Hi all
While I was doing my swim at Macquarie Uni outdoor pool this morning, I was
also doing a bit of casual birding (mostly whilst I was gasping for breath at
the end of each lap). At about 7:50, I was watching the Welcome Swallows and
two Tree Martins feeding on something above the pool in a loose group. All of
a sudden, a large group (70+) of White-throated Needletails came bursting over
some nearby trees and straight through the middle of the group of smaller
birds. Seeing a group of swifts in Sydney in February isn’t that odd, but the
swifts then hung around for over well over 45 minutes (they were still in the
area when I left the pool at 8:35), actively feeding a quite low down
(treetop/roof height or just above). In my experience that is quite a long
time. After the initial burst through, there seemed to be no specific
interaction between the swifts and swallows.
It was a bright morning, but the swifts themselves looked very clean and
freshly marked, as if they were in new plumage.
While I was plugging up and down the pool, I was pondering:
- Do WTNTs moult whilst in Australia, which would account for the very
clean looking plumage or was it just the light?
- How good is their eyesight? Did they see whatever the swallows were
feeding on a decided they’d like some of the action or they were following
something else (or there was just a lot of whatever it was about)?
Any thoughts or input from experienced swift observers?
(Mike, the sighting will go in my annual sightings sheet as well)
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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