Woodswallows (mainly) Stilts and Avocets

[Michael Lenz <>]

Today E of Lake George a group of about 70 Woodswallows (40 Masked, 30 White-browed) were feeding on the ground, but their main focus was on a row of old pine trees. Pairs were squabbling with each other in certain parts of the trees, and a pair of Masked Wsw copulated. I suspect, similar to what Martin has reported, that they were showing interest to breed in these trees. At this stage I was not able to find a nest.

Michael Lenz

On Sun, 18 Nov 2018 at 13:58, Martin Butterfield <> wrote:

The flock on which I reported yesterday was a bit more dispersed this morning.  When I got the scope on those feeding in the paddock I saw a couple of them pull up and eat a largeish insect larva.  From the size of it possible a chafer - so they are doing good work in the paddock.

With the owners permission I had a good look round the plantation on the Eastern side of the road.  Many of the birds seemed to be flying into the dense growth of the trees: there could well be nests in there but I couldn't locate any.  I did see several copulations and have identified a pose by the female White-browed as leading to such an activity,  A few photos of the display are in a follow-up blog post but I was too slow to catch the culmination.

A couple of updating images of the Frgmouith s is also included.

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/

On Sat, 17 Nov 2018 at 18:03, Con Boekel <> wrote:

Last week I spent some time on the Lachlan River near Hillston.

White-browed and Masked Woodswallows were feasting on a cicada hatch - mostly on the ground but also in flight. It brought to mind that I had previously seen woodswallows feasting on flowering eucalypts in the Flinders Ranges. They are adept at making maximum use of what the Australian environment offers them.

regards

Con

On 11/17/2018 5:05 PM, Martin Butterfield wrote:

We went for a look at Foxlow Lagoon late this morning.  The water is now very reduced in area and heat haze made it difficult to make out much detail on the birds (of which there were very few.  I counted 28 large waders and assessed them as being half each of Red-necked Avocets and Pied Stilts.   

On the way back I noted a small number of Woodswallows on Plins Road, about 4kms from Briars Sharrow Rd.  I took a few snaps but, even by my low standards, they were poor so I returned and found a huge flock about 3km down Plains Rd.  Some were resting in a small Pinus radiata plantation on the Western side of the road and others in a Lleylandia windbreak on the Eastern side.  The majority of the birds  were feeding in the paddock.  Speaking briefly with the landowners the flock has been there constantly for about two weeks.  Some photos are here - comments will be added later.  The image with the 203 red dots highlights about half the feeding component of the flock: I estimate there were at least 100 other birds in the trees and the ratio of Masked to White-browed was about 1:4.

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/