Woodland surveys - Callum Brae

[sandra henderson <>]

I did the Callum Brae surveys this morning (Tues 24th). It was grey and overcast at the start, although the sun did come out at the end of the morning. The dams all have some water, and the large farm dam is very full.

At my first two sites, for the first time ever, I had not a single bird within the 50m radius, and very few within 100m. Things improved at site 3, although nothing out of the ordinary. When I moved on to sites 4 to 6, on the far left of the reserve, I passed through two mixed flocks, with Spotted Pardalotes, Weebills, a Speckled Warbler, Buff-rumped and Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Grey Fantails, Grey and White-throated Gerygones, White-throated Scrubwrens and both Rufous and Golden Whistlers.

On the farm dam I spotted a teal with seven small ducklings, writing down Grey Teal. I ran into AS soon after. I'd not looked closely at mother duck - but Alastair assured me it was a Chestnut Teal, and therefore a good breeding record. I went back and photographed the little family, and mum did have a much richer brown head and back than the Grey Teal on the dam. As I made my way very slowly back to the entrance I ran into another mixed flock, with two Speckled Warblers making lots of noise. Three Wedge-tailed Eagles appeared over the trees and slowly circled until almost out of sight. 47 species for the morning, which I hadn't expected after the dismal start!

https://ebird.org/australia/checklist/S66150884

Sandra Henderson