For only the 5th time in history a Glossy Swiflet has been seen in Australian territory. Earlier this year the Birds Australia Rarities Committee accepted Jean-Florent Mandelbaum's submission of a Glossy Swiflet seen at Daintree last year: http://users.bigpond.net.au:80/palliser/barc/SUMM500.htm
Jean-Florent visited Daintree in August of 2006. He stayed at Crocodylus and came out on our dawn river tour. To pluck out a swift as a new bird is no mean feat. Swifts don't perch like swallows or martins and the identification needs to be made on the wing. Jean-Florent did this from Stewart Creek Road overlooking the Daintree River where he found the Glossy Swiflet in amongst hundreds of our local White-rumped Swiftlets. But then Jean-Florent is no normal backpacker. He speaks 4 languages, plays the violin professionally, is a law, business & economics graduate, tutors English, maths & economics, has co-written the "Birds of Paris" field guide to be published next year and is the president of the local rowing club. Jean-Florent turns 24 in November.
Chris Dahlberg
http://www.daintree.info/
