Possibly only of interest to myself, but for the
third year in succession Chestnut-breasted Mannikins have
arrived at the bird
feeding table in garden at Garbutt, not far from Townsville Airport and
just up the road from
the Town
Common. I recorded a small flock of C-B M's on 6 April at the
Town Common, prior to recent
land clearing in the area, burn-offs and low
rainfall.
1999 arrival date: 7
September
2000 arrival date: 4 August (10
days after the start of the annual burn-off by the Council
/Military/University)
2001 arrival date: 21 June. This follows the
coldest May on record, with zero rainfall.
Possibly El nino is back. Any comments from
other parts of Qld & NSW?
Cheers
Alex Appleman
Townsville
|