winter warmth brings out early birds Goodbye, winter? Swimmers get in the swing of things at Clovelly. For Sydneysiders, the winter of our content is making way for balmy, dry conditions more usually enjoyed in Brisbane. August was more than 3 degrees above the long-term average for daily maximum temperatures, although just short of a monthly record set in 1995. Combined with July's record warmth, Sydney will register its highest maximum, mean and possibly minimum average temperatures for winter. Dominant high-pressure weather systems have nudged the mostly weak cold fronts well to the south for much of the season. As a result, the Harbour City has enjoyed 39 days of at least 20 degrees - not far short of half the winter - eclipsing the previous high of 37 such days. Gardeners have enjoyed spring flowers in bloom as much as a month early. The arrival of birds such as the common koel and channel-billed cuckoo has been creeping forward for years, as twitchers have noted. "Climate change is changing their migration patterns and birds are showing up earlier," said Holly Parsons, program manager of the Birds in Backyards project run by Birdlife Australia. Koels, for instance, are finding their way south to Bega and to Orange in the west, beyond their previous range. Spring will start with unusual forecasts pointing to a week-long string of 23-degree days. "We've never seen a week this warm so early," said Rob Sharpe, a meteorologist with Weatherzone. "We've got all this heat building up over central Australia" which is warming up south-eastern regions of the country. Today may come close to being Australia's hottest winter day on record with the national average maximum of 29 degrees set on August 23, 1995 at risk of being broken. Nationally, the year to date and the past 12 months are running at record highs according to mean temperatures, said Blair Trewin, a senior climatologist with the Bureau of Meteorology. September begins tomorrow and forecasters are already looking at Sydney experiencing maximum temperatures well above the month's 20-degree average. So far this year Sydney's mean temperatures (average of maximums and minimums) are 1.8 degrees above the averages dating back to 1858. "If we see those conditions persist . . . we'll come in ahead of the previous record" set in 2005, said Aaron Coutts-Smith, a bureau climatologist in NSW. Ski resorts will find little joy in the warm outlook. After several decent snowfalls in August, conditions are likely to turn slushy with temperatures set to remain above zero for much of the coming fortnight, including days of 10 degrees or warmer.