Hi all,
On Saturday I walked part of the Six Foot Track between Megalong Road and
the Coxs River (in the western Blue Mountains), a walk I have done many
times in the past but not for a few years. This part of the track passes
through private property, part of it cleared but the steep mountainsides
which plummet straight down to the riverbanks are still clothed in grassy
eucalyptus woodland and forest. Here the river tumbles over expanses of
smooth granite in a roar which can be heard from the tops of the mountains,
and the dark green of the River Oaks (Casuarina cunninghamiana) lining the
banks stands out from the surrounding woodland like a huge snake
zig-zagging through the gorge.
My walk began in the Megalong Valley alongside Megalong Creek, where a
group of White-winged Choughs can nearly always be found in the old
cemetery. For the first few kilometres after leaving the creek, the track
heads across cleared paddocks where birds included Jacky Winter, Diamond
Firetail and Richard's Pipit.
Entering the wooded country, the track winds its way down the mountainside
gradually getting closer to the river. All along here, flycatchers were
abundant - I saw several pairs of Satin and at least one pair of Leaden. A
Brush Cuckoo called persistently, as did Rufous Whistlers, Cicadabirds and
White-throated Gerygones. I turned a corner and startled a Yellow Thornbill
bathing in a small puddle in the top of a rock. It flew up to a branch,
drenched. I encountered many groups of Buff-rumped Thornbills, a Dollarbird
sat on the highest branch of a dead tree, and a sudden commotion alerted me
to a Brown Goshawk being hotly pursued by a Noisy Friarbird and a Noisy
Miner.
I cannot think of a more relaxing way to spend an hour at lunchtime than
sitting under a casuarina beside a tranquil stretch of the Coxs River,
watching the Bee-eaters and Dusky Woodswallows flying around above me. A
pair of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters were feeding a fledgling on a sandy island
in the river. I had hoped that the mistletoe in the River Oaks might be
flowering and attracting more honeyeaters, but there didn't seem to be any
flower. Instead it had some fruit and there were plenty of Mistletoebirds
to take advantage of it. I reluctantly started making my way back, all
uphill on the walk out.
Altogether I recorded 58 species, without having an early start. The walk
is 8km each way.
Cheers
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba NSW
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