The spring bird survey in the southern half of Goorooyarroo was done by Prue and I over the last two mornings. Monday was mostly sunny but with a strong, cold wind. Tuesday was perfect, sunny with light winds.
On both mornings plenty of snow was visible on the distant Brindabellas. As has been the norm in recent times there was water everywhere with dams full and creeks flowing. We recorded a total of 59 species with 37 of those during our 10 minute counts, compared
to 56 and 43 last year.
Monday covered our northern sites with highlights including 4 species of raptor; 2
Wedge-tailed Eagles, a Brown Falcon, and displaying pairs of Nankeen Kestrels and
Brown Goshawks. Spring/summer migrants present were Dusky Woodswallow,
Western Gerygone, Rufous Whistler, Tree Martin and Olive-backed Oriole. Small birds were generally in good numbers and included 2
Yellow Thornbills, not often recorded during our surveys. Apart from displaying raptors, breeding records included a
Tawny Frogmouth on a nest, Yellow-rumped Thornbills building, Australian Magpies (with a bit of swooping) and a female
Wood Duck leaving a hollow.
On Tuesday we covered our southernmost sites. It was an excellent morning for cuckoos with
Horsfields and Shining Bronze-Cuckoos both in good voice and a silent
Fan-tailed Cuckoo seen. Several Noisy Friarbirds were seen and heard, after none the previous day. Other good records were a
Speckled Warbler (at site 2) and 4 Black-shouldered Kites including 2 noisy and rather clumsy juveniles. Breeding records included
White-winged Choughs on a nest, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos mating and Yellow-rumped Thornbills carrying food to a nest in a large mistletoe.
Other fauna over the two days included a couple of
Shinglebacks, an Echidna and a Fox (fortunately outside the sanctuary fence). There were 4 species of frog calling and 5 species of butterfly including
Caper White and White-banded Grassdart.
Steve
