A silver lining has emerged in the wake of record-breaking flooding across parts of New South Wales with signs the wet weather has created prime conditions for nectar-feeing birds, including the critically endangered regent honeyeater.
There have been observations of a mass eucalypt budding event in the wake of the flooding across the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions.
Mick Roderick, BirdLife Australia’s regent honeyeater recovery adviser, said he had seen various eucalypt species thriving in the Hunter after their prolonged soaking during April and May.
A spotted gum bud in the Hunter in June. (Supplied: Mick Roderick)
He said as the different species flowered the blossom season could last throughout the next year at least.
It would provide food for the regent honeyeater, a species which has dropped to around 300 wild birds.
“To know that so many trees will be flowering from a breeding season, right through summer and winter … is significant for a critically endangered species that relies almost exclusively on nectar,” Mr Roderick said.
“It provides the regent honeyeaters that are left with an opportunity to take advantage of those conditions and hopefully successfully breed.
“I think it’s fair to say 2025 could be a very important year for the regent honeyeater given just how good Mother Nature is going to turn it on for that species with the blossoms.”
A captive-bred regent honeyeater which was released into the wild. (Supplied: Dean Ingwersen)
Mr Roderick said BirdLife Australia had recent evidence of hundreds of honeyeaters of various species and lorikeets feeding on the coast where swamp mahogany trees were flowering, while white box was flowering on the western slopes.
He said many other eucalypts had been observed putting on buds in preparation for flowering.
“The exciting thing is we seem to now have a mass budding of certain eucalypts, certainly in the Hunter Valley, and most of the buds have appeared after the really heavy rain,” Mr Roderick said.
Grey gums are budding in Adamstown in the Hunter in the wake of extensive rainfall and floods in May. (Supplied: Mick Roderick)
“So we have red gums, ironbarks, grey gums, and then spotted gums to follow all these spring flowering gums.
“It looks like an exciting time with rolling blossoms for many months to come.”
Mr Roderick said eucalypt blossoms typically dropped during drier years and it was the most promising blossom season in the region since heavy rainfall in 2021/’22.
“We’re going to have two exceptional seasons within four years of each other, which is pretty incredible,” he said.
A regent honeyeater during a previous blossom season. (Supplied: Mick Roderick, courtesy of Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council)
Understanding eucalypts
Dean Nicolle, a consultant botanist and ecologist specialising in eucalypts, said there were more than 800 different eucalypt species throughout Australia and that certain species grew strongly in the wake of prolonged rainfall.
Dean Nicolle is an expert on eucalypts. (Supplied)
“Some species are very tolerant of flooding and waterlogged soils and are much more drought sensitive, while other species are much more drought tolerant,” he said.
“The species described [in the Hunter], like spotted gums and ironbarks, are generally species of hillsides and ranges.
“They would be responding to increased moisture in the soil, so conditions are good for growing.
“They can take up as much water as they want, grow lots of leaves and then flower heavily.”
Scarlet honeyeaters are among nectar-feeding birds which benefit from strong blossom seasons. (Supplied: Mick Roderick)
Good news for beekeepers
The budding eucalypts are also a welcome sight for apiarists, including Hunter Valley-based Colin Wilson who has been a commercial beekeeper for about 45 years.
“In the Hunter Valley at the moment there’s ironbark species putting buds on, spotted gum trees, grey gum trees, so there’s a fair range of trees which will all flower at different stages,” he said.
Hunter Valley apiarist Col Wilson is encouraged by the signs of a strong gum blossom season ahead. (Supplied: Col Wilson)
“The last few years they have been below average in the amount of flowering and nectar and it’s looking a lot more hopeful for the next 12 months.
“Trees bud sometimes six months or more in advance before they flower. As a beekeeper you then know there’ll be some honeyflows.”
Mr Wilson had to euthanase bees when varroa mite was detected in the region several years ago.
“A lot of people around here have suffered quite a lot financially over the last few years because hives were euthanased,” he said.
“We brought bees back again when we were allowed to and have a growing process of expanding bee numbers.
“When you can see a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel it does give you a bit of hope.”
