Jenny Bounds led this autumn tour of hotspots in the southern highlands. The early morning mist lifted to a sparkling day as we decanted from the minibus at Cecil Hoskins Reserve, near Moss Vale. The brimming ponds revealed White Ibis, Darters, Pelicans, Australian Grebes and the usual ducks. Bush birds were still asleep except for a lone Olive-backed Oriole, Golden Whistler and the ubiquitous silvereyes and thornbills. The Robertson temperate rainforest remnant (how did it manage to survive?) was mysterious and cryptic - Brown Gerygone teased from the canopy, Satin Bowerbirds played hide and seek, but the elusive Large-billed Scrubwren was absent. However, this was a good chance to internalise the calls of the Brown Gerygone and Rufous Fantail.
In the absence of many bird species, the flora prevailed at Belmore Falls and Echo Point in the Morton National Park. Alison McKenzie concentrated our attention on the beauty of Lambertia Formosa flowers, miniature Flannel flowers and the honeyeater attracting glands on the branches of Acacia Terminalis.
Thanks are due to Jenny for a serene and satisfying excursion to discover some of the birding locations around Moss Vale, which will be well worth a return visit in breeding time. And what better way to spend a sunny autumn Sunday?
Shirley Kral