John Leonard asked:
"I wonder if people in other districts are seeing many more [honeyeaters]
than usual."
Hi John,
We certainly have been! This has been an extraordinary year for honeyeaters
here in the Blue Mountains (west of Sydney). I also wrote about this in a
number of other postings to this list, earlier in the year. From May until
this month, Yellow-faced and White-naped Honeyeaters have been wintering in
our banksia-rich heathlands and forests between Woodford and Lithgow, in
greater numbers than I can ever remember seeing them before. We have also
had Fuscous turning up all over the place (normally quite rare in our
area), likewise Yellow-tufted, White-plumed and a few White-cheeked. Of
course New Hollands have been abundant as always and breeding throughout
winter.
Some might remember that in autumn I asked "Where are the honeyeaters?"
because the thousands of Yellow-faced and White-naped which usually fly
straight over my house on passage were almost absent this year. People in
Canberra and some other areas assured me they were seeing plenty on
migration. But what we didn't get in autumn, we did see a month or so
later, with great swarms of White-naped circling the skies as they headed
out to their feeding areas each morning.
I have been assuming that all this is due to a very good flowering season
for the banksias here, with B. ericifolia heading the list. Perhaps though,
there is a shortage of food in other areas that I haven't considered.
Remember too that in February this year we had unprecedented numbers of
Rainbow Lorikeets following the flowering of Banksia serrata up the
mountains. At that time there was a flock of 50+ roosting in my street each
evening, where I had never seen more than two in the previous 15 years! We
also had good numbers of Scarlet Honeyeaters around. It really has been an
amazing year for nectarivores in this area.
I would be interested to hear what the situation is in other districts, too.
Cheers,
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba NSW
-----
At 8:55 AM +1000 28/8/00, John Leonard wrote:
>I haven't had much time for bird-watching this autumn and winter, but one
>thing I have noticed is that there seem to be many fewer honeyeaters
>overwintering in Canberra that usual.
>
>There are usually quite a few Yellow-faced and White-plumed about, and
>often some White-naped, Fuscous & Brown-headed, but I haven't seen many at
>all.
>
>I wonder if people in other districts are seeing many more than usual.
>
>What is the usual Honeyeater pattern for a very wet season in the
>ACT/Tablelands area?
>
>John Leonard
>
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
