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Talking of lone exposed nests has anyone noticed
the Darter nest just inside Molonglo Reach very near the Hospice? I
saw it when I paddled the area briefly on Sunday. It is in a scraggy
looking dead willow with no vegetation, about 2 m above the water,
very noticeable from the bike path - in fact 2 cyclists stopped for a
closer inspection. There was an adult male tending 3 downy
chicks. A little further upstream were another 2 nests on the
opposite side, both also containing 3 chicks. All in all I counted about
12 active Darter nests during a hurried inspection ( there are probably
more) along with 3 Little Pied Cormorant nests also containing up to 4
young. I wonder if these featured in Blitz stats.
In the area I blitzed last weekend Nankeen Night
Herons were up from 1 to 4, Sacred Kingfishers probably 6, and WW Trillers were
up to at least 6, probably 8, trying to out-trill each other. Their calls
coupled with simultaneous calling from the numerous Reed Warblers, Grey
fantails, Superb Wrens, Silvereyes, Red rumped Parrots, Crimson Rosellas,
Galahs, Sacred Kingfishers, Blackbirds, a Royal Spoonbill taking flight, and at
one stage the far off call of the Whistling Kite - the chorus put me in mind of
Mother Nature's symphony orchestra tuning up.
A couple of chance sightings yesterday:
a small raptor (not sure what it was, possibly a
Sparrowhawk) above the main drag in Fyshwick;
Common Bronzewing doing a low level pass across
Burrinjuck Cres Duffy threaded the needle between my vehicle and another
travelling in the opposite direction. Somehow it fortunately missed both of
us!
Cheers
Rod
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