Nineteen COG members shared the Honeyeater Flat Field Study Area at Munghorn with about 50 members of the Hunter Valley Bird Observers. Rain greeted the Thursday afternoon arrivals, but the skies quickly cleared and the rest of the weekend was perfect. We spent Friday morning on the 4km Castle Rocks Walking Track, which had a good range, but not large numbers, of birds, including a very elusive Chestnut-rumped Heathwren. The Castle Rocks are spectacular sandstone pagodas which harboured an interesting array of reptiles. The rest of the day was spent exploring various spots within the nature reserve – most activity was centered around flowering White Box but Regent Honeyeaters eluded us, although Spiny-cheeked, Yellow-tufted and Black-chinned were seen, along with Little Lorikeets. Saturday morning was spent exploring a streamline where Regents had been seen, again without success, but Emu, White-browed Babbler, White-backed Swallow and Crested Shrike-tit were present. We spent the rest of the day exploring TSRs and rivers north of Munghorn – highlights included Brown Quail and Zebra Finch. Determined to see Regent Honeyeaters, we staked out two large White Box early on Saturday and were rewarded with very good views of 6 birds. Satisfied, we headed north to Goulburn River National Park, where we visited three sites, the best of which, White Box Campground, yielded a flock of Brown Treecreepers, Striped Honeyeater and magnificent views of Turquoise Parrots. Spotlighting on Sunday night was equally rewarding with a female Powerful Owl sitting above us for about 10 minutes. Southern Boobook, Tawny Frogmouth and Australian Owlet-nightjar were also heard during the weekend. Within 100m of the camp area, we found Rockwarbler, Rose Robin and Red-browed Treecreeper. In all, 115 species of birds, including 17 species of honeyeater, 18 species of reptiles, 13 species of butterflies and one frog were recorded (the non-birds identified by Steve Holliday).
Sue Lashko