G'day bird students
I spent most of January either censusing swiftlet colonies in Finch
Hatton Gorge and the Chillagoe-Mungana caves area, or driving up the
coast then returning to Melbourne through the outback. Of course I
look for swifts all the way, and this year there appeared to be some
different distributions than what I normally encounter. So can you
help verify my observations.
There appear to be very few WTNT or FTS in North Coastal and central
coastal Qld. I saw WTNT the two days before I left Melbourne, and
all the way through coastal NSW and SE Qld up to GinGin. But I saw
none north of Gingin. There are usually some between Tully and
Cairns and around Mackay - but none were seen at all this trip- not
even swiftlets. Did the cyclone knock out the insect food supply?
They appear to have reached Melbourne earlier than usual so will it
be a good year for sightings in Tassie?
FTS were seen occasionally around Chillagoe then I recorded large
flocks a few days ago in Central central and south central Qld.
So can those who live in far North Qld and Central Qld verify my
observations and would others travelling through please let me know
what swifts you see (how many and where and the prevailing weather if
possible) so I can try to make some sense out of what is happening.
I have just gone through all my e-mails with swifts in the titles and
these tent to support my own observations. John Turner is still
getting FTS in Adelaide so they are not all in Qld!
Of course as usual sightings of FTS & WTNT from anywhere are of
interest in building up the picture of what is normal and how they
respond to drought, cyclones and fires. Wouldn't it be good to be
able to respond as a swift to localised problems by rapidly going
somewhere else?
So please take a moment to report your FTS and WTNT sightings
(directly or through Birding-Aus). Many thanks &
Cheers
Mike Tarburton
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