Whenever I visit my block in the Capertee Valley it's getting increasingly
difficult to drag myself away. I've just spent the past two days there, and
despite the stifling heat which exceeded 40 degrees in the cabin on both
days, the place was alive with birds. A terrific thunderstorm yesterday
afternoon provided welcome relief, some much needed rain, and breathtaking
drama!
When I arrived at noon on Wednesday, I found the resident Willie Wagtail
underneath the cabin, sheltering from the midday sun. For the past few
visits the property birdlist has been stuck at 87 but I knew this would
change as the seasons changed, and birds finish breeding and start moving
around more. Some of these changes are now starting to happen.
The White-winged Trillers and White-browed Woodswallows all seem to have
left the property, the Rufous Songlarks have stopped singing, and this was
the first time in the last seven visits that I didn't see any Turquoise
Parrots. On the other hand, the Diamond Firetail numbers have been
gradually climbing and this week I counted between 25 and 30 drinking at
the dam together. The Rainbow Bee-eaters were out in force. As the dark
storm clouds built up yesterday they filled the sky like fragments of a
rainbow which has been smashed to pieces.
The Box Mistletoe (Amyema miquelii) is now flowering well and there is
plenty of it, attracting large numbers of Little Lorikeets which are
constantly hurtling across the sky in every direction. Noisy Friarbirds
were everywhere, their noisily yapping juveniles obvious. On my previous
visit a fortnight ago I noticed a few flocks of Noisy Friarbirds travelling
through. Black-chinned Honeyeaters are easy to find and regularly drink at
the dam.
Suddenly yesterday there was an Eastern Spinebill in every patch of trees,
feeding in the mistletoe. It seems like they arrived overnight, together
with a single New Holland Honeyeater which turned up at the cabin. These
are among the commonest garden birds where I live in Katoomba, but in the
Capertee they are less common and became species numbers 88 and 89 for the
property.
Over breakfast, as my guests and I watched three Striped Honeyeaters in the
birdbath, I noticed a very large flock of ravens moving across the front
paddock. I listened for their calls and sure enough, they had the deep
notes of Little Ravens, making species number 90 for the property!
Yesterday morning I had headed out for what was to be a short pre-breakfast
stroll and, as usual, ended up being lured further and further up the
mountain by the ever-changing habitat. I found a ridge covered in huge
mounds of spinifex (Triodia sp.) and grass-trees (Xanthorrhoea sp.). The
plant-list is constantly growing. I was also able to add a species to the
mammal list, albeit not a particularly welcome one, with feral goats being
heard from up the hillside. I flushed a Spotted Quail-thrush from the
hillside, and lower down a Painted Button-quail.
On Wednesday evening during dinner, a large Lace Monitor had strolled past
the door of the cabin. One of my visitors went out with a camera to try and
photograph it and of course it headed up the nearest tree, which was a
small Hickory. We left it alone, thinking it would come down, but instead
it decided to go to sleep right there, its belly draped along the branch
and all four legs dangling in mid-air on each side. It was still there in
the morning. However it disappeared without us noticing as the temperature
started to rise again.
It was after my visitors had left and I was putting off going home, when
the storm arrived. I sat outside and watched the black clouds building up
from the west before I was forced to make a dash for the cabin.
Thunderstorms seem so much more dramatic in the Capertee Valley! Maybe it's
something to do with the towering cliffs, maybe it's the way you can see
the storms travelling across the valley, or the way the thunder echoes off
the mountains. There was lightning all around and the rain was torrential
for more than half an hour. As soon as it stopped and everything was fresh
and clean and calm again, flocks of birds started flying across the
paddocks in their dozens - Red-rumped Parrots, Striated Pardalotes, Diamond
Firetails, Little Lorikeets. All the birds seemed restless. The rain had
turned the trunks of the Slaty Box trees into rich shades of orange, lime
green, khaki and cream.
Driving out of the valley I saw about 10 White-throated Needletails flying
around in the aftermath of the storm. Now I can't wait to go back again.
Cheers
Carol
Carol Probets
Blue Mountains NSW
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