COG woodland surveys Callum Brae and Isaacs Ridge

[sandra henderson <>]

The Callum Brae survey was carried out on March 27. The morning started off quite cold, but warmed up to be very pleasant. 39 species were seen in total, the majority of them in at least one of the six survey sites. Galahs and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos were plentiful - I suspect the cold start meant they were just starting to move out of their roost trees. Spotted Pardalotes and Weebills were very active and in groups of 6-8 birds. Yellow-faced Honeyeaters were present in small groups. A single White-throated Gerygone was seen, and four Dusky Woodswallows.  Three Common Bronzewings, not common in Callum Brae, were seen, two of them together in a survey site, the other sitting on the roof of the pump station with a Crested Pigeon. Four of the six dams in the reserve still had water, but the grass is very short and kangaroos very numerous. Blackberries are regenerating rapidly at my second site, so I expect by spring I'll be back to surveying from a distance. 

Isaacs Ridge (Mugga Lane side) was surveyed on April 1, with an even colder start (3C). There were 21 species seen/heard in the survey area, with the most numerous being Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Spotted Pardalotes and Crimson Rosellas. There was a small but regular procession of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters over the reserve, most of them flying very high and only identified by call.  No finches were seen, and only a single Speckled Warbler. At the conclusion of the actual survey I walked through the reserve to Long Gully Rd (1.5km from the survey sites), picking up half a dozen species not in the surveyed area, including seven Common Bronzewings, and a flyover by nearly 60 Little Ravens. The dam in the survey area now has water, the small dam across from the Green Shed also has water, and the larger dam near Long Gully Road is so overgrown with vegetation that it's not possible to see if there is water in it. 

Sandra Henderson