Hi Birders,
Obviously I am always interested in arrival and departure dates of migrants,
although I believe too much emphasis can be placed on the first returning
bird, when it should be more, the mean of the arrival dates.
Neil Kirby says his Dollarbird that he saw yesterday 24/9, was 3 weeks
earlier than recorded last year (2005). But was around in 1970s to cvompare
such dates?
However, the first Central Coast arrival this year was seen by my wife Anne
23/9/06 in our street, Murray St Bateau Bay on the NSW Central Coast.
Previous first arrival dates for the Central Coast since 1993 have been:
27/9/1993
4/10/1994
1/10/1995
24/9/1996
2/10/1997
28/9/1998
24/9/1999
30/9/2000
29/9/2001
24/9/2002
19/9/2003
15/9/2004
24/9/2005
So there is nothing special about the arrival of 23/9/2006, as it is only
one day earlier than in 1996.
The earliest Sydney arrival date as mention by E.S. Hoskin (the Birds of
Sydney 1991), was 20/9/1974 and the earliest in more recen times is 7/9/1993
& 7/9/1996. However this year, Mick Roderick had a Dollarbird at Upper
Dartbrook (Newcastle area) on 5/9/2006, but not seen since?
So I don't think that one can jump to too many conclusions from these dates,
although for the Central Coast there does appear to be a trend to earlier
arrivals but unfortunately there was no one much around to record these
dates in the 1970s and 1980s. Similarly Ern could only draw his info from
about 10-12 birders in the 1960s & 1970s, compared to the 100s who now note
such matters.
Alan Morris
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