14 members and guests joined me for a walk on a sparkling morning. The planned route was from the Erindale Drive entrance following the path under the pylons, up the steps to top of the hill, and a wander down one of the tracks through the bushland. As we reached the large grassy areas the first of several mixed flocks was encountered, with numerous Grey Fantails, Buff-rumped Thornbills, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, a Golden Whistler, many Weebills, Superb Fairy-wrens and a pair of Scarlet Robins. On the steep track to the top of the ridge, there were several stops (much needed) to admire a male Scarlet Robin sitting high above the group against the sky and calling incessantly, and a similar flock to that already seen further down. The spectacular view from the top was admired by all. The narrow track through the bush was not as birdy as expected, but we were met at the bottom by another large mixed flock, which this time also included Striated and Brown Thornbills. The resident Nankeen Kestrel and Grey Butcherbirds also put in an appearance at this stage, as did a large family of White-winged Choughs and some Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes. Throughout the morning groups of up to 20 Yellow-faced Honeyeaters were flying over the site, as mentioned by Jean in a separate message - several hundred in total for the morning. Only 30 species seen in all, but large numbers of some of these.
Sandra Henderson
