While doing my usual morning rounds at 09:00 today I stopped off at Holt Oval to check if any birds were present and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw feeding on
short parched grass interspersed with areas of dusty bare earth viz, six Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, four Magpies, three Magpie Larks, eleven Galahs, five Red-rumped Parrots while three Noisy Miners fed on discarded French fries in the carpark. As you would
know the Noisy Miner is an unusual member of the honeyeater family insomuch it’s a regular ground-feeder. Well it seems to me they’ve developed another idiosyncrasy, that of scavenging jettisoned fast food.
However, the most heartening sight was a flock of 17 Superb Parrots landing and feeding on the dusty sward.
And the koels haven’t finished with us yet. A male returned to our White Cedar at 21:45 yesterday, called for 10 minutes then, probably due to some vocal dissuasion from
the audience, packed up and left.
John Layton
Holt.
