I'm always a little nervous when taking a group to a spot that I've not been to before, but as soon as the big party of COG members, supplemented by a sizeable group of Goulburn Field Naturalists Society members, pulled up beside the very large lake/dam in the centre of the private property it was clear that we were at a special spot. We spent a couple of magical hours on the shores of this large body of water, highlights including a number of late departing Latham's Snipe, estimated as at least nine birds, which were flushed repeatedly from the long grass and could be viewed flying low over the water. Other highlights were at least a dozen Great Crested Grebe, mostly in full breeding plumage with, on several occasions, pairs of birds displaying by facing up to each other with necks well extended and pointed black crests clearly visible. At other times they rested on the water with their very white puffed out chests clearly visible while their heads were tucked away. Everyone had great views, both with the scope and through binoculars – I certainly had some of my best ever locally.
Another species seen which is no longer common in Canberra was the Musk Duck, with good numbers of females and a smaller number of males, which also gave their characteristic displays. Both species, particularly the females of the latter, were also seen amongst a raft of 60-70 Hoary-headed Grebes that appeared to be feeding together on the far shore. Whether they were "fishing" on the surface was unclear but they moved together taking apparently rather shallow dives, seemingly in pursuit of prey. Other rarer ducks seen were a number of Australasian Shoveler but just a few Pink-eared Duck.
Thirty nine species were tallied in these two hours, topped off perfectly by a mature White-bellied Sea-eagle which alighted in a dead tree across the lake while we were having a late morning tea. We found it difficult to tear ourselves away from this great spot to visit the patch of mature Banskia marginata to look for some bush birds. Unfortunately this patch had suffered badly from a windstorm, and many of the trees had been blown over and were dead, and only the Eastern Spinebill seemed to be frequenting the few extant trees that were in flower. However, in the adjacent wattle-lined gully we picked up four of the five local thornbill species, and the fifth (Striated Thornbill) shortly after when we had a quick look at the swamp gum patch. By this time the wind had really picked up and birds were scarce and difficult to find in what looked like perfect habitat, the highlight being several Varied Sittellas identified by their call and orange wing patches as they flew over.
On our return two Wedge-tailed Eagles were seen high over the lake as we walked to our idyllic lunch spot, the boat shed beside the lake. In total 58 species were seen for the day. My sincere thanks go to Rodney Falconer of the GFNS for suggesting this spot and for having twisted my arm to agree to going there - my apologies again for doubting his judgement. COG would also like to sincerely thank William Davies for allowing us to visit and have a free run of his property.
In summary another very successful joint outing with the GFNS and COG looks forward to sharing many more.
Jack Holland