Saturday 8 November 2008

Site loyalty

I'm a frustrated naturalist at the moment because I have to go to work. There's a big world out there to explore but work to be done. At least there is the thought that it's a temporary situation, a big advantage of casual work.
A walk at lunch time helps. The lakes at the back of the university are surrounded by a walking track that few people use and that's where I head most days, just as I used to when I was at the campus more often. As is the case when you frequently repeat a particular route I expect to see certain things - plants flowering seasonally, water levels going up and down, particular species of birds - but I must admit that I was surprised yesterday to find the Australasian Grebes nesting in exactly the same place as in previous years. Why that particular square metre of the dam? And then I walked a bit further and looked for the pair of Black-fronted Dotterels that fed on the muddy edge there in the past ... and there they were. It made my day.

4 comments:

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Boobook
Its reassuring to find some things staying the same, in this world of change.
Cheers
Denis

Gouldiae said...

G'day Boobook,
I've always wondered what drives site loyalty in many species. Yesterday one of the Heyfield Birdwatchers was telling us about a 'bird tour' she went on and the leader kept taking them to particular trees, rocks, dams, to find particular birds as though they would be there automatically at 10am, etc.
It'd take a bit of the thrill from sudden discoveries though wouldn't it?
Regards,
Gouldiae

Duncan said...

Boobook, we had a pair of Rufous Whistler return to our garden for several years, they even habitually used the same perch on a grevillea.

Dave Dorsey said...

Yes Boobook, I'm of working class also. I asked my wife if I could retire and then she could support me. I just got this look.....