Yes I am getting old; of course it is La Nina and not El Nino.
Thanks Mike Carter for waking me up. I well remember measuring and
weighing swiftlet nestlings six days a week throughout the dry heat
of the 1986/7 El Nino season at Chillagoe. It was so dry that some
of the nests came unstuck and fell off the cave roof and parent s got
so little food that many nestlings died.
G'day bird enthusiasts
The only time in my Swift records (1940-2010) when Western
Australia reported more FTS than Central Australia (NT & SA) or
Eastern Australia was the 1955/6 season, which was an La Nina year
that brought much of WA its highest rainfall ever. (www.bom.gov/
climate/enso/ninacomp).
More recently - like this month we had an La Nina event that
brought huge amounts of rain to Toowoomba, Brisbane, North coastal
NSW, and Neville Schrader reported 50+ FTS flying very fast and
very directly to the North over Parkes the day before Toowoomba had
its downpour. Neville suggests that they were heading for this event.
I am wondering if any of you have observations that would support
or contradict the concept that FTS are attracted to heavy rainfall
events.
Looking forward to your ideas and your evidence.
Cheers & Happy birding
Mike
===================
Michael Tarburton
===================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
