Hi all,
Inspired by Peter Marsh's fantastic report from last week (and further
by Nikolas!) Grant Brosie, Nick Livanos, Peter Madvig and I made a day
trip up to Gloucester Tops yesterday to try to see the Rufous Scrub-
bird!
We drove slowly along Kerrepit Rd listening but didn't hear anything
so went to the gate to walk further. Along the track to Carey's Peak
about 200-300m past the information board we heard our other target -
Olive Whistler. Calling loudly were a pair that took a while to get
views of but our patience was rewarded. (My first new bird of the day!)
While walking back to the car we took a side track where we heard our
first scrub-bird. We walked into the bush to get closer and were able
to get quite close to the loudly calling bird (eventually to about 5m)
but no luck on a visual. The patch of bush this bird was in was very
thick as usual.
We admitted defeat and went back along the road between the Kerrepit
Rd turnoff and the Beech Walking Track. We did the short loop track
but no birds calling here.
On the way back along the road (before the Kerrepit turnoff) we heard
another bird calling quite close to the road so we jumped out of the
car and headed slowly towards the source.
We tried Peter Marshs' technique using call playback while sitting on
a log next to the root ball of a fallen tree. Grant amazingly picked
up the bird calling at the base of another tree about 20m away and
most of us had great binocular views of a bird that i was only
expecting to hear all day, not actually see! Then to our excitement
the bird came closer to the source of the calls and hopped under and
over the tree we were sitting on. We were all able to get amazing
views and even photos as it came out in the open at the base of the
uprooted tree, before it circled us. Ecstatic with our view we then
left the bird to go back to his calling. Another tick for me and also
Peter and Nick.
It looks from the photos to be a young male but happy to be corrected
by the experts. I have posted a few images on my pbase site including
a couple of shots of the habitat. The habitat really is amazing and
it's no wonder these birds are more often heard than seen. The way
this bird so quickly and silently moved through the undergrowth was
amazing.
http://www.pbase.com/davidstowe/rufous_scrubbird
(click on the thumbnails to see the larger image)
Elated by our encounter we then made our way slowly down the hill
stopping along the Sharpes Creek trail and at a few random spots
looking for Russet-tailed Thrush. We eventually heard two birds
calling at the day use/camping area after seeing a few Bassians on the
road, but by this time it was almost fully dark and the birds were in
thick scrub with no hope of a sighting.
Since it was so late we then decided that it would be silly not to
stay around a bit longer and see if we could find potentially my third
tick for the day - Sooty Owl! After all we only had a 4 hour drive
home :)
So we went back up the hill a couple of km and heard Boobook and owlet
nightjar. Our excitement continued when a gorgeous trilling Sooty Owl
came in to a call! A gorgeous bird and quite pale compared to the
field guides.
On the drive out we saw Tawny Frogmouth and also a Long-nosed ?
Bandicoot.
It was a long day (especially for Peter and I) - I left home at 4:30am
and got home at midnight! But totally worth it and one of the best
days birding I've had in a long time.
Sorry for not mentioning other birds seen as we were pretty focussed
on our targets although a party of Red-browed Treecreepers were
fantastic to see too on the road before the Beech Walking Track at the
same spot we heard more Olive Whistlers.
Cheers,
David Stowe
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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