After the spell of hot weather and then rain, our small group found it delightful to spend a relaxing weekend in temperate conditions in the lovely Naas Valley, based in a comfortable cottage at Caloola Farm. Birding was very good from the verandah with Diamond Firetail, Southern Whiteface, Pallid Cuckoo, King Parrot and many other birds passing by. Along the Naas Creek, a number of pairs of Bee-eaters were nesting in the banks, with Sacred Kingfishers, Brown Treecreepers, and three robin species (Flame, Eastern Yellow, Scarlet) in the Apple Box woodland fringing the river, and smaller birds like Speckled Warbler in the thicker patches. On our longer walk along the Naas Trail to Namadgi National Park, the open woodlands had lots of White-winged Trillers and Dusky Woodswallows, while the edge with the national park gave a good number of birds including Fuscous Honeyeaters, Dusky Woodswallows nesting, and Satin Bowerbird. While no unusual species were recorded this time around, we had a total of 74 species. Unfortunately we did not record Hooded Robins which are usually there, and it was disappointing to see the weeds (verbascum sp. particularly) which have increased since our last visit four years ago.
Jenny Bounds