I went birding at Uralba Nature Reserve just out of Alstonville (northern
NSW) on 24 December, and I was very surprised to see an Alberts Lyrebird. On
returning home and reading the archives
http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/birding-aus/2004-06/msg001
34.html I was able to ascertain that this is a well known location.
The present southern limit of Albert's Lyrebirds appears to be the Blackwall
Range, just south of Ballina. It runs roughly parallel to the coast and is
about 8 km inland. The Uralba Nature Reserve, toward the northern end, has
Albert's, and they are in quite atypical habitat: Eucalyptus forest with
Casuarinas and grass-trees in the under-storey. Glen suggested that they
had been forced into this area by the clearing of The Big Scrub and have
managed to hang on. I feel sure they'll still be there. ("The Big Scrub"
was an extensive area of lowland rainforest, cleared for dairying pre-1900.
The type locality for M. alberti was within The Big Scrub.)
When I visited the same park on Christmas night, there was no sign (neither
aural nor visual) of a Sooty Owl previously reported by Peter Marsh.
If you are passing Alstonville/Ballina, Uralba NR is well worth a visit.
Cheers
Alastair
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