Painted Honeyeaters at Stoney Creek Nature Reserve

[Denis Wilson <>]

From my sketchy memory, my Dad (Steve Wilson) used to park on the Uriarra Road, on top of the hill, roughly opposite the entrance to the YMCA Camp Sturt road, and walk down the hill across open ground.

He found that preferable to trying to negotiate the large rocks and Blackberries to be confronted if walking in from just before the River crossing.

But that was a long time ago, and in "simpler times" (pre-TAMS).

As a matter of historical interest there was a rough shelter used by a "swaggy" who lived there, in that area between the good stand of casuarinas and the road, near the low-level causeway (crossing) the Murrumbidgee.

There might still be evidence of his shelter (corrugated iron, etc).

Denis Wilson

Denis Wilson
Springtime - Ya wouldn't be dead for Quids.

"The Nature of Robertson"
www.peonyden.blogspot.com.au

On Sat, Nov 9, 2013 at 12:31 PM, Julian Robinson <> wrote:

I wondered too about the location of some of these mysterious reserves.  Attached is a sketch of Stony Ck Reserve made by superimposing the otherwise useless ACT Govt map onto Google maps that gives a reasonable idea of its limits.  Interesting is the apparent access point from the western part of Uriarra Rd.

 

Julian

www.flickr.com/photos/ozjulian/

 

 

From: Wallaces [
Sent: Friday, 8 November 2013 21:48
To: 'Canberra birds'
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Painted Honeyeaters at Stoney Creek Nature Reserve

 

After they were reported on Eremaea from Uriarra Road, I checked Steve Wilson’s book. I followed his description of the early 1960s observations being ‘in the river oaks upstream from Uriarra Crossing on the east bank of the river’.

 

Your comment about the records in the database being from areas away from rivers is correct. The casuarina in Stoney Creek is full of mistletoe which is flowering  well at the moment and the birds were feeding in it.

 

The area is not remote and I think it would have been visited by many birders over the years. It is just upstream from the Uriarra East picnic area on a vehicle track. Go through the gate at the southern end of the car park and follow the track for about four hundred metres. There is a sign when you reach the reserve. I agree that maps appear to be hard to find but it is strange given the reserve is part of the Murrumbidgee River Corridor. Some schematic maps (not particularly helpful) are in http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/385082/Rec_Areas_near_the_Cotter.pdf.

 

Steve

 

From: Jack & Andrea Holland
Sent: Friday, 8 November 2013 8:37 PM
To: Wallaces; Canberra birds
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Painted Honeyeaters at Stoney Creek Nature Reserve

 

Steve, very interesting to see them in Casuarina!  You might be aware of the (former?) sign at Uriarra Crossing and the story in Birds of the High Country how in the early (post war) days they seemed to return to the Murrumbidgee River to breed every year.   This story is also included in a bit more detail in Steve Wilson’s book Birds of the ACT Two Centuries of Change.  From there it seems the last bird seen at Casuarina Sands was in 1971 and as far as I’m aware all other ACT records have been of birds away from the M River and I suspect in gums.

 

It’s interesting to speculate whether they have been overlooked because they’ve been in the less accessible parts of the River (I’ve had trouble finding the exact location of Stoney Creek Nature Reserve), whether they’re resuming past habits, or were simply passing through escaping from the very dry inland as so many other species seem to be at the moment.

 

Jack Holland

 

From:

Sent: Friday, November 08, 2013 1:35 PM

To:

Subject: [canberrabirds] Painted Honeyeaters at Stoney Creek Nature Reserve

 

While watching a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos at Stoney Creek Nature Reserve this morning, two Painted Honeyeaters landed nearby.  They came and went three times before heading off towards the east.

 

The table below (ACT records only) shows a summary of the ACT records from the COG database.

 

Steve

 

ACT only

Number of records	Year end 30 June
Grid cell	2003	2004	2006	2007	2009	Grand Total
G17	1					1
J11	5					5
J15	1					1
J16	1					1
J23		1				1
K13					1	1
L11	2					2
M10	1					1
M11	3			1		4
M12				1		1
M13	12	1				13
N13			1			1
Grand Total	26	2	1	2	1	32

 

---

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