Greetings. Late last week I received a second-hand report of a curlew on what I believe is the largest working farm in Wamboin. I contacted the landowner, who had seen it. He said that he was not previously familiar with the species. However,
when he described it to an experienced birder they said it sounded just like a Bush Stone-Curlew.
He advised that he consulted his Frith and Watts Birds of the high country, and its description of the curlews generally not flying off when approached, but rather walking haughtily (my word, not his!) away, that was just what he
saw.
With his permission I have advised the Mulligans Flat team.
As most would know, they were re-introduced to Mulligans Flat in 2014-2016, a decade ago. While there have been lots of records of the birds from
the northern Canberra suburbs, all have been close to Mulligans Flat. There are no Canberra area records this far away, so far as I can ascertain from the publicly-accessible databases. So the bird could be either a Mulligans Flat bird or one that had arrived
from elsewhere in NSW.
A media report states that the most recent record of this species from the greater Canberra region, other than birds from the Mulligans Flat re-introduction
population, was Mark Clayton’s in 1970 at O'Connor Ridge. Mark may have further info to share about that.
For info - David
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David McDonald
1004 Norton Road, Wamboin NSW 2620, Australia
Mobile: 0416 231 890 | Tel: (02) 6238 3706
E-mail:
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