Hi all,
Now the swift parrots have not been seen for 2 weeks, here are a
few more comments on their visit to Sandringham, Melbourne.
At least 30 people (8 as result of Birding-Aus) saw the birds
here (with on one occasion 12 people looking at them
simultaneously). I also know of 3 individuals (one via
Birding-Aus) who missed them. And I used to be afraid that a
mailing-list would produce UK style twitches !
There were pieces in both local papers about the birds with some
praise for people who have gums flowering at the right time (and
a picture of yours truly with Ian Parsons watching his video of
the birds in the Bayside Advertiser of 20/11 - hope it won't put
people off!). Copied and sent with apologies for the disturbance
to the Fildes labels/design factory and the Geoff Miller
factory. The birds
fed mainly on the lemon-scented gums (E. citriodora) at the
front of their premises. The trees are partly in clumps rather
than straight lines, something which Simon Kennedy told me some
time ago is the right sort of planting.
Other birds on the trees at the same time as the Swifties
were Rainbow Lorikeets, Red and Little Wattlebirds, Noisy
Miners, White-plumed Honeyeaters, Spotted Pardalote and
Blackbird. Only Red Wattlebirds were SEEN to chase the swifties.
Chris Tzaros asked about "cryptic behaviour". Well, I may have
missed the birds on 29 Oct if ten or so had not been calling
almost constantly with birds flying about every 10-20 seconds.
The next day they were quieter and although there were probably
4+ birds to 4 Nov they became progressively more difficult to
find. Last sighting at 0650 on 5 Nov of one bird I did not
notice calling.
Hope they will have a successful breeding season in Victoria, if
not Tassie !
Michael Norris
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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