A full boat load on the MV "Darter" joined me on a perfect clear and crisp morning for this now annual trip up the Molonglo Reach to view the Darter/cormorant nesting. One advantage of using the bigger boat is that it is quicker (though still very quiet) and allowed us also to go up the mouth of Jerrabomberra Creek where Jim the skipper had recently seen large numbers of water birds. And we weren't disappointed with an estimated 125 Black Swans, 60 Pacific Black Duck and 45 Silver Gulls making up the bulk of these, plus close to 20 Darters, mostly immatures or females resting, many with wings held out for drying, on the bank/jetty at the old Kingston Boat Harbour. However, the undoubted highlight was a Pied Cormorant sitting tight in a dead tree near the mouth of the creek as we sailed up the eastern side of East Basin towards Molonglo Reach, its much longer flesh/horn coloured bill and yellow patch before the eye clearly diagnostic as we passed close by. This was only our third record on these trips, although earlier we had suspected this species as it flew past.
Also along the eastern side of the basin were several Cattle Egret feeding amongst the stock, but as we entered the reach we found it surprisingly quiet, particularly on the water, which remained the case all the way to the Dairy Flat Bridge. The reason for this is not clear, though it was rumoured the large congregation of birds at Jerrabomberra Creek is in response to mass feeding of bread etc, with this no longer allowed at former spots such as Orana Bay in Yarralumla. Nevertheless, we soon witnessed four large but still downy Darter chicks on a nest, with a male on a nest nearby, both on the north bank. Surprisingly we only encountered one more nest with downy chicks - this was well upstream, though three other recently fledged birds were seen nearby, identified by their plumage and clumsy short flights. However, at least six birds were also seen sitting tight on nests, with nesting largely restricted to two more spots on the southern bank. Up to 38 Darters were counted along the reach, a number of them flying very high, often being briefly mistaken for raptors. While we saw about 40 Little Black Cormorants at their usual spot where the river widens appreciably, surprisingly there was no evidence of any nesting activity for this species. The only other cormorant nesting was the Great Cormorant, and in bigger numbers than have been recorded previously, with over 12 seen in the one relatively small tree, with seven of them on nests, and a further three dependent young which, while well grown, were making persistent begging noises.
The number of both species still sitting on nests with relatively few nestlings seen was a surprise for the time of year; perhaps it reflects a pause in nesting for a month or so with the low water levels and then a recommencement when the river lake filled again with the storms in mid February. For the first time I can recall there was no nesting in COG grid cell M14 close to the two bridges, even though numbers are usually pretty low there. Land birds too were relatively quiet, though the total of 38 species seen or heard was about average based on previous years. The 18 participants, most of them first timers, had a very enjoyable morning, as I did even though it is probably close to my tenth trip in four years. Every time you go, the Reach seems to be different, and I certainly look forward to leading my next trip to view this now very regular breeding phenomenon.
Jack Holland