There is a small unnamed valley to
the east of the car park (that allows access into Blue Gum Swamp) at the end of Whitecross Road Winmalee (80km west of Sydney). This valley appears to support a small population of
Crescent Honeyeaters from autumn to late spring when they presumably migrate
into the higher areas of the Blue
Mountains. Last year they
turned up in late March and stayed until early November presumably nesting in
the area. They promptly disappeared in early November and it was only today
that I recorded their return. The valley has good stands of Blue Mountains Blue
Gum (Eucalyptus deanei) and quite a few old trees
with hollows. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Galahs and Sulphur-crested
Cockatoos have nested there and I suspect a pair of Powerful Owls nested in the
valley last winter but unfortunately I was too ill at the time to fully check
them out. A bushfire fighters’ track that starts
near the National Park sign at the car park leads down into the valley and out
again onto Shaws Ridge. It is well worth a visit
although the valley does not support as wide a variety of birds throughout the
year as Blue Gum Swamp. Strangely enough I did not record any Crescent
Honeyeaters in Blue Gum Swamp last year or so far this autumn.
Neil Kirby
Winmalee (80km west of Sydney)
