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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Thanks very much Mark, it is great to hear this! The news on Black Currawongs is sad, and I am glad to hear that the feed tray move was made for the welfare of the birds. I find it interesting to hear that the tray has been set up elsewhere, as I was never directed to it by the permanent residents, and neither was a group of birders who had flown in for the day specifically to see the parrots, and were having little luck. I further saw no evidence of a temporary hide – perhaps it hadn’t been set up by the time I was down there.
It is especially good to see that action is being taken on the starlings, as it is not a nice thought that the breeding of the parrots could be compromised by an invasive pest.
Best regards, Ashwin Rudder
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Apparently a new walking trail was constructed close to the Deny King hide and could potentially disturb the parrots too much from feeding, therefore discouraging their use of the feed table. A temporary hide with feed table has been constructed S of the airstrip on the trail to Cox’s Bight (from http://www.facebook.com/savetheobp). Grace
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Hi Ashwin, Thanks very much for this info! As someone hoping to get down there this summer I’d love to know more about the situation if anyone can shed more light?
Cheers David Stowe
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