We had a pretty good day considering the very hot weather the previous few days (up to 38 degrees C). We ended up with 41 birds of 16 species, which is pretty good diversity! We re-caught a number of birds banded that day too.
The site we banded at is on McCarthy's Rd, another closed track in the park. The site is about one kilometre west of our River Forest Rd site.
Banding totals:
Brown Thornbill 2
Striated Thornbill 4
White-browed Scrubwren 6
Large-billed Scrubwren 3
Pilotbird 1
Lewin's Honeyeater 1
Crescent Honeyeater 1
Eastern Spinebill 2
Rose Robin 1
Eastern Yellow Robin 2
Golden Whistler 3
Olive Whistler 2
Black-faced Monarch 1
Eastern Whipbird 2
Rufous Fantail 6
Grey Fantail 4
We caught two Olive Whistlers. We are colour banding these birds so that people may report sightings of individuals in winter habitats. Hopefully we can get an idea of where the whistlers go when they move down to the lowlands outside the breeding season.
Ok, on to some photos!
First up, a beautiful forest bird, the Black-faced Monarch. This one is a juvenile, with barely any black face! (photo by Suzi Bond)
An Olive Whistler, including a shot with colour bands.
Golden Whistler. Some of you may have seen this photo of mine a while back. Such beautiful birds, couldn't resist putting up another couple of shots.
The Pilotbird, a very special bird. A handsome little guy, not often seen well due to its liking for dense forest understorey. One of the most amazing calls in the forest. Added a shot of the undertail coverts just for the colour!
Lastly, another Rose Robin shot. This time a female, and I've included a shot of her brood patch. That's the bit of belly skin that incubates the eggs; the skin becomes highly vascularised and looks like a watery blister.
