Hi folks,
With the worst start to a "Wet Season" in over 70 years and the
resulting dry weather some species have delayed nesting including the
Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher who have only just dug out their
nesting chamber in the termite mounds on the ground that they use. A
check of 8 mounds dug out in the Lodge grounds revealed no birds or eggs
in them. This is extremely late as in a normal year they would be on
eggs or have chicks in the nest by now. With a period of around 2 months
from egg laying to birds fledging it will be late March at the earliest
when fledging occurs. Two years ago when cyclone Yasi struck the area on
3rd February the birds had fledged before this event. The adult birds
are still hanging around their territories calling, longing for rain
which hopefully will trigger them into breeding mode. This maybe a local
phenomenon or maybe more widespead, does anyone else have any breeding
records for this season yet? With the monsoonal trough which is
currently across the Torres Strait north of Cape York Peninsula forecast
to move south over the next few days, the hoped for rain might eventuate.
Keith & Lindsay.
--
Keith & Lindsay Fisher
Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge
RN 6 Mt. Kooyong Road
Julatten QLD 4871
Ph : (07) 4094 1263
Web Site: www.birdwatchers.com.au
Blog: http://kingfisherparkbirdwatchers.blogspot.com/
Winner: Wet Tropics 2010 Cassowary Award for Nature Based Tourism
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