1.This morning, Tuesday 10th August, as we drove north along the Motorway between the Maroochy River and the Peregian Beach turn-off, in excess of sixty Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flew SSE across the highway at about 200 feet . They were in groups of three to six birds, but all groups within calling range and sight of each other. To the best of my recollection, it was the largest number of this species that I have seen in single flight movement for many years. 2. Shortly before, at the junction of the Bruce Highway and Anzac Avenue my daughter spotted a Koala (later confirmed as a female) in a medium sized gum, one of a handfull, on the small island island between the Highway, the ramp road off to the west and Anzac Avenue – all very busy roads. Stopping to check the sighting and location, to inform the local Koala networks, we were obliged to do a U turn on Brays Road, which joins Anzac Avenue just west of the highway. At the junction of Brays Road and Anzac Avenue, above a pipe tunnelling operation, in a large gum about 300 hundred meters from the first Koala’s gum tree, another mature Koala (later confirmed as a male) sat high in the tree. Another sighting calling for celebration? Well only superficially. The extent of destruction of native trees in the surrounding area for housing development is forcing Koalas to find food in the most dangerous and noisy of places. Both sites involve great hazard to nocturnal movement of the Koalas because of very dense and busy roads system. In addition to road kill, many diseased Koalas are picked up by the local Koala Ambulance Service, their condition being attributed, at least in part, to habitat stress. Angus Innes. ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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