Only a small group joined me on the EL "Cygnet" on a glorious clear and still morning with the specific objective to view the late season darter/cormorant breeding in the willows etc along Molonglo Reach.
As for last year the Darters were still at all stages of breeding. Two birds (a female and male respectively) were still sitting tight on a nest, 4 nests had young chicks often spiralling their heads up towards the parent’s bill, and 1 nest contained 3 large but still downy chicks. Including the nestlings over 50 Darters were seen, about half of which were in juvenile or immature plumage indicative of a very good breeding season. However, at least 10 males were also seen, with 5 of these close together around the Dairy Road bridge.
Great, Little Black and Little Pied Cormorants were also seen, but unlike at the same time last year nesting had finished for all these species. Over 70 Little Black Cormorants were seen close together; most of these were in adult plumage, including some still in breeding plumage. By contrast there were only a dozen Little Pied Cormorants, though some of these were juveniles with very orange heads. Numbers of Great Cormorants were higher than in the past, and again some were still in breeding plumage and several were very mottled indicative of recently fledged juveniles. A party of 20 was seen fishing in East Basin on our return.
Despite the continuing drought the number of species was well down on the same trip in 2004, with only 25 species confirmed. All of these were common except for the pair of Australian Shelduck on the bank of the mouth of Molonglo Reach. This is the first record of this species here in the over two years that Jim the skipper has been taking his boat up the Reach. Several Hoary-headed Grebes were also seen, in contrast to the Australasian Grebe which has usually been present. The former are the expected species considering the relatively deep water, though again each bird needed to be examined closely given the identification difficulties that their non-breeding plumages present.
This completes the third year that COG has made these trips up the Molonglo Reach and confirms another successful and very extended breeding season for both Darters and cormorants. Given the regional importance of this site, as well as the one on the eastern side of Black Mountain Peninsula, it is expected that further trips will be offered next season, either on a formal or more ad hoc basis, to allow continued monitoring. Both sites are potentially vulnerable to a number of threats, be it willow removal, re-routing of roads or water ski training facilities.
Jack Holland