This is a joint Friends of Grasslands (FOG) and Canberra Birds outing; it is hoped that Canberra Birds participants will gain a deeper appreciation of grassland flora, while FOG attendees get some greater insights about birds.

Canberra Birds participants will meet at The Netball Centre carpark, off Northbourne Ave, Lyneham for carpooling at 8.00am before driving to Belmore Park, Montague St, to meet with FOG, ready for a 9:30am start. There are toilets at the park, and cafes for those who want to refresh, before visiting the sites.

• Our first stop will be Gundary Travelling Stock Reserve, on Windellama Rd, opposite Goulburn Airport. Gundary is South-eastern NSW’s premier Natural Temperate Grassland site, with this time of year being a great time to visit for wildflowers, including the largest population of the endangered Button Wrinklewort.  While birdlife may be a bit sparse, I have recorded Little Buttonquail there, and there is a possibility to see the true quails, pipits, cisticolas and other grassland birds, including various birds of prey. Beware that there will undoubtedly be snakes about, so please be prepared to take care, and dress appropriately.
• The second stop will be at Souths TSR, a reserve with open woodland, and a chance to see woodland birds.  Souths is also floristically diverse.  Souths is at the intersection of Mountain Ash Rd and Kooringaroo Rd, east of Goulburn.

The plan is to assemble back at Goulburn, at Belmore Park. Here participants can have their lunch, and either peel off and return home, or after lunch, proceed to another site, as follows.

• Goulburn Wetlands is a great example of community action that spurred the development of this system of ponds and the native plantings that surround them. This is a well-known birding site. The wetlands are on Lower Sterne St, with the entrance near Henry St.

If there is time after visiting the wetlands at Goulburn, there are a couple of other sites that are well worth a visit:

• Rowes Lagoon, an excellent local wetland, where there are always great birds. This is where I collected our region’s first record of Comb-crested Jacana, and also my first record of Australasian Bittern!
• Collector TSR on Breadablane Rd, just north of the village, is also worth a stop, with its old-growth Snow Gums and floristically rich ground layer.  Of note here: I recorded a very large congregation of Latham’s Snipe here when I was doing my surveys of TSRs in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Participants must register with the Kim Farley by email to kimlouisefarley@gmail.com providing their name and mobile number, and the name and mobile number of an emergency contact.

Kim Farley, Margaret Ning and Rainer Rehwinkel