On Tuesday afternoon I headed down to the Capertee Valley and spent that
night in the cabin listening to the rain pelting down. A neighbour reported
35 mm fell during the night. On Wednesday morning it was still raining when
I met up with some visitors for a day's birding and in between showers we
managed an excellent day's birding. There were birds everywhere, obviously
enjoying the moisture and cooler temperatures. Highlights included Southern
Whiteface and 3 male Turquoise Parrots on Crown Station Road, Speckled
Warbler on Port Macquarie Road, a big flock of Plum-headed Finches near
Goollooinboin, including many fairly nondescript juveniles and a few
beautifully marked adults seen in the scope, and a darkish morph
White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike hovering low over a paddock amongst numerous
Jacky Winters and Yellow-rumped Thornbills. Nile Creek at Glen Alice was
really gushing, and yet the Capertee River was still all but dry.
On my block the flowering mistletoe is bringing in the nectarivores, with
12 species of honeyeater on site yesterday in addition to Little Lorikeets.
Interestingly, Eastern Spinebills are currently one of the commonest
species, making me think I was back in Katoomba. Other honeyeaters included
the usual Black-chinned, Striped Fuscous and Yellow-tufted, and a few New
Hollands were seen. With puddles of water everywhere, sitting by the dam no
longer produced a parade of birds coming to drink, and hardly any birds
were visiting the birdbath. However as ample compensation there were about
a dozen Rainbow Bee-eaters hawking and swooping all around the cabin,
flashing past the windows, distracting me as I tried to prepare my lunch.
I added three more species to the property list, two of which are real
beauties: Scarlet Honeyeater, a number of which were scattered up the
escarpment slope, and a male Hooded Robin. The third was a flock of
Starlings which had the cheek to fly across my front paddock and land in a
tree. The first introduced species to make it onto the list - I guess it
was inevitable. This brings the tally for the block to 96.
Cheers
Carol
Carol Probets
Blue Mountains and part-time Capertee Valley, NSW
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