Dusky woodswallows soared into the sky to snatch at the last of the summer’s flying insects. In the upper bare branches of a dead gum, they were joined by tree martins.
The two unrelated species jockeyed for position, the martins coming off worst. When a woodswallow returned from a sortie, the smaller martins had to make way for it.
Despite a late spell of summer weather, I sensed the two species were looking north, they certainly seemed to head that way after taking off, then swung around and returned to the perch in the foothills below kunanyi/Mt Wellington.
It had been a glorious Indian summer well into March when chill winds and a closing of the days finally announced winter was on the way.
A heatwave had lingered. Insects that die off in cold weather were spared and
the insectivores who hunt on the wing were making hay while the sun shone. Who could blame then for lingering awhile, putting off the arduous and dangerous journey north, the crossing of Bass Strait, the journey across Victoria and further to the north?
I checked the wind direction. There was a breeze from the south-west and all looked favourable for the migration but the woodswallows and martins were not convinced. They were taking a chance. A sudden cold snap killing off insects could leave migrants stranded without food.
The high-flying hunters were not alone in their apparent reluctance to leave, enjoying the last of the summer. Many grey fantails and silvereyes were still about.
Before setting out one sunny morning I had read an article in Birdlife Australia magazine describing in magical terms the arrival of Tasmanian breeding birds and their young in Victoria in mid-March, and I was surprised to find these same species hanging about the forests of the mountain.
I wanted to tell the grey fantails hawking insects at my feet as I tramped the Lenah Valley Track to get a move on, to urge the silvereyes to abandon Tasmania for warmer climes.
Some of the fantail and silvereye populations choose to ride out the Tasmanian winter, retreating from the high country to lower ground where they can still find insects. At this time of year these birds are common in Hobart suburban gardens, along with other birds coming off the mountain in a domestic migration that does not involve interstate travel. These include crescent honeyeaters and eastern spinebills, and another mountain dweller, the flame robin.
The welcome swallow is another migrant sometimes found in Tasmania in the winter. Although it is considered the more robust and hardier of the swallow family, this autumn I was surprised to find the swallows I usually monitor at the Waterworks Reserve and the Parliament lawns in the city had all departed by early March. Not for them the delights of the Indian summer.