It was beautiful when we were leaving Canberra: cold but still and sunny after a blustery, wet few days. But by the time we (13 COG members and friends) arrived at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve entrance it was blowing a freezing cold gale: awful birding conditions. Things were far better, though, up at the Nature Trails where we were sheltered from the wind. Since the focus of this field trip was the Superb Lyrebirds that reside there, following an acknowledgment that we were on the traditional lands of the Ngarigo people and that the Ngunnawal community plays an important role in the management of the Reserve and the adjacent Namadji National Park, I commenced with a short talk on our lyrebirds. Surely there is no species in our area so interesting in terms of its breeding biology, vocalisations, etc! A male was in full voice close to the carpark, and we all observed a display mound adjacent to it before setting off on the Nature Trails.
Owing to our large numbers, we split into two groups with Shirley Kraal leading one along the aptly-named Lyrebird Trail, and me the other along the (also aptly named) Cascades Trail. Being mid-winter, most of the birds we observed were insect eaters (rather than pollen/nectar or seed eaters): scrubwrens, thornbills, Eastern Yellow Robins, Spotted Pardolotes, treecreepers and the like. Thirteen species in all. Lyrebirds? Relatively few. We saw a few display mounds along the trails but not many were scratched up indicating current use. Heard about seven lyrebirds in all. Members of one of our parties, while walking down the hill from the Cascade trailhead to the carpark, were lucky enough to get crippling views of a mature male. He ran across the road just metres in front of us and commenced feeding at the roadside apparently oblivious to our presence. A wonderful experience! We are all keen to return soon, perhaps in smaller groups, to see if we can again be lucky enough to see the exquisite Menura novaehollandiae victoriae, our oh so Superb Lyrebird.
David MacDonald