On what became the hottest Canberra day for about 25 years, Maria Lukacs had her first experience at leading COGites around this site, above the recent developments of the Estate. Maria has been keeping close tabs on this site for over two years now. About a year ago, when Maria decided to lead an outing here, the entrance to the site and the pond that attracted most of the birds was good habitat. It is now substantially bulldozed, a process which began only two months ago. Interestingly, most of the ten participants on this outing had completed either my own bird study course or McComas Taylor's Introduction to Birdwatching course.
After a rather underwhelming start, someone found two dots in the sky which were identified as Peregrine Falcons. Fortunately they soon came very close, giving us all an exemplary display; diving, soaring, chasing and cackling. Everything else was quite silent. There is something very special about Peregrines. Whether it is your first sighting (as it may have been for some observers) or just one of hundreds (as for me), they are always exciting. This was a first record of them for this site. As we went into a more secluded spot we ended up with birds galore, too many to cope with.
The area lived up to its reputation as a good breeding site: Western Gerygone nest with young; Nankeen Kestrel, Double-barred Finch, Dusky Woodswallow and Grey Currawong all with dependent young; Brown Goshawk and Hooded Robin with young that may already be independent (we didn't actually see the goshawk but heard it and looked at the nest where Maria and I found two chicks last month). Other good birds were pairs of White-winged Trillers, Leaden Flycatchers, Southern Whitefaces, Diamond Firetails, a Speckled Warbler, and a Restless Flycatcher. We finished with 47 species which included an unusually low tally of introduced species (one Common Starling). The Rainbow Bee-eaters unfortunately have not appeared this year and the other hoped for, the Mistletoebird, was only heard as it flitted somewhere high above. Those who have got a good bird spot, try sharing it, you may end up with some good birds to add to the list. Thanks Maria.
Philip A. Veerman