Martin O’Brien wrote:
A new bird for the home list (Richmond,
5.5 km from the GPO) in inner suburban Melbourne.
On a very sunny Sunday morning (21 August) we heard a
single Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo
giving its sad, descending whistle from atop a power pole in the street.
This is the first record we have had of the species in
16 years at this address. The only other cuckoo was a Pallid many years
ago. Interestingly the bird wasn't being harassed by the local Common
Mynahs which usually hound anything unusual as soon as it appears.
As Melbourne
is still very much in winter, this seemed to be an early record of the species
to me. What are people's experiences with cuckoos returning in southern Victoria, especially the
suburbs?
Martin – my earliest records in Quarries Park
Clifton Hill (very close to where you are) are:
1999, 22nd September;
2001 4th September;
2002, 25th September;
2004, 2nd October
I don’t check the park every week (let alone every
day, though I did make an effort in 2001). So 21st August
seems quite an early return. Birds do overwinter in the greater Melbourne area and I have
records from the Western Treatment Plant for all winter months, including
copulating birds in early July. I have sometimes wondered whether birds are
present in Clifton Hill (but not calling) at earlier dates.
Just checked the atlas data on Birdata and discovered
there are no records for inner Melbourne
, either winter or summer! Must get around to sending some in.
Regards
Neville Pamment
