This survey in mild weather conditions yielded 58 species and two very good breeding records - Little Friarbirds nest building in one of the usual places and a pair of Regent Honeyeaters. For the second time, the COG lock on the gate had been destroyed, so it was a walk in for the surveyors and no morning tea unfortunately. We have now replaced the lock with one guaranteed to be indestructible to hammers and bolt cutters!
The regular group surveyed the 24 sites in the reserve. Nicki Taws and I went to the Gooroo woodland survey site on the eastern side of Mulligans Flat, where the pair of Regent Honeyeaters seen the previous week were found again and their nesting site located.
Subsequent to the survey, six Regent Honeyeaters have been recorded at Mulligans Flat, and at least one pair is breeding. Regent Honeyeaters have not been recorded as breeding successfully anywhere in their range in NSW this season, so we will be keeping a watch on the birds.
One of the honeyeaters is a colour banded bird, one of the birds banded in Canberra in 1995 at Mount Majura reserve, and efforts are being made to catch the bird to determine its identity (as it lost one identifying colour band). It is possible it is a bird also recorded at Capertee Valley 18 months ago, which would add valuable new information about the movements of this species.
Jenny Bounds