Hi all
I realise Tumut is not exactly in the ACT, but I don't know of any
birders in that area, so Canberra seems to hold the nearest
concentration, so if this is too far off topic, please forgive me !
I have in-laws in Tumut and this was the 5th time I'd visited Australia
& Tumut in particular. It's a pleasant little town that I've grown
quite fond of. I have never seen anything on any list about Tumut, so I
have had to find places to bird for myself. I have spent most time
birding the area at the end of Boonderoo Road, which leads west off the
Snowy Mountains Highway at the south end of town. Where the bitumen
ends is a series of tracks that lead up into a dry forested area, where
I have recorded the following:
| Wedge-tailed Eagle |
| Black-shouldered Kite |
| Whistling Kite |
| Brown Goshawk |
| Peregrine |
| Masked Lapwing |
| Common Bronzewing |
| Peaceful Dove |
| Gang-gang Cockatoo |
| Australian King Parrot |
| Crimson Rosella |
| Eastern Rosella |
| Red-rumped Parrot |
| Tawny Frogmouth |
| Laughing Kookaburra |
| Sacred Kingfisher |
| Black-faced Cuckooshrike |
| Blackbird |
| Rufous Songlark |
| White-throated Treecreeper |
| Superb Fairy Wren |
| White-browed Scrubwren |
| Speckled Warbler |
| Brown Thornbill |
| Buff-rumped Thornbill |
| Yellow-rumped Thornbill |
| Yellow Thornbill |
| Striated Thornbill |
| Weebill |
| White-throated Gerygone |
| Willie Wagtail |
| Grey Fantail |
| Restless Flycatcher |
| Crested Shrike-Tit |
| Golden Whistler |
| Rufous Whistler |
| Grey Shrike-Thrush |
| Olive-backed Oriole |
| Australian Raven |
| White-winged Chough |
| Silvereye |
| Scarlet Robin |
| Eastern Yellow Robin |
| Spotted Pardalote |
| Striated Pardalote |
| Yellow-faced Honeyeater |
| White-eared Honeyeater |
| Yellow-tufted Honeyeater |
| Fuscous Honeyeater |
| White-plumed Honeyeater |
| White-naped Honeyeater |
| Black-chinned Honeyeater |
| Noisy Friarbird |
| Eastern Spinebill |
| Red Wattlebird |
| Varied Sittella |
| Goldfinch |
| Red-browed Finch |
| Double-barred Finch |
White-browed Woodswallow
|
| Dusky Woodswallow |
| Australian Magpie |
| Pied Currawong |
| Satin Bowerbird |
Both Woodswallows (pairs each) were seen mobbing a Currawong in a most
animated and persistent way leaving me with the impression they were
nesting close by.
I'm sure that this area holds more than is contained in this list. Try
to imagine what it's like having to try to remember a familiar sounding
call (e.g. White-throated Treecreeper) than you know you know but can't
quite align the call with the caller because it's a year or so since
last you heard it ! That's what I face each time I visit Oz, and thus I
waste a fair bit of time trying to track down a call that I think could
be interesting, but really turns out to be something not so unusual
that I have just forgotten ! Still, each trip I manage to eliminate a
couple of these !
There is one other spot that I have spent a little time in the last
couple of visits, the Riverglade Wetland which is adjacent to the Snowy
Mountain Highway at the north end of town next to the caravan park.
This looks like a promising area, but the management plan (on the
Tumutshire web site) is a long way short of complete, but does hold
some interesting birds:
| Little Pied Cormorant |
|
| Pied Cormorant |
|
| Little Black Cormorant |
|
| Australian Pelican |
|
| Darter |
|
| Eastern Great Egret |
|
| White-faced Heron |
|
| White-necked Heron |
|
| Australian White Ibis |
|
| Straw-necked Ibis |
|
| Maned Duck |
|
| Pacific Black Duck |
|
| Australian Shoveler |
|
| Grey Teal |
|
| Whistling Kite |
|
| Australian Hobby |
High over Wetland
|
| Nankeen Kestrel |
|
| Purple Gallinule |
|
| Coot |
|
| Dusky Moorhen |
|
| Black-fronted Dotterel |
|
| Masked Lapwing |
|
| Galah |
|
| Sulphur-crested Cockatoo |
|
| Eastern Rosella |
|
| Little Corella |
|
| Laughing Kookaburra |
|
| Sacred Kingfisher |
Visiting a nest hole ?
|
| Rainbow Bee-eater |
2 birds along the river - a pair ?
|
| Dollarbird |
Apparent pair
|
| Welcome Swallow |
|
| Black-faced Cuckooshrike |
|
| Australian Reed Warbler |
|
| Little Grassbird |
Bird carrying food along river
bank
|
| Superb Fairy Wren |
|
| White-browed Scrubwren |
|
| Brown Thornbill |
|
| White-throated Gerygone |
At least 3 maybe 6 singing males
|
| Willie Wagtail |
|
| Grey Fantail |
|
| Magpie Lark |
|
| Rufous Whistler |
|
| Australian Raven |
|
| Silvereye |
|
| Jacky Winter |
|
| Scarlet Robin |
|
| Yellow-faced Honeyeater |
|
| Noisy Friarbird |
|
| Red Wattlebird |
|
| Starling |
|
| House Sparrow |
|
| Goldfinch |
|
| Red-browed Finch |
|
| Australian Magpie |
Most of this last list was made during the last visit at the end of
November just gone, and includes sightings from the adjoining Sewage
Treatment Works.
If there's anything here that really ought to be reported elsewhere,
please get in touch so I can pass this on.
No doubt I will be back in Tumut sometime in the near future, perhaps a
little earlier in spring if possible so I can get more singing birds at
the beginning of the breeding season.
Cheers
Geoff Bowen
Norwich, UK
*******************************************************************************************************
This is the email announcement and discussion list of the Canberra Ornithologists Group.
List-Post: <>
List-Help: <>
List-Unsubscribe: <>
List-Subscribe: <>
List archive:
List manager: David McDonald, email <>
|
|
