Anthony Overs

This morning walk will be aimed specifically to help beginners and new members identify birds and to learn about their behaviour and calls. The Botanic Gardens are especially suitable for such an outing, as they allow the opportunity to observe a range of local bush birds in a variety of habitats. Due to the available food supply, they are also a relative haven for birds during spring. Anthony Overs will lead this outing, which will consist of a stroll through this lovely part of Canberra for a couple of hours. Meet at 9.15am at the ANBG bus shelter. Registration is essential; please provide your name and mobile phone number, as well as an emergency contact name and number. Book your place with Anthony (0419202155, or anthony.overs@gmail.com), who will be happy to discuss whether this outing is suitable for you. Please make sure to bring your binoculars and field guide. If you do not have binoculars, please let me know as COG can supply you with a pair to use on the day.

Note that the aim of the walk is to introduce you to bird-watching, not bird photography, so please leave your camera at home.

Nicki Taws

Canberra Birds will continue with the K2C surveys that have been running since April 2010. The surveyed properties have healthy populations of many of the rarer woodland birds such as Diamond Firetail, Hooded Robin and Speckled Warbler. We will be visiting the same sites to continue the monitoring and see if spring migrants have arrived. The surveys will be undertaken in ‘blitz’ fashion; that is, observers in small groups will visit a number of sites on one or more properties before regrouping for lunch and a sharing of the survey’s findings. Less experienced observers are welcome to join in the survey as each team will have at least one experienced observer. Anyone interested in participating is asked to contact Nicki Taws before Wednesday 7 October. Email: ntaws@bigpond.com or 0408 210 736.

Kim Farley

At the March meeting, member Rainer Rehwinkel gave us a presentation on the birds of three of the Travelling Stock Reserves around Bungendore. Such was the interest, a trip is now offered to several of these Reserves. We will meet at 8:00am and drive on to Bungendore. The walks will be on flat ground, or near so. Wear sturdy shoes, bring a hat and a snack. Finish time is about 12.30pm.

As numbers are limited, please register by email to kimlouisefarley@gmail.com. Include your name and mobile number, and the name and mobile number of an emergency contact.  More detail on the meeting place, etc, will be sent when you register.

Sandra Henderson

Meet at 8.30am at the Narrabundah Wetlands on Matina St in Narrabundah. A loop walk takes in the ponds, and also a short stretch of nearby Jerrabomberra Creek.  Geoscience Australia is not far away, and the grounds include a pond, as well as a 1.1km walk focussing on geological history, but no doubt a few birds along the way! Register with Sandra at shirmax2931@gmail.com

See website for details

Julie Hotchin

On this trip to the southern end of the ACT, we will explore one of the most historically significant parts of Namadgi National Park: the Settlers Track/Grassy Creek area. This section of Namagdi was unburnt in the 2020 bushfires. We will walk the 6 km loop through eucalypt woodlands that opens into a valley offering great views. We will also visit two settler huts showing how people lived in the area from the mid-1850s to the 1980s, when the land was incorporated into the National Park.

A brochure covering the track and its historical features is available on the ACT Parks website:

https://www.parks.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/404591/the-settlers-track-self-guided-walk.pdf

The track is mostly flat with gentle slopes, making for generally easy walking. If we’re lucky, we may see Eastern Shrike-tit and/or Spotted Quail-thrush, along with high country spring/summer migrant species.

Meet at the car park at the Namadgi Visitor Centre at 8.00 am for carpooling. The walk commences at Brayshaw’s Hut, which is about a 40-minute drive from the Visitor Centre, the last section on unsealed road. We will walk for around three hours and return to town in the early afternoon.

Dress for possible changeable weather conditions and bring water, morning tea and lunch.

Register with Julie Hotchin by email to julie.hotchin@gmail.com by Friday 30 October with your name and mobile number, and the name and mobile number of an emergency contact. This trip will be limited to 15 participants.

John Brannan

This walk will pass through some of the lush woodlands in the reserve en route to the reserve’s main dam. The area around the dam is a regular nesting hot spot for the summer migrant species, and we will be hoping to see nesting pairs of Noisy Friarbird, Leaden Flycatcher and possibly Olive-backed Oriole. Other target species would include White-throated Gerygone and Sacred Kingfisher.

The walk should cover around 2-3 km and be fairly easy going, mostly along established walking tracks with occasional ventures off-track. Please dress appropriately for the weather, including sturdy footwear.

Meet: Car park on Springvale Drive, opposite De Salis St, Weetangera

Time: 9.00 am (to finish around 11.30 am)

Register with leader John Brannan by email (johnbrannan@tpg.com.au) or mobile (0405 331 405) by Friday 6 November with your name and mobile number, and the name and number of an emergency contact. The walk will be capped at 20 people.

