Changing climate or changing times?

Changing times - July - Scribbly Gum - ABC Science Online:

"South Australia

* Native geckos ousted by Asian house geckos (Logan City)
* No stick insects for the past 5 years
* Plague of corellas in last 2 years (Mt Gambier)"

This site is looking at the biodiversity changes occurring which may be a result of climate change. They have used reader responses to help put together a bit of a picture as to what is observable. This is probably something which is going on in universities around the world, but we really haven't sat down to look at the emerging picture. You get bits and pieces of news about polar bears being threatened or land becoming too dry but we don't actually get something like this where you can have a look and think, oh yes, or oh no.

I was thinking the Corellas might be heading for Mt. Gambier because we keep chasing them away here. It's an unfortunate fact of suburban living that people have no appreciation of wild life because it's too messy or too noisy. I can remember driving to work at at certain times of the year there would be a cloud of white in the sky and then on the fields. Corella season. It was glorious. Not any more. My bulbs do flower earlier and the roses in most people's gardens are flourishing in Adelaide's current conditions. On the whole my garden is lusher but it went through a severe patch and a number of people have had plants and trees damaged by it. There are new ants and bugs I have never seen in SA and there are butterflies now when they had almost disappeared. I get wonderful butterflies around here in summer now. I do know my winter and summer clothes stay out all year long whereas before I'd pack the winter or summer ones away. I went through summer with jumpers on this year and that's unheard of. I was glad to get away and into shorts , t shirts and thongs! Birds seems to be happier nesting and we seem to have more around but not parrots. Our parrots are off. I was surprised as anything to see rosellas out the back the other week because they haven't been around for a couple of years. The ants and spiders are more prolific more insistent and harder to control. The spiders especially are far too lively for my liking but in my home they still get a wallop because I do not welcome eight legged things hairy or not.