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There are still a couple of vacancies on the COG
mid week trip to Green Cape close to the Vic border from 25-28
October. We are staying in the lighthouse cottages and the vacancies
involve the double sofa bed in the
family/lounge room. This would suit a couple though there are other
alternatives such as the use of a camp stretcher as there is plenty of
room.
It promises to be a great trip. If
anyone is interested please contact me on 6288 7840 (H) or 6274
1434 (W)
Copies of the current ad in Gang-gang and the
report on COG's previous visit are below for readers information (and hopefully
also to excite the interest).
Jack Holland
Green Cape ? Tuesday to Friday 25-28
October; Mid-week accommodated
This mid week trip is a reprise of the very
successful COG trip in June 2004. COG has again booked the two duplex
cottages associated with the lighthouse at Green Cape, and Peter Fullagar will
again be leading. At the end of October he expects to see a mix of sea
birds (including shearwaters) as well as whales close to shore (depending on the
weather). In the nearby heath there are some specials such as the Ground
Parrot and the Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, and there is likely to be a range of
birds in the woodlands, also close by. Highlights from COG?s 2004 visit
included three species of albatross,
Brown Skua, Black-faced Cormorant, Striated Fieldwren, Southern
Emu-wrens, not to mention the very
tame Ground Parrot.
The two cottages have been booked for 3
nights. The cottages each hold a maximum of 6 people, consisting of
separate rooms, the master bedroom with a queen size bed, one with two single
beds and a double sofa bed in the family/lounge room. Costs for the
accommodation are $100 for the 3 nights.
Report - Green Cape ? seabirds/whales (Thu 10 - Mon 14 June 2004)
The June long weekend saw twelve COG-ites descend on Green Cape, the northern
headland of Disaster Bay south of Eden.
Geographically, this coastal feature sits on the bend, one might say, between
the Victorian and NSW coastlines. It is also a point of contact for northerly
migrants making contact with the east coast of the continent. Hence whales and
oceanic birds were on the menu ? for the feasting of the eyes.
Roughing it at Green Cape is a most pleasurable experience. The Cape is deep
within the Ben Boyd National Park and sports a lighthouse dating from 1883. The
lighthouse/park keeper lives in a lovely old home situated beside a duplex of
houses previously occupied by the assistant lighthouse keepers. Each of these
houses is fitted out to sleep six and provided accommodation for the dirty dozen
from COG. The three houses, all of the same vintage as the lighthouse, are
perched on the cliff overlooking the Tasman Sea. Breakfast on the verandah,
under a warm morning sun, counting seabirds and whales, is pretty close to
heaven.
The arrangements gave us three full days, plus the last morning, to drink in
the ornithological and other delights. The first day was sunny but with
sufficient wind to attract a good display of pelagic birds. The subsequent days
were, in one sense, perfect and the envy of many a holiday-maker, but poor for
sea-bird watching. Many albatross were seen, especially on the Friday and
Saturday, with the large majority being Yellow-nosed Albatross.
The estimated number seen on the Friday was 150, often sitting in rafts of 30 or
more. These were supplemented by a sighting of one Shy
Albatross and a small number of Black-browed Albatross
sometimes sitting singly amongst a raft of Yellow-nosed
Albatross.
Northern Giant-Petrels made several appearances, their dark
heads labelling them as immature birds. The only other Procellariformes sighted
were Fluttering Shearwaters seen on three occasions.
Shifting orders, amongst the Laridae family, were sighted: Pacific
Gulls (two took up residence on the rocks below our ?home? for the
weekend), Silver Gulls, Crested Terns, a
Common Tern and small number of Brown Skuas
(if you are one of the unfortunates who call these fascinating birds ?Great
Skuas?, a weekend with Peter Fullagar will cure you forever). The incessant
passer-by from dawn until dusk of every day was the beautiful
Australasian Gannet.
The Pacific Gulls were close to their northern limit but
were not merely incidental. On the last morning, before sunrise, as we watched
the ocean from our regular vantage point on the very tip of the Cape, we saw a
flock of 32 Pacific Gulls fly over travelling north. In the
darkness of early morning, it appeared that all but three were immatures and two
of the three adults peeled off the pack to land on the rocks below. They were
our neighbours, arriving on the morning bus. They obviously roosted in a colony
further south.
The Skuas also provided delightful entertainment, terrorising gannets and
other foraging birds. On one occasion, a large pod of dolphins appeared to be
herding a shoal of fish and the gannets, albatrosses and others engaged in a
feeding frenzy. As is their wont, a Brown Skua was seen chasing
a gannet, latching onto its tail and forcing it to drop its catch and to land on
the water awaiting the departure of its tormentor.
Of the other coastal dwellers, the most interesting was a Black-faced
Cormorant operating near the northern extreme of its range.
The final morning also brought our first whales. A ?blow? on the horizon
slowly turned into two pods of Humpback Whales moving northwards, blowing at
about eight-minute intervals (according to one diligent observer) from the
southern horizon to the northern.
Back on terra firma, the birding was far from mundane. Some of the more
interesting sightings were a pair of Striated Grasswren,
Southern Emu-wrens and a Ground Parrot.
The last-mentioned was, for many, the highlight of the trip. Far from living
up to its reputation as a cryptic skulker, this bird gave us all prolonged and
close-up viewings, revealing in detail its plumage and feeding habits. One
evening after sunset, a collection of ten COG-ites could be seen (and I hope
were photographed) standing in a circle of about 5 metres in radius at whose
centre a Ground Parrot fed on grasses, seemingly quite
unconcerned. A foreigner (to say nothing of locals) might have thought we were
engaged in some religious ceremony.
This story concludes in praise of our group leader, Peter Fullagar. Peter was
generous with his unparalleled knowledge and has the gift of a great teacher and
story-teller.
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