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Made a couple of visits to Koomba Park, Wantirna
(eastern suburbs of Melbourne), looking for the Drongo (but a bit too far south,
if it was at Winton Wetlands; I spent all my time south of Boronia Road).
On Saturday afternoon at the Burwood Highway end of the park the highlights were
a pair of Peregrine Falcons which harassed some passing Galahs, more
mischievously than maliciously as far as I could tell (the larger of the pair,
presumably the female, swept up and perched on one of the electricity pylons,
and the view from below gave me a good indication of why the Australian
subspecies is called "macropus", meaning "large foot" - the talons were
absolutely massive); a small tree full of Cattle Egrets; a single Great Egret;
and a single Golden Whistler, among other common farmland/ woodland/ wetland
birds. I went back again this morning at sunrise (not so heroic given
sunrise isn't till about 7:30 am this time of year), to the Boronia Road end of
the Park but still on the south side. There were four Gang-gang Cockatoos
in trees at the car-park, another Golden Whistler in track-side wattles, three
Common Bronzewings allowing a surprisingly close approach, and ignoring passing
joggers and cyclists, and a male Darter resting on a dead tree at the wetland
visible from the bird-hide. There were also some dozens of Welcome
Swallows foraging together over the paddocks which were still damp from recent
drizzle and overnight dew. Other than the lack of any Drongo (except
possibly me for being out of bed at 7:30 am on a cold public holiday morning?),
the other disappointment was the complete lack of any of the red Robins for
which the paddocks and strips of remnant bush along some of the paddock
margins. I would have thought the habitat looked pretty good for wintering
Flame, Pink or Rose Robins, but not a sign of such a thing. Are there any
other thoughts about whether those species' numbers are stable or
declining?
Regards,
Jack
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