In the first week of January I visited Mountain Creek Rd
sites.
Uriarra Forest- Sherwood lane (Mtn Ck Rd)
This interesting site about 1.4km from the corner of
Uriarra rd starts off as grassy woodland, with two white winged trillers and a
white faced heron, 2 nankeen kestrels. YR thornbills and Eastern rosellas had
dependent young. Plus an echidna.
Walking up the hill there is a wet gully which had
leaden flycatchers, scrubwrens, and
scarlet robins with dependent young. Striated thornbills had a nest with young.
Bronzewings on a nest. Other interesting birds included a male Satin bowerbird,
2 sitellas, grey butcherbird, grey currawong, white throated gerygone. 6 WWC. A
little eagle
passed over. Wallaroo & swamp
wallaby.
TSR 42: A small reserve with applebox and dense
understory. Interesting birds included a sacred kingfisher (I think it was
nesting), 42 little ravens, pied currawong with young, kookaburras, WW choughs,
and spinebill.
TSR 60: A surprisingly good reserve, mainly large yellow
box-red gum trees (with many hollows) with a native grass understory, a small
hill with stringybarks, and a creek on the eastern edge. Birds included 5
dollarbirds- 2 were cf. 5 kookaburras. 2 Olive-backed orioles, 1 western
gerygone. A hobby. A black falcon flew over, it caught something and was eating
it (on the wing) while soaring higher, then plummeted towards Dingo flat.
Mullion homestead dam: Australasian grebes with 3 ny, coots with 2 dy. About 12
fairy martins and 16 swallows. 2 dusky woodswallows. Strangely a swallow chased a small bat
(at 3pm & 30 degrees c) for a while, then the bat chased the swallow. Other
ducks such as Shovellers, hard heads & grey teal.
Benj
