Several months ago I agreed to take a visiting Danish birder (Gert
Rasmussen) to the You Yangs and the Western Treatment Plant today, Sat 7th
Feb (he was to leave for Perth the following day). A young Swedish birder
(Figge Hermansson) coming to the end of 12 months working in Melbourne
before returning home next weekend chose to join us for a return visit to
the WTP (a decision he may have come to regret). As many will now know,
today was a day of record heat in Victoria. Melbourne recorded its hottest
day on record (46.4*C - 115.5*F for those old enough to remember the old
Fahrenheight scale). But the hottest place in the state was Avalon, with a
recorded maximum of 47.9*C - over 118*F (an extraordinary temperature
anywhere - but especially for the outskirts of the most southerly large city
in the world!) - the second highest temperature ever recorded in Victoria.
Now Avalon borders the Western Treatment Plant, where we were bravely
(foolishly?) trying to put together a semi-respectable bird-list for Gert
(from an air-conditioned car it should be said to protect me from too much
derision). At around 3pm, after experiencing the most extraordinarily hot
50-60kph winds at Kirk Point we jointly agreed that enough was well and
truly enough - just as the heat reached it's zenith. I've never experienced
anything like it in my 50 or so years of Australian travels (or
international travels for that matter). I can't start to imagine what my two
Scandinavian guests thought of it all. A day to remember, but not primarily
for the birds.
Surprisingly we still managed some noteworthy sightings: A flock of around
30 Rainbow Bee-eaters splashing into the dam near the ranger's station at
the You Yangs, along with 2 Black-chinned Honeyeaters drinking at the
water's edge; a Little Friarbird near Toynes Rd just outside the You Yangs
Park; and a Black Falcon and a small flock of 6 Little Egret at the WTP. The
usual flock of 7 Black-tailed Godwit at Walsh's Lagoon seemed to be just
that - no Hudsonian to be found, there or elsewhere.
Richard NOWOTNY
Port Melbourne, Victoria
M: 0438 224 456
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
