Meet for carpooling at Hall Recreation Reserve, Gladstone St, Hall ( on LHS from Canberra) at 8.00 am. We will visit the grounds and gardens of Cooma Cottage on the Yass Valley Way, Marchmont. It is a National Trust property of 100 acres which has Yass River frontage. Later we will visit Yass Gorge. Bring morning tea and lunch, warm clothes and suitable footwear. Easy walking.
Contact Bill Graham on 0466874723 or cogoffice@canberrabirds.org.au
Six intrepid members met at the Hall Recreation Reserve for car-pooling. It was very, very cold and foggy, so we were glad of the drive to Cooma Cottage in warm cars. Pat from Boorowa met us at Cooma Cottage and we had a stroll around the perimeter of the areas accessible to the public. Visibility was very restricted, and it was still foggy, and bitterly cold, so very few birds were observed. Common Starlings and House Sparrows were abundant. We made a unanimous decision to adjourn to a coffee shop in Yass to give the fog a chance to lift. The coffee and raisin toast at the Galutzi Café were very comforting.
Our next venue was the Yass River Gorge. We walked along the northern side of the river almost as far as the dam wall and returned along the southern side. The first part of the southern side was very overgrown. The end of that side has clearly had a lot of attention from the Landcare group.
Superb Fairy-wrens were in abundance, with small parties in several places along the length of the trail. Rosellas were unperturbed by the cold and both species were bathing in the rapids in the stream that flowed into the river at Riverbank Park. Fortunately, by midday it had warmed up sufficiently for us to sit and have our lunch there. The highlight was a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater at Riverbank Park, which was feasting on lerps.
On the way home, we drove down Dog Trap Road and stopped at Merryville TSR. It was heavily stocked with cattle, so we walked around the perimeter of the paddock in front of the south gate and along the road to the northernmost gate. Common Starlings again featured very heavily. The total species count for the day was forty-three.