Over the weekend I had the pleasure of Blitzing in the
high Brindabellas, the Bendora Dam area, the northern
part of the Tidbinbilla Range and, by contrast,
Pierces Creek Forest. I also visited my woodland
survey site on private property near Tharwa, though
others were also surveying that grid rectangle.
Noela and I both bitzed on Saturday in the
Brindabellas. What a delight to visit the Bendora Dam
and seeing, for the first time in ages, the water
lapping the forest vegetation, and it is true that
water is pouring over the spillway! The Cotter River
was so high that we could not cross it safely either
by vehicle or by wading at the planed spots, meaning
that I had to adopt Plan B to get to a couple of grid
rectangles.
Because I did 2 ha/20 min surveys I had very few
breeding records.
Overall, considering the weather conditions - drizzle
or light rain most of the weekend - the bird species
diversity was fairly high and abundance fairly low.
Some casual observations
- Of interest was the small number of honeyeaters in
the ranges
- Lots of Golden Whistlers - almost ear-splitting -
near the Bendora Arboretum
- I visited my woodland site nr Tharwa on Sunday arvo
(1650-1710 hours) and it was alive with birds, 23
species, as good as any Spring morning I've seen there
- Only one woodswallow for the weekend (a Dusky)
- The little patch of native forest that has always
been preserved in the middle of Pierces Creek Forest
(stringybarks, grass trees, etc) now stands alone,
with all the surrounding pines removed. It looks odd,
but was an oasis full of birds. Of course, a patch
only needs a two or three Rufous Whistlers this time
of the year and it sounds as if you are inside an
aviary!
- What I enjoyed most was the lyrebirds: at Bendora
Arboretum, the Pipeline Road nr Bendora Rd, Parrot Rd
nr Aggies Gap, Oakey Creek at Pierces Creek Forest,
north end of the Camel Back Fire Trail (four!) and a
couple more at Black Spring Mtn on that road - it's
wonderful that so many have both survived and are
getting into breeding activity
- Though I did not search systematically, I did look
for display mounds and found none, despite all those
calling males. In almost all the places I heard them
the undergrowth/ground cover was thick, post-fire
regeneration meaning that there are few sites suitable
for mound building. So perhaps they are calling and
displaying on prominent stumps, etc, more frequently
than from mounds nowadays? It would make a good study.
But considering that copulation normally occurs on or
adjacent to display mounds ... hmm ... ah ...
implications for breeding success is what I had in
mind.
So, many thanks to Barbara for a great job in
organising the blitz and to those who assisted her in
doing so.
David
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