Super abundant silveres around lake ellesmere

[andrewcrossland]

Last week and again during Sundays wader census I was staggered by the sheer abundance of silvereyes. Flocks everywhere feeding on grass, marsh, saltmeadow flats, saltmarsh shrub land etc. There's been almost no frosts in this part of canterbury as yet (I'm contrast to mist years when they start in late April ), so there must still be lots of food for silvereyes I'm the countryside and less need to go to suburban gardens and bird feeders?

[Jim Kirker]

A selective look at ebird records for this year and previous shows mainly low numbers. so this could something new and I wonder if the many flocks you saw were stopping over on migration or whether as you suggest food was the main factor. It would be interesting to see how long they stay.