Anthea Fleming said she does not see Hobbies around Heidelberg these days,
so I checked my records for my area of SE Melbourne.
Our records show a marked decline in the number and distribution of
sightings since 2001. In that year I have 50 records for the period from
January to July. This year only 9. There is a similar trend in the later
months and I suspect the number of breeding pairs has fallen from 3 or 4 to
only one.
Perhaps something has happened to their prey: I hadn't recorded them chasing
rock doves until 2004.. Starlings (the one I have recorded most here) are
perhaps down in numbers, swallows definitely so. So are Willie Wagtails.
Perhaps a reduction in insects is affecting both hobbies and some of their
prey items.
Michael Norris
Bayside, Melbourne
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