When within 5 minutes of getting out of our cars a group of three Hooded Robins landed and perched within a metre of each other on the cross bar of a telephone pole right in front of us, I knew were in for a good morning in spite of the less than perfect conditions with a very cold blustery S wind blowing. One male had a noticeably greyer hood than the other, indicative of a young bird. The group then proceeded to forage close by in typical perch and pounce fashion from fences, stones, sticks etc for at least 10 minutes, allowing the 10 members who had accompanied me to this favourite spot to see all the identification features, particularly for the much less striking female.
This sighting heralded the observation of a number of the declining species, with great views of Brown Treecreepers obtained soon after (with at least 10 birds for the morning), a Restless Flycatcher, a male Scarlet Robin, several Southern Whiteface and a Jacky Winter (the latter two are not common here), all seen at close quarters.
In fact at one stage it appeared there were more of the rarer than common bird species. However, in keeping with the very slow season so far very few spring migrants were seen, mainly confined to a number of Dusky Woodswallows, several Tree Martins and a female White-winged Triller feeding on the ground, posing some identification problems for those who first saw it.
Both White-plumed and Fuscous Honeyeaters were common, with the latter typically mainly in the southern half of our kilometre or so walk down the road from the start of TSR 36. My estimate was that there were at least 20 of them, with all participants obtaining good views and also becoming familiar with their very characteristic call, given mostly during the summer period. Both species were observed nest building, with the fuscous building a very woolly structure with material obtained from the adjacent sheep paddock.
Close to 40 species were seen or heard, an impressive number given the conditions. I’m not sure what makes this particular spot so special. Perhaps it is the mix of very mature yellow and apple box trees (an unusual combination in my experience) combined with the sweet briar etc under storey or more importantly the open paddocks in which to feed. Despite the some times very cold conditions all participants thoroughly enjoyed what was a new spot for most, and I can thoroughly recommend a visit to all members, particularly in the period from October through to April.
Jack Holland