Twelve COG members met at 7 am in Boorowa to join Anthony Overs for the Swift Parrot survey. Some had stayed overnight and had had some success in locating Swift Parrots on Saturday, so we were hopeful of doing the same. The day turned out to be a typically glorious autumn day with just a little wind at times. First of all we reduced the number of cars from 6 to 4, then set out for ‘Spring Forest’ property where we saw Striped and Black-chinned Honeyeaters, the latter being a first for some of our party. Other interesting birds that we don’t see in Canberra included White-browed Babblers and a Pied Butcherbird. We tried very hard to find a Mistletoebird for Sylvia but she has still heard them but not seen them!
We drove on to Cowra to see if the trees outside the Japanese Gardens were flowering. The blossom was very sparse and as a result we didn’t find our target species. On the way however we were treated to good views of three Black Kites. Next stop was Koorawatha Nature Reserve. Here we saw three Turquoise Parrots. They sat for ages, despite the wind, and everyone had a very good look at them. We walked further along the valley and saw several species of honeyeater including Brown-headed, Yellow-tufted, Yellow-faced, White-naped, White-plumed and Fuscous.
After a relaxing lunch in Koorawatha (I have it on good authority that they make a mean Egg and Bacon Roll and Steak and Salad Roll at the café there! ), we went on to a property named ‘Ksharthra’. A flock of about 50 Noisy Friarbirds were feeding in the flowering Ironbarks and Anthony told us that they would stay there until the food ran out, which could be for some time. It’s interesting that they are able to stay so close to the ACT but not in it! Other interesting species for the trip were Little Lorikeets, Diamond Firetail, Southern Whiteface, Speckled Warbler, Dusky Woodswallow and Brown Treecreepers. Although we didn’t see Swift Parrots, we did see 58 species and we thoroughly enjoyed the day . Thanks to Anthony, Jack and others for sharing your knowledge with us.
Lia Battisson