The fourth annual survey of the Superb Lyrebird was again run under perfect conditions. Twelve COG members met at the gates of the Reserve at 8.30am and were soon dispatched to the five main walking trails; Gibraltar Rocks, Devil’s Gap, Fishing Gap, Ashbrook Creek and Camel Back trails.
There were 12 individual lyrebirds reported which compares with the six, 14, and 12 reported in the three previous surveys.
The survey is conducted at the end of June each year for it is the time of the year when calling males are the most easy to detect. A bird just off the Camel Back trail was in full voice and over a couple of minutes, in addition to its territorial call and associated whirrs and whistles, imitated the Crimson Rosella, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Red Wattlebird, Grey Shrikethrush, Pied Currawong, Satin Bowerbird and Laughing Kookaburra; all species commonly heard in the repertoire of the local lyrebird population.
During the survey, 32 bird species were reported with the highest number (22) from the Gibraltar Rocks trail. Similar to last year there were more species on average reported from the three trails to the eastern side of the valley (18) than from the two trails on the western side (11.5) but interestingly, there were more species recorded per trail than last year when on average there were 12 species reported from the eastern trails and six species from the western trails.
Many thanks to the participants and to the staff at Tidbinbilla for allowing us early access into the Reserve.
Chris Davey