About 2pm today a terrific racket of Pied Currawong calls was heard in
our backyard, which runs down to Darebin Creek. The birds kept flying
in twos and threes into the top of our tall Sugar Gum, then a few more
would join them, then some would fly south downstream. This continued
for 15 minutes plus, and I had counted about twenty-five or thirty of
them, until only two were left. I assume this last two were the pair
which have been resident locally for a few years - I think they had been
objecting to the visiting flock. While all this went on, a solitary
Magpie sat in the Sugar Gum, apparently paying no attention.
At about 7.15 this evening, a flock of Corellas began to settle in our
neighbours' Sugar Gums and Cypress trees. I seized binoculars and was
able to pick out red markings on many faces, though light conditions
were very poor in the dusk. I counted at least 60 in the visible parts
of the tree-tops. There was a lot of noise and I felt the calls were
more quavery and like Longbilled, rather than Little Corellas. Suddenly
they all took off and flew south towards the Yarra - a perfect snowstorm
of birds, definitely many hundreds of them - an amazing sight for a
minute or two. Many had been perching in parts of the trees below our
sight-line, down over the brow of the hill.
On recent evenings we have heard them go over, often well after dark.
I should point out that times given are Daylight Saving Time - we don't
return to Eastern Standard Time here until 1st April.
Anthea Fleming
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