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Hello Folks,
A flock of 25 Swift Parrots
feeding in a large Forest Red Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis on the edge
of the town of Bairnsdale in East Gippsland. They were first spotted at this
location on Saturday morning and are still using the tree today (Monday). The
tree is quite isolated with suburbia on one side and open grazing paddocks the
other. They spend a fair amount of the day in the tree making a lot of noise and
dash off into town when they need a break. The parrots are gleaning the leaves
collecting what appears to be lerps. There are no flowers on the tree. There are
numerous flowering Ironbark and Callistemon around the town and plenty of noisy
flocks of Rainbow and Musk Lorikeets but we haven't yet observed Swifties in
association with these flowering trees. I have also had a report of a flock of 8
on the other side of town two weeks ago and a couple
of other people, including myself, have heard them
overhead.
Noisy Friarbirds have also taken up residence in
town and in outlying areas, perhaps as a result of the dry inland conditions.
They are enjoying the flowering Callistemon and certainly annoying the
resident wattlebirds. The edge of town Black-shouldered Kites have
succesfully reared a brood of three youngsters which have now departed and they
are now repairing a second nest (five metres away from the first in the same
tree).
Jim Reside
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