Prue and I did our autumn woodland survey this morning in very pleasant conditions. It was mostly sunny, mild (after a cold start) and with very light winds. The reserve was looking fairly dry although several dams still had quite a bit
of water in them. We recorded 45 species for the morning, with 35 of these found during 10 minutes counts. Last year’s autumn totals were 43 and 27 for comparison.
Amongst the more interesting species recorded during counts were a
Brown Falcon at site 1, a Wedge-tailed Eagle at site 5, a Rose Robin at site 2,
Scarlet Robins at 2 sites and a Fan-tailed Cuckoo at site 9. Incidental records included a
Speckled Warbler, Red-browed Finches, 2 Dusky Woodswallows, another
Fan-tailed Cuckoo and a couple of Rufous Whistlers. Western Gerygones,
Mistletoebirds, White-eared Honeyeater and Golden Whistlers
were present in several places. There were good numbers of pardalotes, particularly
Spotted, in many places. Several flocks of up to 30 Yellow-faced Honeyeaters were seen, mostly heading east. Other birds on the move were a couple of small flocks of
Red Wattlebirds and a group of 8 Black-faced Cuckooshrikes.
Steve
