Thirteen COG members met at the Barren Grounds Bird Observatory, east of Moss Vale on the escarpment. Two wardens appointed by Birds Australia, Raoul Broughton and Shawn Capararo, run the management and education and were our hosts. They led our walks, provided superb meals and made our time at BG truly memorable. They need to generate their own income, so BG requires continuing support to remain viable.
Saturday afternoon, we trekked an easy 5km round trip to Cook's Nose Lookout with spectacular views to the Shoalhaven River and Jervis Bay. It was windy and few birds (mostly honeyeaters) were seen. The extraordinary plant communities more than compensated for this, including open and closed heaths, swamp, cliff-face,woodland and rainforest. The prominent wildflowers included yellow Phebalium, pink Boronia and white Zeiria 'stinkbush'. We saw the seed pods of the Bloodroot (Haemodorum), the only member of the Kangaroo Paw family on the East Coast. The Mallees and Mallee Ashes are striking and seem out of place in an area that has received up to 4000 mm of rain pa.
No Ground Parrots were seen, but their ethereal chorus was heard at dusk. In the evening we had a slide presentation of the history of BG, historically heavily grazed and subject to frequent fire. In the past 30 years, there have been few fires and the Bristlebirds and Ground Parrots have resiliently recovered, with BG their main stronghold on the East Coast. Sunday morning we walked to the Illawarra lookout spotting Beautiful Firetail, Eastern Bristlebirds, some fleeting views of Southern Emu-wren, plus Sydney's Centrepoint Tower in the far distance. Later, bird banding was demonstrated-captured were mostly Eastern Spinebills, Silvereyes and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters.
The Bird Observatory was a comfortable bunker and doubled as a hide as a Bristlebird fossicked and sprung about and kept us enthralled on the Sunday morning. BG has a high intensity of flora and fauna and return visits are recommended. The weekend was a great success and we are deeply indebted to our hosts for making this possible.
Bill Graham