|
Some members of COG may not have heard that one of our members from the
Southern Highlands, Mrs Isobel Crowe, died last week.
Having moved to Robertson about 6 years ago, I decided to reaquaint myself
with Mrs Crowe, who I had not met in about 30 years (when I was still a
teenager). I knocked on the door and introduced myself to the frail lady who
answered my knock. Straight away she invited me in and said: "And how are Steve
and Nonie?" What a remarkable lady. Over the next few years I learnt much more
about the achievements of Mrs Crowe.
But in regard to the COG forum, the most relevant thing is that she would
ring me several times each autumn and ask me if the Honeyeaters were moving
through Robertson yet? We spoke regularly about the Honeyeater movements,
and especially how they had dropped off in numbers after the Canberra Bushfires
of 2003. Isobel was in regular contact with COG forum member, Elizabeth
Compston, to report the movement of Honeyeaters through Berrima, and also other
areas such as Oberon, where she also had established contacts with other
birdwatchers.
Elizabeth Compston rang me last week to say she was coming up to Berrima to
visit Mrs Crowe, who was in hospital in Bowral. We arranged to meet for coffee
in Robertson after her visit. Tragically, Mrs Crowe had died over night, before
Elizabeth got to see her friend.
Elizabeth and I (who had only exchanged emails previously) got to know
eachother, and went over to an area near Fitzroy Falls, where there are many
Banksias in flower. I explained the local migration routes of the Honeyeaters
through this area, as I best as I know them.
I suggested that we might make a visit to the Budawangs to see if we could
find large numbers of honeyeaters there, where there is a huge reserve of
suitable "Sydney Sandstone Flora" habitat.
I will report on that trip, which we took last Sunday, in a separate
email.
Cheers
| 