Kim Farley & Rainer Rehwinkel & Margaret Ning

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

Jack Holland

Description:  This outing will be a repeat of the very popular and practical nest workshops held over for over twenty two years.  As usual it will be a very informal outing which has been timed to coincide with the peak of the breeding season.  The morning will start with the usual very short presentation, including tips on the types of nests built by different species of birds, and how to find nests or nesting behaviour.  This will be followed by several hours putting this into practice, with participants looking for breeding behaviour, signs of nests etc.  This will also allow plenty of opportunities for bird watching. 

The workshop is particularly suitable for beginners or those relatively new to bird watching, though more experienced members and repeat customers are also very welcome. 

Proposed attendees are reminded of the care that needs to be taken around breeding birds as outlined in the Canberra Birds’ Ethical Birding Guidelines (go to Home – Canberra Birds and press the third button on the top right labelled Mindful Birding).  In particular please read and follow the sections on Nesting Birds and Bird Photography.

Walking distance:  While we usually haven’t walked very far in the past as there has usually been a “hot spot” where most of the breeding activity occurs around 500 m from where we park, in the past couple of years this has been different and we may need to cover a bit more ground based on the rekkies beforehand.  Maximum distance = 3.0 km of easy flat walking.

End Time:  Between 11 am and 12 pm.  Please remember to take morning tea which we will have out in the field.

Meeting time and place:  Meet at 8:00 am at the far end of the car park.  Take Northcott Drive up to the start of the Campbell Park Offices, where you take the right fork and keep to the outside of the very large car park, skirting it until you get to the end.  Intending participants might also like to look at the Campbell Park map on the COG web site under the Maps, Forms and Lists button.  

Name of leader and contact details:  Registration is essential no later than Friday 13 November.  To participate, please contact Jack Holland by E-mail on jandaholland@bigpond.com – please include your mobile and emergency contact name and numbers.  Could any new members who need to borrow binoculars please advise when you register?

Julie McGuiness

The walk is through snow gum forest with a subalpine shrub layer interspersed with snow grasses and (hopefully) wildflowers; combined with good views east to the Tinderries and south to Mt Gingera.  

We will stop for lunch at either Stockyard Gap or Pryor’s Hut (depending on our progress on the day) and then retrace our steps back to the carpark.

Possible birds include Gang-gang Cockatoo, Olive Whistler, Flame Robin, Spotted Quail-thrush, Grey Currawong and Little Raven.

eBird hotspots: Namadgi National Park – Mt Ginini; Stockyard Gap

Meeting time and place: 8:30am at the Bulls Head picnic area carpark on the Mt Franklin Road.

We will carpool from here and drive to the start of the walk at the Mt Gingera Walk Trail Head carpark (at the locked gate approx 21 km south of Bulls Head).

Walking distance: Approximately 9-10km in total

Degree of difficulty: Medium; track is an undulating vehicle track with some steeper sections.

End time: 2-3pm

Note that this is a remote location with no mobile reception or facilities. Ensure you bring sufficient water and food (including lunch), rain and sun protection, and warm clothing just in case.  At 1700m, even if it is forecast to be sunny and warm, weather in the mountains can change quickly and you need to be prepared.  The nearest toilet is at Bulls Head picnic area.

Participants must register with the walk leader by email to julie.mcguiness@gmail.com providing their name and mobile number, and the name and mobile number of an emergency contact.

Numbers limited to 12 people.

Sue Lashko

It is many years since Canberra Birds last camped in Bumbalong Valley, about 70 km south of Canberra, off the Monaro Highway.  A number of property owners have extended an invitation to us to visit the valley, camp outside their community centre and bird on a number of properties, some of which have frontage to the Murrumbidgee River. Expect a variety of woodland and grassland species, as well as waterbirds. 

On the Saturday, meet at 8.00am at the beginning of Bumbalong Road, just off the Monaro Highway.  Participants must register with the walk leader by email to smlashko@gmail.com providing their name and mobile number, and the name and mobile number of an emergency contact. More details will be sent to those who register.

Sue Lashko

Lia Battisson

Description:  We will do a loop of the main body of water of Lake Ginninderra, commencing in Diddams Close and walking anti-clockwise. 

Meeting place: Meet at 8am in the carpark at the right-hand end of Diddams Close.

Walking distance: 7/8 kms. If it gets too hot we will exclude the last section of the water’s edge and return to the cars via the road.

End time (approx.): 12 midday

What to bring: A snack if desired, sunscreen, hat, sturdy shoes and plenty of water.

Name of leader and contact details:  Please register with the leader, Lia Battisson by email to liabattisson@outlook.com, providing your name and mobile number, and the name and mobile number of an emergency contact.  Please do so before 7pm on Friday 11 December, as numbers will be limited to 15.