The “Bush Capital” is fortunate to have many good birding spots within a few minutes of the city centre. Most of the bush is dry open woodland but there is also a range of more diverse landscapes within the ACT, from open grasslands to wet high-country forests. Of the more typical ACT woodlands, good examples with some of the best birds can be found on the lower slopes of Mt Ainslie, Mt Majura and Black Mountain, all close to the city.
Currently popular locations.
You can find out about current hot spots (locations that are currently host to interesting birds) by checking the COG ‘chatline’ archive or Eremaea eBird’s ACT Birdline.
You can also find out what species have been recently seen at any location by checking eBird’s “Recent Visits” page. By clicking on the date links against each visit you can check exactly what has been seen and recorded there by recent visitors.
Long term popular locations.
Below are links to location information on a selection of long-term popular birding spots. eBird also has a useful page that lists Canberra area locations in order of number of species ever recorded there (eBird’s Hotspots). Of course this is not saying anything about ‘total numbers of birds’ at locations, only variety of species, but is a good guide to what you might expect.
Australian National Botanic Gardens (Black Mt)
Campbell Park (Mt Ainslie)