Having got a bit carried away and walked myself to extreme
footsoreness on previous occasions, I just did a few mini-surveys at central locations.
The problem with all these things, as with life generally, is to separate the
anecdotal from the significant. At Norgrove Park, I not only saw no
crakes but no swamphens. At 3 previous goshawk locations, I not only
failed to raise a swoop, but not so much as a ‘kek-ek-ek’. Curious,
as the pair in Swoop Valley at Callum Brae which were certainly in evidence
earlier in the season failed to appear. Also at Callum Brae I recorded
but one pair of starlings, rather odd as when I did that area a few blitzes ago
they were the most abundant species after the two rosellas.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the absence of honeyeaters,
for example none recorded at Callum Brae apart from Noisy Miners and
friarbirds. The only small honeyeaters I came across were a few New
Hollands at Norgrove Park. What I did see –
-
Two workers at Norgrove Park shovelling out Azolla
from a channel, employment for life most likely
-
Many hares, running with insolent slowness
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A Brown Snake disappearing into one of those in-ground
telecom boxes at Campbell Park South
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The Painted Snipe Safari setting out, no doubt with appropriately
modest expectations, from the Kellys car park
-
Julienne patrolling the margins of the Q’beyan
Sewage Works
-
Peafowl to the number of 10 at home yesterday
afternoon, while the Narrabundah/Griffith koel gave voice in the near distance,
just recordably.
