Hi John
For a moment I thought you were talking about Melbourne's birders ...
Red-whiskered Bulbul seems to have disappeared from the last known reliable
location at Wilson Reserve in Ivanhoe judging by recent reports (but they're
as common as muck in Sydney of course).
Tree Sparrows are very common in Melbourne, but not as evenly distributed as
House Sparrows. I tend to see them most frequently at railway stations and
at back of shopping strips – I'm not sure what this says about me!
Nonetheless,
I'd say they're pretty much a dead cert at railways stations such as
Fairfield and Alphington on the Hurstbridge line. Listen for the quaint
little honking call, which sounds more like a native finch than an exotic
sparrow – they do also make lots of typical sparrow chattering sounds.
Song Thrushes are also very common in Melbourne, but patchily distributed –
and not as brash as blackbirds. Most of the well established suburbs have
sizeable Song Thrush populations. They're not calling much at the moment,
so are somewhat harder to bump into. In late winter they get very noisy,
and you really can't ignore them! The RBG is probably as good as anywhere –
but maybe early in the morning before the crowds arrive. Otherwise front
yard gardens in the older suburbs on quieter streets.
Song Thrush and Tree Sparrow are both pretty numerous around where I live in
Northcote, so drop me a line if you get desperate (I'm overseas from 24/5
for 4 weeks).
Cheers -- Lawrie
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Tongue <>
Date: May 7, 10:20 am
Subject: Melbourne 'Ferals'
To: birding-aus
OK all you Melbournian experts - here is a little challenge for you......
I still need to tick some of our 'feral' species, and three in particular,
which I believe can be found in and around Melbourne - Eurasian Tree
Sparrow, Red-whiskered Bulbul and Song Thrush.
My family and I are passing briefly through Melbourne in a couple of weeks,
and the 'challenge' is to see whether anyone can point us to a spot near
inner Melbourne which would be a 'dead-cert' for these three?
We arrive on the Spirit of Tasmania (due in at 7:00am) on Sat May 31st. We
have a service to go to at St. Paul's Cathedral at 11:30am, and soon after
will be heading north, towards Sydney (stopping for the night around
Benalla??).
Is it best to try at the Botanic Gardens? We tried there some years ago,
and didn't find any of these (obviously, if I still need to tick them,
"Duh!"). Is there anywhere else close by that would be more of a 'cert.'?
We don't have much time, and hence the challenge.
I have some others targets for the trip as well (between being sociable
with family and friends on the way), but I'm hoping for most of these away
from Melbourne, and felt that with so much birding prowess concentrated in
the one area, there must be someone who can help me get these feral bogies.
Thanks all,
John Tongue,
Ulverstone, Tas.
--
++++++++++++
Lawrie Conole
28 Reid Street
Northcote, VIC 3070
AUSTRALIA
lconole[at]gmail.com
0419 588 993
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