After defrosting my car windows I set off for a rural drive through Bungendore, Sutton, onto the Gundaroo Road and to my first visit to Mulligan's Flat. It was surprising to see how close Mulligan's Flat Reserve is to the latest housing development in Gungahlin. The Reserve is about 740 hectares of grassy woodland with some open grassland and a scattering of dams. There were very few introduced plants and the native plants had quickly responded to the recent rain. Ian Fraser lead our group of twenty-two, which included some very experienced bird watchers and two visitors from British Columbia.
In the car park Noisy miners, Crimson Rosellas and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo's were making their presence felt. All up we saw 31 species of birds. It is a pleasure to see all our native birds. It was especially nice to have lengthy views of male and female Red-capped and Scarlet Robins and shorter views of a Grey Butcherbird, a female Leaden Flycatcher and a White-throated Treecreeper. We heard the calls of Spotted and Striated Pardalotes and the strident call of the Weebill. A couple of us got fleeting glances of some Speckled Warblers. One of the interesting bits of information Ian gave us was the male Superb Fairy-wren returns to his eclipse plumage after the breeding season. Some males at three years old retain their vibrant colours all year round. On the depleted dams we saw Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal and Australasian and Hoary-headed Grebe.
On the way home I stopped at the dam in Gungahlin. It was teeming with waterbirds mostly Eurasian Coot. There was a pair of Black Swans with a cygnet. A small flock of Red-browed Finches darted through the casuarinas.
A very pleasurable birding morning.
Julienne Kamprad