Sunday dawned cloudy and cool with threatening rain as a small group of four intrepid souls met for a World tour of the Gungahlin Nature Reserve. After an hour the expected avian diversity of the area had shown itself; many resident Crimson Rosellas, Starlings and passing Pied Currawongs, supplemented with Eastern Rosellas and the occasional Magpie. But as is often the case one never knows what is around the corner. As we started to explore a section of the recent addition to the Reserve a Little Eagle appeared from the tree canopy. Thirty years earlier, a Little Eagle nested in the area and so we set out to find a nest site.
In an isolated Yellow Box we came across a feeding flock of Striated, Buff-rumped and Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Weebills, Grey Fantails, Striated and Spotted Pardalotes, a very quiet and easy to miss Rufous Whistler, White-throated Treecreeper and an active group of six Brown-headed Honeyeaters. Close to a nearby dam we came across a single Golden-headed Cisticola as it announced its presence in full song.
With the influx of Noisy Friarbirds and Pied Currawongs and the formation of large feeding flocks, autumn is well on the way. By the end of the walk the rain had held off, the sun was out, we recorded 24 species but we never found the Little Eagle nest.
Chris Davey