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Author: donaldgkimball

Wild and crazy little budgies and shifting movements and patterns

I have noticed what I wonder is a pattern in budgerigar occurrence and movements.

In 2019 keen on spending time with this species I noted that there were sometimes 100s in January/Feb of 2019 in the Alice Springs region.

By April/May when I arrived in Alice things keen on seeing some flocks things were much different and not a bird was to be seen.

Conversely in Longreach/Winton area there were decent numbers during April/May.

It was like things shifted from the Alice region to the Winton/Longreach area as summer drew to a close and autumn was upon the land.

Currently in E-bird I am again noting fairly good numbers being reported in the Alice region but very few now in the Winton/Longreach area. I am wondering if there numbers again are going to increase here and decrease in Alice.

Is this a pattern? Or is there an explanation from Aussie mates that live there?

Many thanks!

Don Kimball

the Parrot Bloke.

February 18, 2020
Bourke’s Parrot Distribution in Eastern NSW

Hi Folks.

I was curious about Bourke's parrot distribution in NSW. Specifically are they ever seen between Griffith and Dubbo? What about other eastern areas in NSW?

It appears if I have Ebird correctly that they only come as far east as Bourke and as far south as Broken Hill in NSW or there abouts.

thanks so much for your input!

Don Kimball

September 1, 2019
Visiting from California and a Short stay in Darwin and wondering if anyone wants to go birding

Hi Folks:

On my own here and have a day and a half in Darwin and wondering if anyone wants to hang out with a fellow from the US and do some birding. Love to hook up with some Northern Rosellas but other species would be great to see. Cheers and thanks!

Don Kimball (the parrot bloke)

May 10, 2019
House Sparrow Decline

I have to admit it's important to adapt one's thinking in accordance with modernity. Being a 60 something year old male who grew up in Farm country in Canada I always regarded the house sparrow as an invasive pest. They would take over my treasured Tree Swallow nest boxes, killing adults, young and destroying eggs to acquire the man made cavity for their own uses.

I placed 6 bird boxes on a friends ranch here in Northern California with similar results. Once the stunningly beautiful Western Bluebird young were partially grown the sneaky sparrows entered the cavity, bludgeoned the young bluebirds to death with their stout bills and then built a nest over the bodies. I have never been a fan of this species. So I may have to rethink this one…

Thanks for the interesting global perspective on the House Sparrow

Cheers everyone

Don K

February 7, 2019
Thanks so much for the great advice on a bridge camera

May 26, 2018
Extra hanzab volume 4 Parrots to Dollarbirds

Hi kind folks in Aus

I was wondering if anyone has an extra copy of Hanzab Parrots – Dollarbirds
for sale.

I don’t mind if its worn as long as the binding isnt broken or pages
missing etc.

Thanks so much!

Don K

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May 21, 2018
FW: Nikon D90

Great tip Michael. I definitely came to the right place to ask my birding
Cam questions!

Thanks very much!

Don

On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 4:37 PM, Michael Hunter < drmhunter@westnet.com.au>
wrote:

>
>
> > I have a NikoD90 Coolpix, also known as P900, bought for about $700 and
> > used preferentially to a Canon SLR, mainly because of its extreme zoom
> ,ie
> > 83x, and am very happy with it.
> >
> > The main disadvantage is its weight, and at extreme zoom may have trouble
> > focussing on say a birds eye, but have not checked the online manual in
> that
> > regard. It is great to ID a bird barely discernable through 8×32
> Swarovskis.
> > Take the zoom pic then blow it up to ID .
> >
> > It does take a steady hand at high magnification, or resting on a tree or
> the
> > car widow sill with engine off, (esp. diesels), or a tripod which defeats
> the
> > object of the exercise, might as well take a scope and digiscope if you
> want
> > really sharp pics for publication, but for otherwise it is great. I just
> keep taking
> > high magnification hand held shots until getting a reasonably clear one.
> >
> > I have a carrycase which is reasonably compact, takes three spare
> batteries,
> > spare cards, and the supplied charging cable and small transformer as
> well
> as
> > the camera itself without adding significantly to its bulk.
> >
> > Relative to the equivalent SLRs it is dirt cheap.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Michael
>
>
>

>
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February 13, 2018
The ultimate bird photographer question faux – pas?

Okay first off I want to say how much I appreciate and take my hats off to
so many amazing bird photographers in Aus! I won’t list names but there
are many!

That said even though I normally use video, I am going to go down that
slippery slope of purchasing a bridge camera rather than a DSLR.

The purpose will be using the pics for social media mostly, plus blogs,
brochures etc. Does anyone have a favorite that has performed well
compared to a full DSLR? And yes I realize that the quality is never quite
there and they are not intended to compete with the Pro type cams with
large lenses.
Love to hear if you have one that works really well for you and how it
compares to the DSLRs.
Many thanks!

Don K

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February 6, 2018
Parrot population data and a question for birding aus members

I use E-bird a good deal like many I suspect. I have noticed a pattern in
parrot data. I looked at aproximately 30 species of parrots in NSW, VIC,
NT and noticed that there are more recordings/sightings for most species in
April/May as opposed to Sept/Oct.

I have my own ideas as to why this is so but would love some input from
local Aussies.

Thanks very much!

Don Kimball

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December 19, 2017
Budgie numbers more common in February-April

I am wondering if I see a pattern now over these past years in Aus where
huge flocks of budgies are more common in February – April rather than
typical Aussie spring months of lets say September – November?

I did see a flock of about 1000 at Bowra in September of 2008 but perhaps
the pattern is for more fall winter abundance?

Thanks for the input and as always I appreciate this site!

Don Kimball

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April 6, 2017

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