Two 12 seater buses full of eager participants set off with me on this ambitious quest to try to see all 7 species of robins which occur in the ACT in the one day.
Our first stop was Mulligan's Flat where 3 species had been reported recently. We encountered our first pair of Scarlet Robins amongst a very active mixed feeding flock close to the former woolshed. We then moved to the NE of the reserve where we located much more quickly than expected the Hooded and Red-capped Robins that had been seen there over the past month. All participants had very good views of the single male and 2 female/immature hooded feeding in front of us for over 30 minutes, together with a female/immature Red-capped Robin (with a clear red-brown forehead, particularly from some angles, but no noticeable red wash in the breast). For most of the party this was their first sighting of this species in the ACT. Towards the end the feeding party was joined by a pair of Scarlet Robins, and it was lovely to be able to see the 3 species together, even though the latter were not made too welcome by the male Hooded Robin.
We then moved to the Australian National Botanic Gardens, to find the Eastern Yellow Robin, and hopefully also the Rose Robin. Again all participants had good views of the former relatively quickly, though the latter remained elusive, as it seems to have all this winter, with prior to the trip no-one able to report its presence in spots where they have often been seen in previous winters and where we might have searched for it.
After lunch we moved to the edge of the former Narrabundah Hill pine plantation with the Chapman horse paddocks where the expected Flame Robins initially proved elusive with only some distant views of several female/immature birds and a couple of calls during the first 45 minutes. However, close to our return to the buses we encountered the flock, along the former pine forest track and some distance from where they have been over the past few weeks. Again all participants had excellent views of 5 males and at least 10 female/immatures as they moved around and fed on the ground in front of us. The latter generally had white wing bars and were lightish under (some appeared to have a faint pink wash in the throat) with few darker birds with yellowish “broken arrows” indicative of immature birds. An added bonus was 2 Diamond Firetails and 2 Speckled Warblers; I hadn't seen the former there for about a month, and I only have 1 or 2 records of the latter for this area, and certainly none since the fires. A Wedge-tailed Eagle circling over as we started our walk was also only the second record I have of this species in the area since the fires.
It was agreed by all that finding 5 of the 7 robin species, all able to be seen clearly by all participants, made for a pretty good pass mark. As noted above the rose robin has rarely been seen this winter, and I am not aware of any sightings of the much less common Pink Robin. After the rain overnight and the less than optimistic forecast, the clear, sunny conditions though with a pretty cold wind were appreciated by all participants. My thanks to all who participated and especially to Jenny Bounds for offering to drive the second bus, and helping to plan the itinerary as well as to find the birds. Certainly worth a repeat or at least something of a similar nature – trying to see all the eleven local raptor species in one day would be a particular challenge.
Jack Holland