Hi all,
This morning, a cool damp and misty mountain morning, I stepped outside my
front door and was surprised to hear the distinctive "clonk! clonk!" and
loud mimicry of a male Superb Lyrebird from the bush below my house.
Throwing on a pair of shoes I headed down the hill and crept through the
bush, and there it was - an immature, peering at me through the undergrowth
and followed closely by a White-browed Scrubwren as it scratched around.
I've been living here for 17 years and never before had a lyrebird in this
patch, although they are a common resident of the escarpments around the
edges of the town and beyond. The bush below my house is part of a large
reserve which is surrounded on all sides by some degree of development or
clearing, and I've always assumed this is what stopped them venturing in
here. Coincidentally, just a few weeks ago I watched two lyrebirds foraging
right out in a cleared paddock near Blackheath. It seems the drought and
the recent bushfires are forcing them into new habitats.
As I type this message, I can hear the bird's wonderful song through my
window. I hope it decides to stay.
Cheers and a happy new year to all on Birding-Aus.
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba
Blue Mountains NSW
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