Hi all, Just expanding on Michael Wood’s email last Thursday (18th) about budgies in the Lockyer Valley. He suggested those birds could be an indication of things to come. I agree! Last night I was told about a flock of about 100 budgies at Martindale, south of Denman in the Hunter Valley. Budgies are seldom reported in the Hunter, let alone in these numbers and about 100km from the coast. Tim Faulkner also saw 2 birds near Ellerston (east of Scone) on Friday, and a report of 24 birds came from near Ebor on Thursday (on the New England) . 5 birds were also seen in the Capertee Valley by the Cumberland BOC on the weekend (which is again, east of the divide). Budgies have been reported now for many weeks in the northern part of the Liverpool Plains (western slopes, NSW) but I was impressed to read that “tens of hundreds” of birds were roosting in trees at Goondiwindi, Qld. It seems that there is a very real “push” eastwards at the moment. Of potential significance was the fact that the Ebor sighting (probably only 80km from the coast) was accompanied by a Diamond Dove. Here in the Hunter (and elsewhere in NSW and Qld it seems) there has been a very obvious explosion of Black Kites in the past month and a bit. There are several sites in the Lower Hunter where flocks have been occurring, including 2 sites with 60+ birds. Maybe these kites are the scouts ahead of other birds to follow in the coming months as Michael suggests? Could that purported Letter-wing at Kilmore be another sign? An interesting story might be unfolding here. Mick ===============================
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Hi all, As an aside to Budgerigars being seen in eastern parts of Australia. I’m in Wagga Wagga at the moment, and there are large numbers of Cockatiel around town. The birds are common at the CSU campus, and yesterday a large flock flew over the main street in town. Cheers, Tim Dolby ________________________________________ Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 11:21 PM
Hi Jenny, You must have had a dry day in lovely Capertee……it was pouring down in Sydney most of Saturday! Just a quick comment on the Budgies, you saw. In 2004 and perhaps earlier, a small group were present on a private property near Glen Alice, and they were seen to be breeding. I don’t know if they are still there or are connected to your group. Unfortunately the property became ‘out of bounds’ – a great shame, as it had Regent Honeyeater and Plum-headed Finch on it. Records may show that Budgerigars have been spotted elsewhere in Capertee since then, especially before the drought broke. Cheers, Peter Madvig
Hi Jenny, You must have had a dry day in lovely Capertee……it was pouring down in Sydney most of Saturday! Just a quick comment on the Budgies, you saw. In 2004 and perhaps earlier, a small group were present on a private property near Glen Alice, and they were seen to be breeding. I don’t know if they are still there or are connected to your group. Unfortunately the property became ‘out of bounds’ – a great shame, as it had Regent Honeyeater and Plum-headed Finch on it. Records may show that Budgerigars have been spotted elsewhere in Capertee since then, especially before the drought broke. Cheers, Peter Madvig
On the Birds In Backyards website, under Forums, Best Photo, Bird of the Week 15/4. Someone has posted a photo of Budgie at Victoria Point, Qld, 18/4/13. Looks like a wild bird! For the Budgie(s), scroll way down to post #34. http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Bird-Week-15th-April-parrots
Cheers, Steve
Hi all,
Copied below is an email I sent previously, in response to Michael Woods’ email. …Bludgies seem to be doing the same thing up the other end of the continent too.
Hooroo,
Hi Michael,
Budgerigars are certainly pretty common well beyond their “normal” range at present. There is quite a number of reports from coastal areas at Townsville at present, usually mobs of 10-20. I saw 10 near the uni where I work two weeks ago. I also saw a mob up in coastal NE Arnhemland late last year.
I returned from a work trip up into the Einasleigh area (central east N. Qld) yesterday, and while this area is certainly a regular place to see budgies, I saw lots more than usual this trip. Also a lot more red kangaroos than normal, which usually means v. hard times to the south west of this area.
In my experience, this usually is, as you say, indicative of what’s coming (nice looking falcons especially).
Eric Vanderduys Technical Officer CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences Phone: +61 7 4753 8529 | Fax: +61 7 4753 8600 | Mobile: 0437 330 961 eric.vanderduys@csiro.au | http://www.csiro.au | http://www.csiro.au/people/Eric.Vanderduys.html Address: CSIRO, PMB PO, Aitkenvale, Qld 4814. Deliveries: CSIRO, ATSIP, Bld 145 James Cook Drive, James Cook University Douglas Campus, Townsville Qld 4814, AUSTRALIA
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Hi Mick & list, Thanks for initiating a discussion about the recent Budgie sightings. I was on the Cumberland Bird Observers outing that spotted 5 Budgies in a tree by the side of the road in the Capertee Valley. We had stopped to look at Diamond Firetails & Zebra Finches and then became interested in a Eucalypt tree behind us that was full of birds. Red-Rumped Parrots, Dusky Woodswallows & Budgerigars could be viewed all at once perching in the same part of the tree. It was a real thrill to see them, especially as I had not realised that Budgerigars ever came this close to Sydney! I had only seen them once before in the wild and that was at Kata Tjuta. Hopefully we have a very interesting autumn and winter ahead. From Jenny Stiles