After the blitz, I
made up my mind to return to Mt Wanniassa, and watch a mass of flowering young
eucalypts for honeyeaters. This
morning I finally got back to find that the rain had wrecked the gum blossoms,
and only here and there were a few new blossoms coming into flower. Having made the effort, I decided to stay
for a while and encountered three species I did not meet on the blitz.
·
Half a dozen yellow-tailed
black cockatoos. One of these
stayed on the ground for quite some time tearing bark of fallen twigs and small
branches. He didn’t appear to
take anything and fly away with it, so I guess he was finding something to eat.
·
Speckled warblers, two
as far as I could determine, were busy in the thick undergrowth beside me. I identified them by sound, since they
stayed in those bushes for about 20 minutes, giving both versions of their
call. I also confirmed it from this
recording: http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10722
·
A solitary satin bower
bird, female or young male.
And I had a botany
lesson regarding the durability of gum blossoms in inclement weather.
Margaret Leggoe
