I think their behaviour changes - maybe something to do with more wet
lawns/grassed areas to probe???
Where can they go? Everywhere in southern Victoria is just as parched as
where they come from; they can't breed so quickly as to respond to a few
days of rain. I think they just get more and more cryptic as their foraging
options diminish.
My masters research suggests they're more abundant and widespread in western
Melbourne than what was traditionally seen as their stronghold in the east
(ie. they're more abundant where birders are less abundant - same with Tree
Sparrows).
But then again I could be completely wrong :-)
2008/12/17 Dave Torr <>
> But these have all been sightings on my morning dog walk around the
> streets, not based on call Lawrie. They were certainly not visible for many
> months and now I see them probably 3-4 times a week, so they must have gone
> somewhere.
>
>
> 2008/12/17 Lawrie Conole <>
>
>> A very unobtrusive bird when not singing - this feeds my general
>> scepticism about reports of a precipitous decline in Song Thrush numbers in
>> Melbourne during the past dry decade. Where have they been? Around ....
>>
>>
>> 2008/12/17 Dave Torr <>
>>
>> They have certainly been a lot more noticeable around home (Hoppers
>>> Crossing, west of Melb) in the last month or so and there are plenty of
>>> snails around for them - but where they have been during the long dry spell
>>> is a bit of a mystery?
>>>
>>> 2008/12/17 Lawrie Conole <>
>>>
>>>> Neville Pamment wrote:
>>>>
>>>> >While on this subject ... a couple of days ago there was a singing male
>>>> Song
>>>> >Thrush in a garden near us in Clifton Hill (5 km from Melbourne GPO).
>>>> This
>>>> >was the first I've seen or heard in the district for about 4 years,
>>>> though
>>>> >there may be a relict population. They were common until the late 1990s
>>>> but
>>>> >the drought and hot weather seems to have driven them out. The recent
>>>> heavy
>>>> >rain and cooler conditions in Melbourne (lots of snails) would be to
>>>> their
>>>> >liking.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Whilst the wet weather might be to their liking, it is probably too late
>>>> in
>>>> the season to initiate a nesting event. Plenty of slugs around here,
>>>> but
>>>> very few snails yet.
>>>>
>>>> As Song Thrushes (and indeed nearly all other birds) are not Phoenixes
>>>> and
>>>> therefore not able to regenerate from the soil/ashes, I presume this
>>>> bird
>>>> had been lurking somewhere nearby most of the time - the rain might have
>>>> been encouraging enough to start him singing again!!
>>>>
>>>> They haven't been very vocal in Northcote (a couple of km north) lately
>>>> either, but definitely still here ...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> ++++++++++++
>>>> Lawrie Conole
>>>> 28 Reid Street
>>>> Northcote 3070 AUSTRALIA
>>>> 0419588993
>>>> lconole at gmail dot com
>>>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>>> ===============================
>>>> www.birding-aus.org
>>>> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>>>>
>>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>>> send the message:
>>>> unsubscribe
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>>>> to:
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ++++++++++++
>> Lawrie Conole
>> 28 Reid Street
>> Northcote 3070 AUSTRALIA
>> 0419588993
>> lconole at gmail dot com
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>
>
>
--
++++++++++++
Lawrie Conole
28 Reid Street
Northcote 3070 AUSTRALIA
0419588993
lconole at gmail dot com
++++++++++++++++++++++++
===============================
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