Aussie Finch Forum

Just watching tropical cyclone Nathan,it will be crossing East to West on Cape York right through the strong holds of WB's of Lakefield National Park on the East and Wiepa on West of the Cape with a total suggested population of around 2,000 birds.
WB's will be breeding at this time so if the winds are strong enough which they will be (200-300 klmph) i'm fairly sure their nests wont survive.
Crimsons are not strong fliers and their flight is undulating? meaning they fly short distances,mainly from tree to tree so they cannot get out of the area that will be affected by the cyclone.
My question is,what do they do in these extra strong winds.Do they hide under the grass or in hollow logs or do they just get blown away into oblivion and end up in the Gulf of Carpentaria where they drown.
Your thoughts will be appreciated. Craig

Hopefully not.That area has seen large cyclones before.I was last going through Lakefield National park 3 years ago to a fishing spot at Bathurst bay.
I did see a few crimsons but was unsure if they were white bellied at the time.
There are a few high mountain ranges through that area also.Since the majority of the area was made into a National park the wild pigs have done quite a bit of distruction.Before then the hunters were in there cleaning up the pigs.

Cross fingers that the other small population of W/B Crimson's (north of Wiepa Qld) will not be also effected by this years cyclone season.

wagga wrote:Cross fingers that the other small population of W/B Crimson's (north of Wiepa Qld) will not be also effected by this years cyclone season.

Sorry Al,i meant to say Wieper Craig

Hopefully as they have lived in this area forever they have inbuilt instincts that tell them how, when and where to seek shelter. Some will always perish, but the smart and strong will survive.
LML

They should be right. By the time the cyclone hits the mainland and the mountain ranges and heads west, they generally weaken as they need the warm ocean to feed it. A lot of the inland towns on the Atherton Tablelands S/W of Cairns don't get the damaging winds like the coastal areas do. Generally this time of the year leaves a smile on all the Graziers faces inland as they watch their grass grow and waterholes fill. There is also another known population of white bellied crimson finches along the Magnificent creek in the Town of Kowanyama on the south west side of the Cape. It would be interesting to know the numbers and how that population is going. Cheers

Hi Fb,thats very interesting.Is that the smaller still,light grey bellied red bird. It worries me to think that the further south they inhabit the more closer the BB's they are to cross with them. Craig

Welcome - back

Fire - back

Craig52 wrote:Hi Fb,thats very interesting.Is that the smaller still,light grey bellied red bird. It worries me to think that the further south they inhabit the more closer the BB's they are to cross with them. Craig

Actually i just google earthed Kowanyama,it is due West of Cooktown so i don't think they are the small grey bellied birds as they are further South West. Craig

Google earths a great tool. A friend of mine had some great old school photos of white bellied crimsons around the water treatment plant ponds in town. A lot of the keen fisherman from around Cairns,Tablelands head to this area to chase Barramundi along the numerous rivers and creeks feeding into the Gulf. Two years ago around June I travelled in that general area on a fishing trip. At that time I noted some reasonable size flocks of Diggles and White eared mask finches with young along the Burke development road around Dunbar station. I haven't seen any black bellied crimsons in that area. Cheers