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Prue and I spent a pleasant Sunday exploring along
Boboyan Rd. Nice to see excellent regeneration in most of the burnt
areas
Our first stop was the Namadgi Visitor Centre,
which had some new info boards since our last visit on post fire fauna surveys
and rehabilitation of sphagnum bogs amongst other things. The nearby woodland
walk was devoid of birds for the first half but we were then hit by an amazing
bird wave involving probably several hundred individuals. Most prominent were YR
thornbills, Striated Pardalotes, Weebills and Sittellas with smaller
numbers of other things including Whitefaces, Scarlet robin, Jacky Winter, H
Bronze Cuckoo (1 Juv), Western gerygone. Also heard an Owlet Nightjar calling. A
male Diamond Firetail kept us amused for a while with a courtship display that
involved him clutching a piece of grass several times longer than himself in his
beak while frantically bobbing up and down on a dead branch, like a tiny
demented weightlifter. Unfortunately for him the object of his affections
appeared less than impressed and left while he was still in full
flow.
Our next stop was just south of the Glendale Depot
turnoff where a small corpse on the road turned out to be a freshly dead
Painted Button Quail, currently stored in our freezer. Sad, but at least it
gave us a close look at the beautifully marked plumaged.
We then explored along the Old Boboyan
Rd where we found lots of Fuscous
Honeyeaters including a nest with one egg, also more firetails, Little ravens,
Brown treecreepers, many Dusky Wood swallows, and a Common Bronzewing. Flushed 2
quail which appeared to be Painted BQ, we weren't able to find them again, but
while walking back to the car we saw another, definite PBQ which quickly snuck
off into the undergrowth. This was in woodland near the carpark for the Yankees
Hat walking trail.
Back on Boboyan Rd a Wonga Pigeon waddled
across the road in front of us, the first I've seen locally since the 2003
fires. We eventually made it to the Yerrabi Track which we spent several hours
exploring, there were spectacular views from the top of the hill, the massive
granite tors are really impressive. A male Satin Flycatcher was the best bird
seen, we found quite a few reptiles including a metre long Copperhead and a huge
Cunningham's Skink. Also some good butterflies including the green and balck
Macleay's Swallowtail and lots of the nicely marked Two-brand Grass-Skippers
(Anisynta dominula). Botanical highlight was the beautiful little orchid
Spiranthes australis (Austral Ladies Tresses).
On the way back we stopped at the scenic lookout a
couple of kms from the end of the bitumen, while admiring the view we heard an
intriguing little song coming from nearby, very musical with some mimicry woven
in. My guess would be Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, however we weren't able to find
the bird so its id remains a mystery, it stopped calling as soon as we went
looking for it. On the way back to the car we flushed a pair of Spotted
Quail-thrush, a good way to end a long day out.
cheers
Steve
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