A group of 20 or so COG people ventured on a daywalk to Blue Range Hut lead by Richard Mason. A highlight of the day was observing an active Rose Robin in eucalypt with good undergrowth. For some, including myself, this was a first sighting of this bird. As we walked back to the carpark on an otherwise uneventful expedition a raucousness of sorts became apparent. Its intensity grew and we anticipated seeing 20 or so Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos above us. To our delight and utter amazement a 'cloud' of at least 150 YTBCs rose above the pine line, flying at a good height. The cloud remained visible for a short time whilst we did our best to get an accurate estimate of their numbers. Estimations ranged from 100-200 and I honestly believe that our consensus figure was a conservative one.
Stuart Harris
Editor's note: Some uncertainty seems to exist regarding the identification of the aforementioned robin. A letter from Richard Mason reads, "The bird is almost certainly not a Rose Robin as I mistakenly held it to be, largely on erroneous 'seasonal' grounds. Looking back through my notebook, I see that I observed a Pink Robin in this area in October 1997. So maybe the Blue Range is a place to look for these birds."