Wintering Summer Birds

Once widely known as the Summer Bird, the Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike is in the main (as the old name implies), a Summer migrant to Tasmania. Locally, there's always a few that overwinter, mostly in coastal areas. During a recent drive around the South Arm area, I noted about 7 or 8 birds, all off which were alone. There was a time when there would be small flocks, of around half a dozen birds in each flock, wintering locally. Whether the smaller numbers represent a decline in the overall population or there are just less of them overwintering, is hard to gauge. My feeling is that I just don't see them as often these days, at any time of the year. In past Winters a small flock regularly sat on the powerline above a large Photinia bush in my front garden, flying down to catch insects off the foliage, but not this year. The accompanying image was taken at Clifton Beach.