Hi all,
I thought it might interest a lot of you, especially those planning on
going after the Orange-bellied Parrots at Melaleuca this summer, that the
feeding tray infront of the hide has been removed. The stumps remain, but
the wooden platform has been broken up, and now resides under the floor of
the hide, along with the whiteboard that has the band combinations for the
individual birds. Why this has happened I have no idea, and the two
permanent residents' response when I asked them was "Who knows?". I can
only speculate that the people in charge of the recovery program have
decided that the impact on the birds of people in the hide was greater than
the benefits of having birders voluntarily reporting the bands that they
saw.
What worries me is more that the birds now no longer have a very reliable
food source. I hope the birds have not been abandoned as a lost cause. I
was further worried to see three Starlings near one of the nest boxes. The
parrots have quite enough to worry about elsewhere in their range, surely
it would not be hard to eradicate a few starlings now, rather than let them
proliferate and become a major problem, out-competing the parrots for the
nest boxes.
For those still heading down, the birds are still there. They are nesting
in, or inspecting a number of nest-boxes that are prominent, and in easy
view. Early-ish morning, I found to be the best time, and the easiest way
to see them is to hear them flying overhead, and watch for where they land,
then follow. But I would definitely consider ensuring you go down for more
than just a single day. Further, there are other birds to be seen, and I
had excellent views of Striated Fieldwren, Beautiful Firetail, Southern Emu
Wren, and Olive Whistler.
Best regards,
Ashwin Rudder
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