Meet at 0830 at Hall Cemetery at the start of Wallaroo Road for carpooling followed by the drive into the winery which has limited parking etc. Water resistant and sturdy footwear is required due to long wet grass and uneven ground. The walk will last until about 11am and conclude with morning tea/coffee at the cafe there or a wine tasting for those inclined. There will be a limit of 20 participants so please register with Stuart Harris at shadowplay369@gmail.com
At the Hall Cemetery, where incidentally we visited Bryce Courtney’s headstone, fourteen COG members and one international photographer/twitcher were well briefed by Stuart Harris on the plans for a morning of birding, wine tasting and refreshments Brindabella Hills-style. Following Professor David Lindenmayer’s encouragement of collaboration between birders and agriculturalists, we had privileged access to a circuit walk from the cellar door, through woodland overlooking the Murrumbidgee River and ending in the open vineyards. Our sightings included a Pied Butcherbird, three Robins, Scarlet, Flame and Jacky Winter, other woodland birds including Striated Pardalote, Weebill and Buff-rumped Thornbill and, courtesy of the Murrumbidgee, a White-faced Heron flying overhead and Great and Little Pied Cormorant on rocks in the river. We concluded that birdlife is a feature of the distinctive terroir of the Brindabella Hills vineyards, as evidenced by the Jacky Winter and Flame Robin perching on the vine fence posts, the piles of grape marc being a popular food source for a Willie Wagtail and Crimson and Eastern Rosellas and the vine prunings providing an ideal habitat for Superb Fairy-wrens, of whom we saw dozens. Our privilege extended to a wine tasting overseen by Stuart and time to decide our purchases over coffee and scones.
The species total for the morning was 36.
Elizabeth Moore