![]() Throughout the Blue Mountains these cockatoos – which thrive in areas of human habitation – are booming. But now it’s impossible to spend time in the Blue Mountains without seeing flocks of them.” “When I first came to live here in 1983, sulphur-crested cockatoos were a rare sight. ![]() If the outcome out here is that we are losing the normal dawn and dusk chorus, then “that’s a profound tragedy. “The cockatoos screeching at dawn and dusk drowns out the fainter, more subtle noise of smaller birds,” says Carol, which may be forcing those that rely on vocal communication to find quieter habitats away from the cockatoos. Drowning out the dawn chorus of other birds Occasionally, in between their calls we can hear robins, cuckoos and currawongs. Not that it seems to matter how quiet we are the cockatoos screech overhead, their yellow crests catching the last of the sun, their white wings stretched wide. We try to muffle all sound as we peer through our binoculars, scouring the trees for birds. We look up at the sandstone cliffs as it becomes darker. In the dirt there are v-shaped scratchings, meaning that a lyrebird had been here very recently. Ferns, blue gums and tall, pink-trunked angophoras line the sandy track. More info at “Books by Jet Eliot”Įnter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.After a short walk down into the valley, we come to a creek that’s home to some scarcely seen platypus. I love days like this.ġ1 Yrs of Posts, Archive Search 11 Yrs of Posts, Archive Search Mystery novels. Within five minutes an awesome pair of gang-gang cockatoos landed. And underneath the rusty disintegrated tracks was the bird feeder. The trek took an hour! But true to her word, there was this odd little market in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dusty scrub brush, amidst acres of mountains and wilderness. This was definitely worth a try, even if it turned out to be a bust. Although they are considered widespread in this region, their population is vulnerable because their habitat is disappearing, due to the clearing of land and mature trees (used for nesting). Pairs are monogamous, and the male has a scarlet head. An endemic to south-eastern Australia, this 13 inch (34 cm) bird travels in flocks and pairs. Their entire world-wide range is a tiny ribbon of land right where we were located. Funny name, we mused.īack in the car Athena and I looked the bird up in the guide book. She named the bird, but we were unfamiliar with it. Wait there, and I guarantee you’ll find one. Go under the old tracks, she instructed, and you’ll find a feeder. Eventually we would come to an old abandoned tram car station that was just a little market now. They were involved instructions, potentially dubious, but I took notes nonetheless. She explained we had to go down several back dirt roads until we came to this corner and that bend. The woman was small and frail, but direct and focused, and sporting a delightful Australian accent. Afterwards, while we were admiring bird post cards, an elderly woman approached us and said she thought we might be interested in a bird she knew about. ![]() ![]() We stopped for lunch in a small town while hiking in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Gang-gang Cockatoos, New South Wales, Australia
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