That is great Annabel – this is the northernmost record of Swift Parrots on the mainland so far in 2016 (that has been reported to BirdLife anyway). Last year the northernmost report was west of Armidale, yet in 2014 there were birds right up as far north as near Bundaberg.
Most Swifty reports in NSW this year have been from the Far South Coast and Hunter Valley, both in association with flowering Spotted Gums; the peak count being 133 birds on the Singleton Training Area on the 30 June. There have been numerous reports from the Hunter Economic Zone (HEZ) forests near Kurri Kurri as well. Even though they are flowering to some extent the Spotted Gum is not flowering like it did in 2012 unfortunately.
This weekend is the second of the biannual survey weekends for Regent Honeyeaters and Swift Parrots. More info can be found at the link below:
birdlife.org.au/projects/woodland-birds-for-biodiversity/latest-news-wl
Mick
From: John Tongue < jspk@iprimus.com.au>
To: Annabel Ashworth < edanna2@bigpond.net.au>
Cc: Birding-Aus < Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org>
Sent: Wednesday, 3 August 2016, 15:20
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Swift Parrot
Nice find!
I grew up near Tamworth, and we lived for a time in Boggabri, but I didn’t see my first Swift Parrot till we moved to Tassie,
Cheers,
John Tongue
Devonport
> On 3 Aug 2016, at 2:06 PM, Annabel Ashworth < edanna2@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
>
> On a Tamworth Birdwatchers outing to Gunnedah last Saturday. We were lucky enough to have a sighting of a Swift Parrot. It was in flowering gums in Black Jack State Forest on the outskirts of town. We were able to watch it for quite a while as it fed quietly in the area, but for most of the time it was obscured by leaves. There was a lot of discussion as we gradually saw different diagnostic features. One member was adamant the rest of us were wrong, but luckily photos taken by two members were able to confirm the sighting. Pretty exciting as we don’t often see them up here.
> Annabel
>
>
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