16 members gathered at the summit of Mt Pleasant on a very pleasant morning. While waiting to start we enjoyed watching members of the Defence Forces doing reps up the hill. Surprisingly a number of those attending had never visited this site before.
Our route was a clockwise loop around most of the Reserve. It was a relatively low key outing as might be expected from a small Reserve . While there were some excellent old eucalypts with may nest hollows there were also a number of weedy areas especially
around the summit and close to Northcott Drive.
The initial bird-oriented excitement was hearing some Double-barred Finches just below the summit Only fleeting views were gained and it was estimated that there were three birds in this group. As we walked along Northcott Drive past ADFA another group of
at least three of these finches was encountered. (The two groups were sufficiently far apart to be confident this was not duplication.)
Small flocks of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters cam over through the outing. The largest flock was 15 birds and the modal flock probably 6. No White-naped Honeyeaters were observed during the outing. The other possibly migrating honeyeaters were 6 Red Wattlebirds.
Both species of Pardalote were seen /heard in good numbers. With 40 Spotted and 20 Striated it is possible they were also migrating.
Not counting the big white Bald Eagle, we totalled 31 species for the trip.
