In a number of ways this was an exploratory trip. It was the first COG outing for several years where a hired bus was the main form of transport. More importantly some local contacts that I made in an endeavour to add on some other spots to visit opened up the possibility of a number of other places for COG to visit in the Goulburn area, some of which we had an introduction to in the afternoon. In the end there was quite a large gathering, with 11 members in the bus, another 6 in the two “tag-a-long” cars, 3 local COG members who met us there, and about six participants from the Goulburn Field Naturalists (GFN) and related local organisations.
Though it was an outing which I organised and “led” to places where I had not been before, I was keen to see the Pejar Dam following a number of reports on the bird life there on COG-l. After our nearly 2 hour journey initial impressions of a very low level of water with very dry surrounds, with only the odd bird dotted on it, were not that favourable. However, as often happens on closer inspection with the many pairs of eyes and at least 4 scopes set up, things soon were more promising. Highlights on the water/bare edges were Great Crested Grebe, Musk Duck, Australian Shelduck, Australasian Shoveller, Hardhead and Red-capped Plovers; all species which are not reliably observed in the ACT, or present only at the Jerrabomberra Wetlands. The grebe was a first for many, and reasonably close views were obtained. The Musk Duck, formerly reasonably common on Lake Burley Griffin but now rarely present, thrilled the spectators by performing a courtship display.
The edges also produced some good sightings. All participants had good views of a Swamp Harrier as it cruised low over the surrounding grassland, clearly a young bird by its very dark brown colour and orange/buff rump patch. A lucky few saw a White-bellied Sea-Eagle before it soared off into the distance. Those lingering longest near the dam wall were rewarded with very good views of several Southern Whiteface (seen only by Phyl earlier) and at least 2 Diamond Firetail. We then moved to a very attractive bit of woodland closer to the dam inlet, which had some good woodland birds such as Dusky Woodswallow, and a flock of at least 50 martin sp. While they were mainly resting on the bare branches of trees and therefore affording a much better look than on the wing, I remain to be convinced that the few with slightly redder heads were Fairy rather young Tree Martins.
Over the space of a couple of hours 45 species were seen on the dam or its immediate surroundings. My concerns about not needing to spend much time there were unfounded and we could have stayed much longer, as it was we had no time to visit the Alison Hone Reserve but had to return to Goulburn to meet Peter Mowle of the GFN so that he could let us in to two areas which have recently been purchased by the Goulburn City Council (GCC) for conservation purposes.
We had lunch at the first of these, Kenmore Dam, which is a very attractive piece of woodland surrounding a dam promising a different mix of species. Unfortunately, although we spent a couple of hours here, the rain set in early and while this was welcomed by the locals it did rather restrict bird watching and bird species. A walk round the dam in the drizzle added a further 11 new species for the day, including Brown Goshawk, Yellow Thornbill, Varied Sittella and Mistletoebird. Despite the continuing rain participants were keen to spend the last hour before we needed to return home at the nearby Kenmore Quarry, which has a mix of woodland and riverine habitat on a sweeping bend of the Wollondilly River. Here we added a further 8 new species, notably Little Eagle, Nankeen Night Heron, White-throated Gerygone and Double-barred Finch.
All in all it was a very successful outing, with well over 60 species for the day. It was particularly successful for the contacts made and my sincere thanks go to Peter Mowle and Rodney Falconer from the GFN for both organising access and showing us their special spots. The foresight of the GCC in purchasing these parcels of land is very commendable. These spots (and other not yet seen) are well worth a return visit on a fine spring day, possibly as part of a weekend to Goulburn, an area which COG has neglected in the past. Pejar Dam is also well worth a longer return visit, probably on a separate day. The bus worked well too, though the number of cars at the venues did mean that, particularly at the Pejar Dam, things tended to get a bit unwieldy and difficult to lead properly.
Jack Holland
PS. Unfortunately we lost an eye-piece for one of the scopes during the trip. This may have happened when some-one substituted the one being using for the one with higher magnification. If you are able to shed any light on this, please call Jack Holland on 6288 7840 AH or by E-mail on jack.holland@deh.gov.au