Yep - it was a lovely sight.
I had about eight that spent about 20 mins just circling low round and round my
backyard in Kingsville. I even saw one with an insect in it's beak!
Then they headed back off to join the throng...
Fantastic!
Ed
Ed Williams
On 22/03/2013, at 11:17 AM, "jenny spry" <> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> There was a fascinating Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swift event over Melbourne
> yesterday. The day had been very windy with, according to the ABC, winds in
> excess of 100 km per hour until a front with brief but heavy rain went
> through at about 1630. Behind the front the sky cleared and the wind
> dropped to maybe 20 - 30 kph.
>
> At about 1730 I got a call from a friend in Altona Meadows, south of the
> city on the west coast of the bay, to say that she had Fork-tailed Swifts
> and Martins flying low over her house. I live in Carlton North, about 3 km
> north of the city and 20 km n-e of Altona Meadows. I walked out with the
> phone and they were over my place as well. Between then and 1930 a steady
> stream of F-t S and Tree Martins flew over in small groups of 10 - 20 birds
> at a time, heading to the north-east. After 1930 it was too dark to see.
>
> Return calls to Joy in Altona Meadows as I watched from my place confirmed
> that they were still passing over her house as well so I assume that there
> was a more or less steady stream of swifts passing over an area more
> than 20 km long for at least 2 hours.
>
> Looking at Birdline Vic shows that during the afternoon and evening F-t S
> were being seen over Hopetoun, 300 km n-w of Melb as the swift flies, over
> Ballarat, over Rye on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melb, and in many
> places in between. I checked Birdline Tasmania but there have been no
> reports from there as yet nor any from southern NSW.
>
> Early in the event the birds were flying low, just above roof level, but as
> the evening wore on the birds moved higher. The martins seemed to reduce in
> number the later it got so maybe they were finding places to roost for the
> evening. I have lived in my small inner suburban house for 15 years now and
> have never seen Tree Martins or Fork-tailed Swifts over the house before.
> They may have been there, but certainly they are not common.
>
> cheers
>
> Jenny
> http://jenniferspryausbirding.blogspot.com.au/
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