Pacific (Fork-tailed) Swift (Apus pacificus) Report for 2016/17 Season.
[Summary of 487 sightings sent to me or published where I could find them]
Next seasons swifts are heading our way so it must be time to get last season’s report together. Two were seen on Java 22nd Aug, 4 seen on Bali 25th Aug and 12 on Bali 26th Aug. So numbers are building and they are just off out North coast.
This year there were 90 reports more than last year.
I am not aware of any definite over-wintering birds this season. There were four August sightings and one on 1st Sept that might have been over-wintering birds – but more likely to have been pre-breeders or failed breeders coming South early. Daphne Hards saw a single bird at Mambray Ck S.A. 7th Aug. Joan & Rosemary Wharton saw 8 on Reed Beds Rd, Qld 11th Aug. Marge & Roger Crouch saw some at Dulkannina Stn, S.A. 15 Aug. Dennis Hill saw17 over Hill’s Hill Wildlife Refuge in NSW 28th Aug. and Joan Wharton saw 3 near Fitzroy Falls, NSW 1st Sep.
Again, the largest flock observed was 2,500 pacificus seen by Len & Chris Ezzy on the Old Flinders Hwy, Qld. The second-largest flock was 1,200 birds seen by Clive Nealon, Gina Gregory and Claire Gerrish at Port Gregory, W.A. The third-largest flock was of 1,100 birds seen by Chris Purnell at Fisherman’s Bay in S.A. The fourth-largest flock was of 1,000 birds seen by Chris & Len Ezzy at Bohle Industrial estate, Qld.
All told only 38 sightings were reported from WA (26 last year), 45 from NT (49), 202 from Qld (179), 135 from NSW (86 last yr), 3 from ACT (12), 20 from Vic (26). 44 sightings were made in SA (16) & 2 in Tas (1). So, were most of the birds in Qld, or was it just that most observers with their eyes open were again in Qld this year?
The first Vic report that was most likely from new arrivals was of 10 birds seen at Croajingolong N.P. on 28th Dec. by Quentin Guibert. The largest flocks seen in Victoria were only 20 birds seen by Karen Weil at Harmers Haven, 14th May. These were also the last ones seen in Vic.
The first SA reports were by D & S Harper of 25+ near Mungeranie. The last sighting reported for SA was of 10+ birds on 20th Apr at Balaklava, reported by Paul Taylor.
Both Tasmanian sightings were of single birds on 9th Feb. Samuel Burckhardt saw his at Scamander and Robert Hamilton saw his in a flock of 55 WTNT at Peggs Beach Cons Pk.
One of the consequences these swifts face in feeding over the drier parts of Australia is that the food supply quickly runs out and they have to move on. This means unlike Needletail observations, very few observers make more than three sightings. This means it is even more important that each observer report their one or two observations, so we can fill out the picture a little. Thank you all very much for doing so, and reporting the numbers seen.
Observers who made more than three observations were: ANDERSON, David (5), ARMSTRONG, Doug (5), BOOTH, Cliff (4), BORTOLUSSI, Greg (4), BOWRA Bird call (4), DICK, Adrian (6), EZZY, Len & Chris. (4), FISHER, Keith & Lindsay (5), FOTHERGILL, Euan (6), HATTINGH, Tanya (6), HERRINGTON, Doug (8), HOFFMANN, Ben (4), HOWES, Michael (6), JACKETT, Nigel 14), KYNE, Peter (6), LARSON, Helen (14), MAURER, Golo (4), McLACHLAN, Greg (8), MORGAN, Peter (4), MORRIS, Alan (4), MURFET, Denzel (5), MURPHY, Liam (6), PEARSON, John (7), POTTER, Steve (4), RAWSTHORNE, John (4), REED, Rob (6), RONAN, Michael (4), WHARTON, Joan (4), WILSON, Tom (4), WNOROWSKI, Ted (5), WREN, Jon (6).
