ONE RED-RUMPED SWALLOW with+/-20 Barn Swallows at Lower Daintree FNQ yesteday

This doesn’t surprise me.

On Friday, January 12, 2018, martin cachard < mcachard@hotmail.com> wrote:

> *** UNETHICAL BIRDERS STRIKE AGAIN !!!***
>
>
> hello all,
>
>
> there have been a number of briders since Sunday behaving VERY poorly at
> this site where the lone adult Red-rumped Swallow has been residing along
> with a minimum of 30-odd Barn Swallows.
>
>
> THIS MUST STOP… NOW please!!
>
>
> the resident who owns the property adjacent to and below the rig of
> powerlines has told me face to face last eveing while I was there at 5:30pm
> of some very disturbing, unethical and illegal displays of poor form.
>
>
> this even includes the culprits, who are DEFINITELY birders, walking the
> full 50 mtr length of his
>
> PRIVATE driveway without asking for his permission, just to get a ‘better’
> look.
>
>
> some of these individuals have parked themselves after such a walk within
> 5 mtrs of his home!!! some have even sat there and waited for the bird/s to
> show, often unsuccessful in seeing the red-rump…
>
>
> this is ILLEGAL activity and it’s called trespassing. PLEASE STOP IT !!!
>
>
> the best way to see these birds is to view them from the road side of the
> fenceline that runs parallel with Capt Cook Hwy, and to do this very early
> after sunrise, or after 5:15pm.
>
>
> more on this later…
>
>
> thank you,
>
>
> martin cachard,
>
> solar whisper wildlife cruises,
>
> daintree river.
>
>
> & trinity beach, cairns.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Birding-Aus < birding-aus-bounces@birding-aus.org> on behalf of
> martin cachard < mcachard@hotmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, 5 January 2018 2:27 PM
> To: birding-aus@birding-aus.org
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] ONE RED-RUMPED SWALLOW with+/-20 Barn Swallows
> at Lower Daintree FNQ yesteday
>
> Hello all,
>
> the lone Red-rumped Swallow is still here on the very same wires where I
> first found it on Thurs 21/12/17.
>
> I was checking out the site from 5:15pm-6pm yesterday, and it was nice to
> see it still there – I was beginning to think that it had moved on
> elsewhere having not seen it for about a week.
>
> Evidently, it’s been there the whole time, and I had just missed it, and
> it was most likely on the wing nearby at the other times this past week
> that I had checked for it.
>
> it seems very settled, and I would expect/hope it to stay there with the
> other swallows and martins for about another month.
> well, hopefully anyway!
>
> from memory, last season the 30+ Barn Swallows departed the Newell Beach
> site sometime mid-late Feb, so hopefully a similar departure date may occur
> again this season with the Barns, and the Red-rump follows suite.
>
> well, hopefully…??!!
>
> I think it’s pretty likely these Barns would be the same individuals as
> last season, as regular checks of the 2017 Newell Beach site have still
> revealed no Barns at all.
>
> but having said that, now is about the time of January that we got the
> Barns arriving at Newell Beach last season, so who knows, maybe there is
> still more Barns (& hopefully, more Red-rumps too!!) to arrive in the
> coming days…
>
>
> last evening’s total swallow count perched on the wires at the site was:
> 1 Red-rump, adult;
> 14 Barn, adults, & imms/juvs;
> 4 Welcome, adults;
> 2 Tree Martin, adults;
> 19 Fairy Martin, adults, & juvs.
>
> cheers for now,
>
>
> martin cachard,
>
> solar whisper wildlife cruises,
> daintree river,
>
>
> & trinity beach, cairns
>