I think Timothy might be a little too humble but it is he who should be
thanked.
The block that he purchased in 2001 had already been recognised as an
important site for Regent Honeyeaters. When he and Lynda bought the place
we sighed a sigh of relief that an important breeding site was safe - no
more horses and donkeys ring-barking young trees!.
The thing we didn't appreciate was just how important this block was.
Every time the White Box has flowered in that area over the past ten years
or so the Regents showed up, often as not Swift Parrots as well, and bred.
With a more or less permanent presence on the block came more and more
sightings of Regents at times when we would have considered them not
likely to be around. It has reinforced just how cryptic Regent
Honeyeaters can be when they are not breeding.
There must be other places in the valley where Regents are also present.
We know that Regents do leave the valley - a large number of sightings of
individually colour-banded birds banded in the valley but seen elsewhere
has proven that - but it seems that there may be a proportion of the
population that prefers to stay closer to home. Certainly a similar
situation occurs with other migratory birds - Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and
Silvereyes for instance.
Cheers
David Geering
Regent Honeyeater Recovery Coordinator
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 2111
Dubbo NSW 2830
Ph: 02 6883 5335 or Freecall 1800 621 056
Fax: 02 6884 9382
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