earlier fledgling season, in my now five years of finding many fledglings locally this is the earliest by nearly a week.  It was also quite an advanced one, with a well formed tail and flew >10 m following its host, though it was begging surprisingly softly (I had dismissed it as an RWB fledgling at first).

 

Adult activity was very quiet locally until about a week before Christmas.  This has continued once back with up to 4 birds around my house giving mainly whoas and kek keks (Geoffrey another dark bird seemed to be giving the latter), but there also has been some koeling in amongst that.

 

Jack Holland