Prue and I did our winter woodland survey in the southern half of Goorooyarroo NR this morning. Conditions were cool but quite pleasant to begin with, less so once the wind got up mid-morning. 31 species were recorded across the reserve
(compared to 25 on the equivalent survey last year), with 27 of these found during our point counts.
There was a pale Brown Falcon at site 1 and White-throated Treecreepers at sites 7 and 8, the latter are uncommon in our surveys. Several small mixed flocks were encountered, mostly consisting of four species of thornbills,
Superb Fairy-wrens, Weebills and Spotted Pardalotes, with a smattering of other species. There were more
White-plumed Honeyeaters around than usual, also a few White-naped. An interesting incidental observation was of a
Collared Sparrowhawk. There were a surprisingly large numbers of insects in the air, including numerous swarms of gnats, and quite a few
Welcome Swallows feeding on these.
Steve
