Wednesday Walk to West Belconnen Ponds

The October Wednesday Walk will be to West Belconnen Ponds.  Meet at 9am on 21 October on Percy Begg Circuit, Dunlop.

To register – essential – please email Lindell with your name, mobile number and an emergency contact number to lindell.em@gmail.com

Twenty-one members gathered at the West Belconnen Ponds on a perfect spring day. We walked the ‘normal’ walk around the pond in an anti-clockwise direction, encountering 33 species over the course of 2 hours. We began with a Nankeen Kestrel siting on a pole across the pond at the water’s edge, then moving on to a high vantage at the very top of a casuarina tree before descending to another lower vantage point on a pole; we didn’t see it descend on any prey.

There were a few Pacific Black Duck families with ducklings of varying ages. A family of Eurasian Coots had a brood of 10 chicks with their spiky little red heads darting busily around demanding food. Further along the path we heard at least 10 different Australian Reed -Warblers calling, and more were seen flying across the water and back to the reeds. Then a family of Black Swans with 3 small cygnets came into view.

At the far eastern end of the pond, at the water’s edge, we flushed a couple of Latham’s that flew across to the island, followed by another, then another and they kept coming until we had counted 11. The grass on the island was too long to see them again when they landed.  There were lots of Superb Fairy-wrens, including some young ones being fed, and we had a great view of a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. There were plenty of Welcome Swallows and Crested Pigeons and a large flock of more than 60 Common Starlings taking advantage of the powerlines to the north-west.

Lindell Emerton