The K2C bird surveys for spring 2016 were held on 9 October with a few sites surveyed later due to issues with access. A total of 82 species was recorded, slightly lower than the usual spring count, mostly due to fewer waterbird species.
In this particularly cool and wet season it seems the waterbirds have dispersed far and wide from their usual haunts. Highlights included a new species for the survey list; a pair of
Pied Butcherbirds at Stonehouse, south of Williamsdale. According to the landholders they had been seen there fairly regularly in the last year. Other highlights were a
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, and 6 Hooded Robins (2 family groups) at one site. The return migration of
Yellow-faced and White-naped Honeyeaters has been a feature of the past month in the region, and despite the windy and overcast conditions on the day small groups of both species were recorded moving westwards through several sites. Some of the
threatened species such as Diamond Firetail and Scarlet Robin are seemingly more scarce in the spring than the autumn and we had only a couple of sightings of these species. Other threatened species’ sightings included
Brown Treecreeper (5 properties, one breeding record), Speckled Warbler (4 properties),
Flame Robin (3), Varied Sittella (1), Gang-Gang (1) and the recently listed
Dusky Woodswallow (5). We thank the landholders for their ongoing interest and cooperation, and Bush Heritage Australia for supporting the surveys with lunch for the COG volunteers. The next surveys will be held 9 April 2017.
Cheers
Nicki Taws
0408 210736
