Dusky & White-browed Woodswallows

Sightings within the local survey area for the period 1 Jun 2012 - 31 Aug 2012. The local survey area is a rectangular area extending from Kingsthorpe NW of Toowoomba to the Mt Whitestone/Fordsdale area SE of Helidon.
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Bill Jolly
Posts: 352
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Lockyer Valley

Dusky & White-browed Woodswallows

Post by Bill Jolly »

I've just been transferring June and July records to my database, and I was reminded that on 14th June, visiting US birder, Bill Tucker (some of you know him) and I saw numerous Dusky Woodswallows and a few White-browed Woodswallows at Abberton.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a mixed flock, perhaps both were feeding on the same aerial food-source, or just as possible they were travelling together I suppose.

Anyway, Dusky Woodswallow was a new bird for the Abberton house list!

Incidentally, all previous woodswallow sightings here (White-breasted, Masked, White-browed and Black-faced) have been in August, September or October. These are the first ever in June at Abberton.

Bill Jolly
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Mick Atzeni
Posts: 1843
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:08 pm

White-browed Woodswallows

Post by Mick Atzeni »

Bill,

Very curious record for White-browed Woodswallow (WBWS), and is also the first for 2012.

Checked my records; my earliest WBWS sighting was 2/9 in 1980 at Echo Valley (a mixed flock with Masked WS). All my local records (for both WBWS and Masked WS) have been in September and October.

On 22/8/04, I had 30-50 Dusky Woodswallows flying south over suburban Rangeville. This is the only time I have ever seen evidence of Duskies migrating over Toowoomba. I see them so intermittently that I can't say whether they're seasonal or nomadic. Perhaps the club's monthly records can shed some light on this, Pat?.

Cheers
Mick
Last edited by Mick Atzeni on Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Bill Jolly
Posts: 352
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Lockyer Valley

White-browed Woodswallows

Post by Bill Jolly »

Yes, totally unexpected - but it's interesting that that's what happens now and then with sightings, and we learn that there are no absolute rules, just patterns that in our experience are for the most part reliable.

I went online to seek out any other winter records, and found one June photo - but when I went to the original posting it was labelled as taken at Dubbo Zoo!

The New Atlas shows one historical winter dot on the Sunshine Coast, as well as one on the NSW north coast, but I don't know any details about them.

We had a nesting colony along Adair Road a few years back in October/November, 2007, and a few October irruptions before that, the most notable being White-browed, Black-faced and Masked Woodswallows all here together in the garden trees on 1 October 1994, joined the next day by a Black Honeyeater (!), but no previous local White-browed winter record that I'm aware of.

Bill
Pat McConnell
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 1:42 pm

Dusky and White-browed Woodswallows

Post by Pat McConnell »

Hello Bill and Mick. I checked back through the first 25 years of records and found that White-browed Woodswallows have only been recorded in September, October, November and December.

Dusky Woodswallows have been recorded with roughly the same regularity in every month of the year. There are slight peaks in August and October. For some reason there were no records in 2000 - this was the first time the club had gone a year without seeing them.

Regards
Pat
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