The Wednesday walk for Febuary will be to the Warks Rd area of the Brindabellas, to take advantage of the relative cool and shade in that area.. Meet at Stromlo Forest Park for an 08:30 departure.
We will pause briefly at the big dam at Uriarra Homestead on our way up to Warks Rd. It is planned to work our way along Warks Rd to Bendora Dam Rd, with some short walks where good birding looks likely.
I expect this to take some time so I suggest members bring some lunch and – as it is likely to be warm – plenty of water.
The outing will be cancelled if a total fire ban is declared in the ACT and/or the NSW Districts which adjoin the ACT.
12 members gathered at Stromlo Forest Park for carpooling on the outing to Warks Rd and nearby spots in Namadgi National Park.
As often the case we paused to check out the big dam at Urriarra Homestead and scored 26 species as a result. This included a tightly knit squad of 18 Hoary-headed Grebes and an overflight of 6 Gang-gangs.
We moved on to Blundells Creek Rd where we had an involuntary pause due to a fallen tree across the road. While that was being disposed of, members spotted the first of several Rufous Fantails beside the road. After parking and heading up Warks Rd, 3 Red-browed Treecreepers were observed. The next highlight was a Rufous Fantail on a nest: everyone got good looks.
After another bit of axe-work we paused for a pre-prandial stroll up another trail. A very alert member spotted a small bird on a branch close to ground level. It eventually scuttled off, but had given good enough looks for identification as a very recently fledged Pilotbird. This was confirmed when an adult of the species was seen on the far side of the track. We hurriedly left the area and on turning to watch saw the adult fly across in the direction of the fledgling and then then both fly across the track. Possibly the first breeding record of Pilotbird since the 2003 fires?
Two further stops were made on the way home. Moonlight Hollow Road delivered a Brush Cuckoo – after much deliberation and examination of images. Going to Bulls Head Picnic area , several Flame Robins were seen and a Fan-tailed Cuckoo hard.
All up we recorded 54 species for the day.
