Callum Brae woodland survey

[sandra henderson via Canberrabirds <>]

I conducted the Callum Brae survey this morning in sunny still conditions, although very chilly when I started out. The first three sites had few little birds, but once I got up to the quarry fence to move over to the other side of the reserve there were many small birds in the grasslands each side of the quarry fence. Unusually, I had Common Starlings in most sites. They are always in the reserve, but not so widespread. In my fifth site a commotion revealed a Brown Goshawk moving low through the trees with Noisy Miners in pursuit. A lone Wedge-tailed Eagle (not in a survey site) had about a dozen Little Ravens making life uncomfortable.  The big surprise, again not in a site, was a Painted Buttonquail wandering along the quarry fence, which quickly moved into the grassland further up the slope in the quarry. In about 15 years of doing the quarterly surveys this is the first time I've found this species here. The morning produced 41 species, a good result for winter.

Although it's very easy to move around the reserve on the recently mown tracks, going off-track is difficult because of the impenetrable Saffron Thistle across most of the area. My second site, as has been common over the past year, was under water. 

Sandra Henderson

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