Hi all. I'm a relative newcomer to the birding folds which may explain my
scepticism on what my wife & I saw yesterday at the southern end of Bribie
Island, Q. Flying above were maybe a doz. Needletails but above them was a
flock (not counted - maybe up to 100) of what I firmly believe were House
Swifts. I didn't eyeball every single bird but of the 10 or so that I tracked
(using 12x Bins), all the necessary features seem to be evident - small white
throat, white rump wrapping around sides, tail - not forked, quite rounded
while fanned during turns, etc., body quite dark. Did not notice any other
species flying with them. Judging size was a bit of a problem - could only
relate to the occasional higher needletail - but thought about half that size
or slightly bigger. Saw them for about 2 minutes - rather lazy flying in a
reasonably tight circle - didn't seem to be feeding. Then they disappeared from
sight beyond the treeline so we couldn't follow them up. Of course, didn't have
the camera - they would have been too small anyway.
Has anyone else in the area seen House Swifts around? I know they're rather
rare visitors & so I've been right through the reference books trying to decide
if there are any other possible choices for id that I've overlooked. Does
anyone have any suggestions for other species? Any thoughts. It's got me
perplexed.
Brian Johnson
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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