A full bus driven by Jenny Bounds plus Cooma member Kathy and her son in their car joined me on this outing. It was a further opportunity to check on any changes in bird life in the area since my regular visits during the 1987-1991 atlas and the outing I led there in October 1994.
While the unexpected fog all the way to Bredbo dampened the enthusiasm of some participants, it meant that birds started later, and certainly they appeared to be active for longer, no doubt helped by the moisture levels when the sun came out. The cool, still weather also contributed to the very successful day in which we saw over 60 species, including several Crested Pigeons south of Michelago and one sitting on the wires in Bredbo itself (have they come down this far?).
The birdwatching for the day was basically split into three areas.
We started in the flat and very open country just outside Bredbo on the Jerangle Road and were immediately rewarded by one of the highlights of the day, at least 15 White-fronted Chats in several groups, which was a significant increase on the four I had spotted the previous week when I did a 'dry run' of the outing. Quite a number were in juvenile plumage, indicative of successful breeding nearby.
Also in this area were a number of Southern Whitefaces, Richard's Pipits and Skylarks; the Skylarks could be clearly heard and occasionally seen calling aloft, but unfortunately did not land close enough to allow comparison of the diagnostic features compared with the pipits.
We then moved for about a kilometre until we reached the woodland which starts at the rise and stretches for another kilometre or so until you go through Connollys Gap. Here we heard Restless Flycatcher and had distant views of the Brown Treecreeper. A number of Nankeen Kestrels and Brown Falcons and a Brown Goshawk were also seen during this first period.
After morning tea at the gap, we moved on to the west bank of the Strike-a-Light River, where we were immediately rewarded by excellent views (from the bus) of a pair of Sacred Kingfishers, in very bright new plumage, sitting quietly in the still bare willows. We also managed to locate (and hear) quite a number of Fuscous Honeyeaters, which were the feature of this area 20 years ago, but now seem to be mainly right on the bank in amongst the Black sallees rather than the adjacent Apple box woodland, most of which the Noisy Miners seem to have taken over since 1981. By the end of our visit most people had obtained reasonable views and had become familiar with the distinctive call. All seemed to be in the breeding plumage of black gapes, smudged black eye and relatively indistinct plume.
Other highlights were a Noisy Miner's nest with young, a pair of Nankeen Kestrels mating as well as examining nesting hole sites in a dead tree, and some of us managed to get brief glimpses of a very elusive pair of Restless Flycatchers.
After lunch we started our return via Jerangle and the Tinderries Road, almost immediately flushing a Common Bronzewing on the other bank of the river, and later recording a Grey Currawong. However, it was not until we drew near to the Boolboolma Crossing on the Queanbeyan River that we saw our next set of birds, initially a Pallid Cuckoo sitting quietly on some high wires and affording excellent views, together with several Nankeen Kestrels and at least six Dusky Woodswallows.
When we moved on slightly to the crossing itself, we discovered a rather different suite of birds than we had seen so far, including Grey Fantail and Silvereye. However, the highlight here was a very bold female Flame Robin, giving her lovely call repeatedly from a sideways perch above the reeds while a couple of White-browed Scrub-wrens moved in and out of view beneath her.
The day was capped off perfectly when, just as we climbed out of the river valley, Jenny spied a male Hooded Robin on a low fence; he went about his business unperturbed while a bus full of people admired his lovely plumage.
In amongst all this birdwatching participants learnt about the new atlas and its procedures, and a number of COG observation sheets were completed.
All in all a very successful day, and worth revisiting perhaps as part of an atlas camp (the west bank of the Strike-a-Light River has a very suitable site).
Finally, on behalf of the participants I would like to say a very big thank you to Jenny Bounds, first of all for offering to drive the bus, and then for doing this so competently and safely, in particular her skilful negotiation of the very steep road down off the Tinderry Range
Jack Holland