Most of us did not make that many observations but I still value & thank all these contributors:
ABBOTS, Susan (2), ADAMS, John (Jack) (2), ALLEN, Andrew (1), ALLEN, Jim (1), ALLEN, R&J (1), ALLSOP, John (1), ANDERSON, Marc (1), ARMSTRONG, Doug (3), ASHDOWN, Dan (1), ASHTON, Tony (2), ATTEWELL, Chris (1), BARKER, Potta (2), BARNES, Chris (2), BARNES, Darryl (1), BAXTER, Richard (1), BEAULIEU, Leonie (1), BEAVIS, Sarah (2), BECKER, Ron (1), BEGASSIERE, Janine de la (1), BENESH, Chris (1), BENSON, Ian (2),BERGMARK, Joshua (1), BISCHOFF, Tony (3), BOMBARDIERI, Nancy (1), BOND, Emma (1), BOYLE, Adrian (2), BRECKENRIDGE, Max (2), BRITTAIN, Ross. (2), BRITTON, Erin (1), BROSIE, Grant (1), BRUCE, Niel (3), BURCKHARDT, Samuel (2), BUSH, Lee (1), CALLAGHAN, Corey (2) CAREY, Mark (1), CARPENTER, Jesse (1), CARTER, Derek (1), CARY, Nicolas (1), CHEN, Larry (1), CONOLE, Lawrie (1),), COOPER, Dick & Barbara (1), CORNELIOUS, James (1), COWAN, Ian (1), CURRAN, Cheryl & Paul (1), D’ANNA, Willie (1), DALEY, Michael (1), DALY, Gus (1), DANIELL, Chris (1), DAUBENEY, Diles (1), DAVIES, Christy (1), DAVY, Eileen (1), DeBELIN, Bill (1), DEACON, Barry (1), DEVONPORT, Chris (2), DeVRIES, Mike (1), DICKSON, James (1), DOECKE, Michela (1), DOECKE, Nathaniel (3), DOUBIKIN, John L. (1), DOUGHERTY, Robert (1), DOUGILL, Steve (1), DOUGLAS, Fiona (1), DOVE, Charles (1), EARL, Hedley & Irena (3), EGGINS, Darryl (1), ELLER, Jeff & Marg (1), ENGEL, Deryk (1), EVANS, Andrea & Andrew (1), EVERIST, Peter (1), EWING, Gil (1), EYLES, Dan. (1), FARLEY, Kim (1), F, Sonja (2), FAWCETT, Adam (1), FERGUSON, Alex (1), FIELD, Tim (1), FLETCHER, Tom & Angus (1), FRATT, Norbert (1), FRIESEN, Jude (3), FULLER, Richard (2), GARDNER, Marc (3), GERMECH, Oakley (2), GERRISH, Claire (2), GIBSON, Col & Brenda (1), GIBB, Steve (1), GIBSON, Jesse (1), GILLANDERS, Alan (1), GILFEDDER, Mat. Alexander 7 Cathy (3), GILMOUR, Phil (1), GLASS, Brigid (3), GOULDING, Paul (1), GRAHAM, Malcolm (1), GREATWICH, Bruce (2), GREEN, Bob (1), GREGORY, Cory (1), GREGORY, Gina (3), GREY, David & Shirley (1), GUIBERT, Quentin (1), HALL, Beth (1), HALL, Mark (1), HAMILTON, Robert (2), HANCE, Ian (1), HARDS, Daphne (1), HARPER, D&S (1), HARTSHORN, Angus (1), HASTINGS Birdwatchers (2), HAWKINS, Liz (1), HBOC (2), (2), HERTOG, Tony (1), HILL, Dennis (1), HINZE, Matt. (1), HIRSCH, Catherine (2),HOBCROFT, Dion (1), HOFFMANN, Luke (3),HOLLAND, Jack (1), HONEYMAN, Mike (1), HORLER, Peter (1),HORVATH, Mark & Bron (2), HUMPHREYS, Keith & Judy (1), INGLIS, Jim (1), JACKSON, Luke (1), JACKSON, Micha (2), JARVIS, Mike (2), JENSEN, Andy (2), JERRAM, Mick (1), JOHNSON, Brian & Meg (2), JOHNSTONE, Richard (1), JONES, Ross (1), KENNERLEY, James (1), KERNOT, Rob (1), KERR, Ian (2), KILLMISTER, Suzy (1), KING, David (1), KNOCK, Pete (1), KRUMMINS, Andrew (3), LAMOUR, Kim (2), LAU, Andrew (1), LAXDAL, Dwaine (2), LEACH, Elliot (1), LEENEY, Ruth (2), LEITCH, Judy (1), LINDSAY, Kurtis (2), LISTER, Marie (1), LONERGAN, Noel (1), LOWRY, John (1), LOY, James (2), MARCHINI, Bobbi (2), MASTERS, Gavin & Mal (3), McGOVERN, Roger (1), McMAHON, Ian (1), MITCHELL, Mel (1), MOORHEAD, Bill & Jack (1), MORIEN, Celeste (1), MORRIS, Alan (2), MUSTAFA, James (2), NASH, Rick (1), NAT, Falla (1), NAUMANN, Andrew (2), NEALON, Clive (3), NEWLING, Greg (1), NICHOLAS, Richard (1), NICOLSON, Kym (1), NISBETT, Alison (1), OLLEY, Jeanette (1), OLSSON, Johan (1), ONGLEY, David (1), PAYET, Rosemary (1), PETER, John (1), PIERCE, Ed (2), PIETERSE, Leigh (1), PLANT, David (1), POTTER, David (1), PRESTON, Ivor (3), PURNELL, Chris (1), RACHAKONDA, Sreekar (1), RAMSEY, Michael (1), REED, Doug (1), REID, Sue (1), REIDY, Barbara (1), RICHARDSON, Bruce (2), RICHARDSON, David (1), RIPLEY, David (1), ROBINO, Janet (3), ROBINSON, Andrew (1), ROBINSON, Tim (2), ROBINSON, Douglas (3), RODERICK, Mick (3), ROGERS, Chantelle (1), ROSS, Laurie (2), RUDDER, Ashwin (1), RYAN, Thomas (2), SANDVIG, Erik (1), SCHULZ, Wayne (1), SCOBIE, Michael (2), SCOFIELD, Paul (1), SHELLEY, Luke (2), SHINTON, Chris (1), SHORTY, W. (1), SMALLWOOD, Darren (1), SMEDLEY, Karen (1), SMITH, A. (1), SMITH, EDWARD (3), SMITH, Per (1), SOLANDER, Biggles (2), SONNENBURG, Roy (3), SOUTHALL, Coleen (1), SPRY, Jenny (2), STILES, Jenny (1), SWAN, Roy (1), SYMMONS, Chris (1), SYSON, Winston (1), TALBOT, Nathan (1), TALBOT, Nicholas (2), TARRANT, Tom (1), TAYLOR, Paul (2), THOMAS, Judith (1), THOMPSON, Chris (2), THOMPSON, Hilary (1), THORN, Simon (1), TIERNEY, Peter (2), TRAYNOR, Kaye (1), TRUDGEN, David (1), TUCKER, Jean (1), TURNBULL, Ray (1), VELLA, Edwin (1), VENABLES, Brian (1), VIVIAN, Alanna (1), VOYZEY, Michael (1), WALSH, Adrian (1), WARD-SMITH, BRUCE (1), WARING, Richard (1), WATSON, Chris (1), WEIL, Karen (1), WELLER, Dan (2), WEST, Peter (3), WILES, Jennie (1), WILLIS, Michael (1), WILSON, Gary & Robyn (1), WOOD, Tim (1),
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