Over the last three months I have been busily entering over 20 years of
bird observations on to a database (BirdInfo). I have been quite pleased
with the results so far, but on Saturday a search on the database produced
an interesting fact which had eluded me when searching through my written
records.
I had seen 3 Silvereyes in our garden and commented to my wife that I
hadn't seen them here for quite a few years. A quick check on the database
confirmed that it had indeed been nearly 8 years. But on further analysis
of the list of sightings the data revealed an odd result; I had only ever
recorded Silvereyes on our property (Western edge of Murray Bridge) in the
first 5 months of the year. The data covers over 13 years of observations.
This observation seems to indicate seasonal movements in this area,
something I had not been aware of consciously until I saw the evidence
revealed by the data I had collected.
Have other birders observed movements of Silvereyes here in SA recently?
(I am aware from the Atlas that there is considerable migration of
Silvereyes in SE Australia and Tasmania).
The Silvereyes were still present on Sunday.
Trevor Hampel
Murray Bridge
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