Michael Wright and I
left Canberra at 0500 on Saturday morning for a
date with H23 (Nursery
Swamp) and G25 (Yankee
Hat). On arriving at the Orroral
Valley carpark we were
serenaded by a Tawny Frogmouth and we began our walk-in with White-eared and
Yellow-Faced Honeyeaters and Rufous Whistlers the predominant species. A small
patch of wetter woodland provided views of at least three Satin Flycatchers and
on the return the only Bowerbird of the day. To negotiate the track into the Nursery
Swamp we had to move through three other adjoining grid squares and in G23 we
were thrilled to see three, possibly four, spotted quail thrush and then, for
us the bird of the blitz, a female turquoise parrot. The bird stayed around
long enough for Michael to think he could get closer for the obligatory
photograph (demanded by Barbara) before it flew to the ground and was not seen
again.
Further down the track
we had great views of two perched Wedge-tail Eagles. By contrast, Nursery Swamp was relatively quite, except for
the most visual and noisy birds of the day, Little Ravens. Certainly no sign of
the anticipated Lewin's Rail.
Back to the car after a
three and a half hour walk we left Orroral valley and headed south along Boboyan Road
enroute to Yankee Hat. We stopped twice on the way and at the second site (H24)
we were rewarded with two calling Brush Cuckoos. In the gloomy conditions it
was difficult to catalogue (and indeed photograph) the morphological
differences between this species and the more common Pallid Cuckoo, though the
difference in song was very apparent.
From there we approached
Yankee Hat and saw our only pigeons and ducks of the day when two common bronze
wings and two Pacific Black Ducks broke cover. Being the middle of the day the
birds were more difficult to come by and surprisingly we picked up our only
Silvereyes of the day. This was the square for raptors when we picked up Swamp
Harrier, Brown Falcon, Collared Sparrowhawk, Nankeen Kestrel and an immature
Wedge-tailed Eagle feeding on a kangaroo carcass. We also saw our one and only
snake of the blitz weekend when Michael pointed out a highland copperhead.
On returning leg-weary
to the carpark we saw the incongruous sight of a white wild dog that quickly
beat a retreat on seeing us. Back at the carpark we heard a Brown Treecreeper,
chased up the song and saw two. We had just hopped in the car when three
Diamond Firetails were seen over a nearby fence.
The following morning,
despite constant rain and still foot-sore from the day before, we were away at
0600 and onto L18, the northern flank of Mt Rob Roy. Soon after getting out of
the car on the Monaro Highway
we heard and observed both a Pallid Cuckoo and Rufous Fantail. The weather
improved as time went by and we saw three Satin Flycatchers. We finished the
walk by observing a Pied Currawong flush a Tawny Frogmouth which then alighted
in a tree and watched us through large yellow-orange eyes.
To follow up some the
comments by Geoffrey Dabb, in addition to the Diamond Firetails we also saw
Red-browed and European Goldfinches. While Golden Whistlers must have been
serenading only David McDonald, as we saw only Rufous and disappointingly no
Olive Whistlers.
I would join in the
others in congratulating Barbara and her team on not only
their organisation of this event but also for encouraging me, for the first
time, to visit and bird in the beautiful southerly part of the ACT. On behalf of Michael and myself, I will
be submitting records for 9 grid squares with 87 species recorded (81 birds, 5
mammals and the one snake). I would sum up by saying that this weekend past was
my most enjoyable experience of birding in Canberra.
Cheers
Alastair
