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APOLOGIES FOR THE LONG EMAIL
Hi All,
I went out birding with Jarkko Koskela
before he returns to Finland after 8 months in Canberra. There are still a few
birds around the ACT that Jarkko was keen to see so we started off in the
Brindabellas trying to track down some Pilotbirds at the top of Blundells Creek
Road. We heard several birds in the wet forest at the top of the road but were
unable to even get a glimpse so we tried the track through the ferns (the one
that runs beneath the powerlines – I have had luck here before) and we got
cracking views of a pair feeding along the path and around a large muddy puddle
50 metres down the track. One bird was noticeably duller than the other and we wandered
if this bird may have been a young bird and at one stage there was an exchange
of food but this could still have been just a pair exchanging food.
Another bird that Jarkko needed was Rose
Robin and although we heard a few distant birds we never saw any – this was in
complete contrast to my last visit two weeks ago when they much in evidence
chasing each other and singing well into mid-morning. Next target was Satin
Flycatcher and as per usual they were common from half way down the track
onwards. As with my visit two weeks ago we quickly found an active Satin
Flycatcher nest – both nests were located in the fork of three smallish
dead-looking/leafless branches that were several metres above the level of
post-fire re-growth and thus very easy to spot and very exposed.
Other nice birds were Flame Robins, loads
of calling Eastern Whipbirds and a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (which reminds me, the
road up to Corin Dam was Cuckoo-central 2 weeks ago with the birds gorging on
caterpillars in the last few kilometres of the road before the dam. At one
stage I had a Shining Bronze-cuckoo and a Brush Cuckoo in the same bush only 3
metres away. Of course, the camera was in the car whilst I had the sound
recording equipment in hand. The Brush Cuckoo wouldn’t shut-up but the Shining
Bronze-cuckoo that was I was targeting wouldn’t call at all. Typical! There
were several other Shining Bronze-cuckoos calling but too far off to record,
one other Brush Cuckoo and dozens of Fan-tailed Cuckoo).
Back to today, about 2/3 down Blundells
Creek Track it became too boggy to continue so we turned around and headed back
up the road only to find that the gate at the top had been padlocked closed
since we entered at about 6am. Thankfully the padlocks were only secured to the
pole with wire that we could untwist. So beware that this road may be closed
for the next few days.
We then returned down the ranges to have a
look for Hooded Robins along the lower portion of Warks Road. Roger Williams
reported birds in this area and near Bullock Paddock Road earlier in the year
and I have been watching and sound recording the pair along lower Warks Road
this Spring. Unfortunately we couldn’t locate the birds this morning, which is
unusual as this pair seems to be very faithful to a small area of cleared scrub
adjacent to the pine forests. The male also uses the tops of the pine trees as
a prominent perch.
Jarkko and I then continued along Uriarra
Road past the homestead and pond to try and find some Singing Bushlarks. There
have been a couple along this stretch of road this year but they are very few
and far between compared to last year and we could not track any down this
morning. There are Stubble Quail calling from every paddock though, even in the
middle of the morning heat. They have been much in evidence for over a month
now.
Note: Uriarra Crossing was opened again
this morning but the waters were still lapping over the edge at spots – very
impressive.
From here we decided to have a look at
Newline Paddock as there were several species there that would also be new for
Jarkko. We had great views of Brown Treecreepers and just as we were leaving a
Crested Shrike called near the entrance gate and flew into the trees above us. Overall
Newline Paddock seemed pretty birdy for the midday heat but long gators are a
MUST with the abundant spikey grass seeds.
I have often found Speckled Warblers in the
bushes near to the Newline Quarry entrance so we briefly stopped here and waded
through the hip high grasses. I tried some high-pitched squeaking to bring in some
small birds – the only thing that responded was a fox that popped up only
metres away in the long grass. I don’t know who was more surprised.
Cheers Dan
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