The summer survey in the southern half of Goorooyarroo was done by myself, Prue Buckley, and David and Kathy Cook this morning, in
rather warm weather. The reserve
was looking fairly dry, although a couple of the dams had a reasonable amount of water, and there were plenty of weeds in flower, along with a few native forbs.
56 species were recorded for the morning with a few standouts.
A rather tatty Square-tailed Kite flying over site 5 was, unsurprisingly, a new species for this survey. Other raptors included Brown Falcon, Brown Goshawk and Nankeen Kestrel. A Southern Boobook
was unintentionally flushed at site 2, and sat out for a while before disappearing. A male Red-capped Robin was another good record for Gooroo. Elsewhere there were a reasonable number of thornbills, gerygones and other small birds, including Speckled Warblers
in a few places, Sacred Kingfishers, plenty of Noisy Friarbirds, a couple of Dusky Woodswallows and Superb Parrots. Dave found a Buff-rumped Thornbill nest, other breeding records included Weebills with dependent young, and young Kookaburras audible in a hollow
with an adult keeping watch nearby.
Other fauna included an Echidna, a Shingleback, Golden Sun Moth and Amethyst Hairstreak, amongst other more usual butterflies.
Photos of Square-tailed Kite and Boobook here
https://ebird.org/australia/view/checklist/S50532794
Steve
