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Stopped by at Uriarra Crossing early yesterday before the Sunday morning
suburban idiostocracy descended and recorded 23 species over 70 minutes.
Highlights: Two immature/female Mistletoe Birds, about 15
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters working east through riverbank
trees. Two groups totaling about 20 (conservative estimate)
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes flying downstream, two
Whistling Kites soaring, two European Greenfinches
and three Black-fronted Dotterels. A lone
Trundle Bear – our vernacular for Common Wombat.
Mixed feeding flock in trees comprising Grey
Fantails, Striated Pardalotes, Brown
Thornbills, Willie Wagtail, White-throated
Gerygone and three White-eared Honeyeaters bringing up
the drag.
Suddenly, the Tinkerbells chimed, "Weebills!" They've
never positively identified the species and are apt to call Weebill at any
unidentified little brown bird in the hope they'll be able to pencil a check
mark against the entry in their field guides. I followed their pointing paws and
saw two little birds preening on a twiggy branch 7m overhead. After 10 seconds
they sat still for a moment and we could easily tell they were Weebills.
They began hovering about the foliage and then, when we viewed them sans
binos, they looked like wannabe bumblebees.
John Layton
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