Five very brave people joined me on a morning that was unseasonably cold, with very strong winds and showers. The extreme weather conditions posed a challenge to both seeing and hearing birds. It became obvious as the field trip proceeded that not many small or medium birds were active, on a day when they were probably best served in conserving their energy until conditions were again favourable. Despite this, we did hear Spotted and Striated Pardalote, and Weebill in the canopy of trees, and saw Yellow-rumped and Buff-rumped Thornbill foraging lower down. There were a lot of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo feeding on the ground. Also seen were Crimson and Eastern Rosella, and the only honeyeater recorded was Noisy Miner. On and near the dams were Pacific Black Duck and Australian Wood Duck. Towards the end of the trip, in a section of dry forest, we were able to observe our one and only breeding record – a Pied Currawong on nest. I'm not sure if there has ever been a field trip within the COG area of interest, during spring, that hasn't discovered a breeding record, but this was as close as it gets. A total of 22 species was recorded for the morning. Despite the low number of species seen, it is clear that Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve contains extremely valuable habitat, especially for woodland birds, and that any threat to the connectivity with Mulligan’s Flat Nature Reserve, such as urban development between the two, would impact negatively on them.
— Matthew Frawley