Yellow-faced Honeyeater Migration

[Penny Drake-Brockman <>]

> Hi Birders,
> Carol Proberts from the Blue Mountains queried whether the Yellow-faced Honeyeater migration had petered out early this year because of little apparent movement of late in the Blue Mountains. I can assure her that it is still going strongly in the Hunter Valley west of Newcastle . Yesterday (20 April) John McLennan an I spent the day bird watching in the Bulga/Broke/Milbrodale area and throughout the day Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and lesser numbers of White-naped Honeyeaters were passing over in flocks of up to 60+ birds from west to east, mostly heading in a north-easterly direction. The birds were coming from the Wollemi National park on the western side of the Putty Road and flying over bushland and or farmland towards either Yengo NP on the eastern side of the road or into the Pokolbin SF/Razorback Range area east of Broke. In Wollemi NP the honeyeaters were feeding on the nectar of the flowering Spotted Gum Eucalytus maculata.
> At Bulga and in the nearby Wollemi National Park , good views were had of a number of Wedge-tailed Eagles, while a hunting Hobby and a male Brown Goshawk were engaged in a bit of rivalry over the NPWS Depot. In the NP there were Fuscous Honeyaters, Double-banded Finches, Wonga Pigeons, Little Lorikeets and Large-billed Scrub-wrens to see.
>  
> Alan Morris
> NSWFOC Records Officer.


Hi birders,

Heading out west, stopped for lunch at Mt Boyce, just west of Blackheath Saturday 22 April, and the YFHEs were flying over in regular groups with a few White-naped - at least 100 in the half hour we were there, so the migration is well and truly on. Then we heard and saw many in the Sofala area 22nd-25th and in Capertee Valley  I heard/saw YFHEs on the move yesterday 25th.  Late afternoon when I left, no sign of Swifties - no doubt they are there somewhere but there is very little in flower.

Also notable in Capertee were huge flocks of Red-browed Finches (50-100 per flock) - one at the Macquarie Road/Glen Alice road junction 9with Diarmond Finch and Double-barred0, one at the bridge on the main Capertee/Glen Davis road before the Glen Alicek turn-off (with DBs, Zebras and DFs), one at the Windmill about a km from that bridge towards Glen Davis (with DBs), and the fourth at "Site 10", the bridge on Glenowan Road (with DBs and DFs). Must have been a bumper breeding season for these little mites. As hard as I looked, could see no Plum-heads.
Penny Drake-Brockman, Examination Recitals Co-ordinator, Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Tel: 02 9351 1254.