We'll see :-) Getting from Castlemaine to the Brisbane Ranges or the You
Yangs for a bird that is such a scrub-hugger is still a mighty achievement.
BTW, Red-capped Robin is a resident of the greater Melbourne area (Grey Box
woodlands, Long Forest mallee, etc.) and has been for quite some time.
Honeyeaters, swallows and kingfishers are all prodigious fliers, so less
surprising (to me), and Fuscous Honeyeaters have always visited the greater
Geelong area in winter in very small numbers from my observations.
You're generally right about the others though - and the last time I saw
White-backed Swallows in the deep south was at Inverleigh Common in March
and June 1979 ...
Lawrie
2008/9/30 <>
> My gut instinct is that these birds have moved down from central victoria.
> The Jan 2007 fires through the Brisbane Ranges has encouraged a lot of
> new regrowth, and when i was out there last i was astounded by the
> undergrowth , which has never(recently) been a feature of the Brisbane
> Ranges. Still not the best Babbler habitat, but good coverage for a ground
> level migrationary passage. (espeically considering the drought) I've got
> my money on more babblers turning up throughout the Brisbane Ranges this
> summer. Last year we saw large numbers of Fuscous Honeyeaters around the
> Geelong region, which are also central victoria birds (but obviously more
> migratory).
>
> In the last two months, the You Yangs has produced Red-capped Robin,
> White-backed Swallow, Red-backed Kingfisher and White-browed Babbler. All
> well south of their normal range.It might be an interesting summer in
> Southern Victoria.
>
>
>
>
> *"Margaret Cameron" <>*
> Sent by:
>
> 30/09/2008 12:02 PM
> To
> "Paul Dodd" <>
> cc
> 'Graeme Brown' <>, 'Lawrie
> Conole' <>, 'Marilyn & Dean' <>
> Subject
> [Birding-Aus] White-browed Babbler at The You Yangs, Victoria
>
>
>
>
> Thanks Paul
>
> One of the reasons I put my message on birding-aus (and this one too) is
> that I thought it might stimulate more reports, either in the You Yangs or
> close. (Don't tell me, people who have been seeing White-browed Babblers in
>
> the You Yangs, because I'm not there any more - tell Paul, tell Marilyn
> Hewish for the Geelong Bird Report, tell the Atlas and the Victorian
> Wildlife Atlas, and put it on Birding-aus.)
>
> I have 2 hypotheses
>
> 1 The Little River Earth Sanctuary (Mount Rothwell) is supposed to be
> reintroducing animals that used to be in the area eg platypus. Maybe they
> introduced W B Babblers too and they got away. An enquiry there might be a
> good idea.
>
> 2 Ford has a lot of country on the north side and birdwatchers don't go
> inside it. A few years ago they did more works in there making more test
> roads or whatever it is they have. Maybe the babblers were lurking in there
>
> all the time and when the new works reduced the area of forest they were
> forced to enlarge their range. However Lawrie says he does not think any WB
>
> Babblers turned up in the surveys done for the environmental management
> plan. (If that's true, Earth Sanctuary seems more likely.)
>
> If I saw a White browed Babbler in the You Yangs I would not believe my
> eyes
> and just try to turn it into something else. Needless to say if I decided
> it
> was a WBB I would write notes with a shaking hand then gallop back into
> phone range and ring up as many people as I could find to come and have a
> babbler hunt. (Any photo I took in such a state of excitement would
> probably
> be a blurred smudge but it would be better than nothing.) Marilyn Hewish's
> reaction is much the same. She has edited the Geelong Bird Report since the
>
> 1991 issue.
>
> I am told you saw them along Hovell's Creek (this is not in your message) -
>
> this is private property so if your report is encouraging people to go
> searching there please remind anyone who contacts you to get permission
> from
> Wooloomanata first. The owners may know if there are any historic records
> on
> their property though I believe Grey-crowned Babblers would have been more
> likely.
>
> Your paper should include the historic stuff as well as your record and
> Graeme's, and those of anyone else since the 1930's you can find! They are
> not in Belcher's Birds of Geelong. Trevor Pescott in Birds of Geelong
> (1983)
> mentions references in the Bird Observers Club Monthly Notes, especially a
> report by William Heathcote in December 1943. I have not looked at Ian
> Hore-Lacey's list of birds of the You Yangs which was a supplement to the
> Bird Observer July 1959 because I can't find it in my disorganized library.
>
> These birds seem to be a long way from anywhere but we have been having a
> long and terrible drought, and there also already seem to be some
> distribution anomalies which might be attributed to climate change.
>
> Good luck and I'm eagerly waiting to hear from you again!
>
> Margaret
>
> Margaret Cameron
> 2 Cintra Street
> Eastern Heights, Qld
> Australia 4305
> 07 3282 9151
>
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