|
Rather than tackle some of the more "sexy" grids in
the mountains, Kathy and I decided to cover all (or most) of the grids
accessible from Cooper Road (Wamboin), Sutton Road and Kings Highway, these most
likely being seldom, if ever, surveyed before. We ended up doing surveys in 7
grids (including Newline). Being mostly within Kowen Forest, we tried to do our
surveys in patches of remnant Eucalypt Woodland, which were surprisingly more
common than we'd expected. These patches, though relatively small, tend to be
located on the steeper slopes within the pine plantations, however, most had
suffered controlled burns (beware Foresters with matches!) so understorey
tended to be sparse in most places which had the effect of reducing small bird
numbers. Our tally overall was 58 species (32 in Newline).
Highlights (mostly from Newline): Rufous Songlark,
which sat in front of me singing for minutes while I snapped away with the
camera - I wish I'd had a tape recorder; Crested Shrike-tit quite close to the
ground; White-winged Trillers; Brown Treecreepers; Jacky Winters; 4 cuckoos at
various locations; several Dollarbirds; 1 Sacred Kingfisher; Olive-backed
Orioles; Leaden Flycatchers.
David Cook
|
