Despite the cruel clock change in the night to Sunday the 28th of October 15 COG members could not resist the temptation to chase after the magic Azure Kingfisher and left Canberra at what felt like 6 o’clock in the morning. Tour-leader Stuart Harris then introduced us to some of his favourite places in the little known but just the more beautiful Tarlo NP. On the hike to the river the younger members of the group got instructed in the ancient art of sandwich soaring. Once at the river, sandwiches, in particular tuna and sardines sandwiches, were unpacked to attract the Azure Kingfisher. And indeed, a lucky few saw this stunning little bird perched at the river bank. Whether he was attracted by the sandwiches though cannot be answered with absolute certainty. The group then went on into a wonderful grove of tall she-oaks, where it received a warm welcome from a group of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos. On our way back we stopped at Roses Lagoon to increase the days bird list to a total of 70 species with breeding Royal Spoonbills, a Whiskered Tern, lots of Swamp Harriers and as a final highlight a Brown Bittern. On behalf of the group I want to thank Stuart Harris for organising this exciting field trip and the McWerters family for allowing us to trespass their property to reach this beautiful national park.
Golo Maurer