This walk will begin at Gungahlin Pond dam wall at 9.00 am and will take up to 3 hours. Bring morning tea – no coffee shops (and no toilets, by the way!)
Directions: Turn off Gundaroo Drive into Candlebark Close and park at the end of Candlebark or at the end of any of the other little nearby streets which run into the reserve near the dam such as Platypus or Lyrebird. Meet on the dam wall at the closest (eastern) end although it is pretty obvious anyway when you get there.
Delightful weather and company made for a terrific morning of birding at Percival Hill for about a dozen COG members and friends. John Harris’s local knowledge combined perfectly with Sue Lashko’s and Sandra Henderson’s birding expertise to help us identify 42 species. A Collared Sparrowhawk, Little Eagle, some Scarlet Robins and a pair of Striated Pardalotes exploring a nesting hollow were just a few of the highlights. We had the pleasure of two visitors – Alison from the Central Coast Group of Birding NSW and Hillary from the US Embassy. The Threatened Species Commissioner, Gregory Andrews, who is a member of COG, particularly enjoyed raptor identification tips from Sue and Duncan. Something quirky that we noticed was an absence of the almost universally ubiquitous Willie Wagtail and an abundance of Grey Fantails. The spectacular and bracing view from the top of Percival Hill demonstrated the biodiversity connectivity values of Canberra’s bush corridors but also the higher building densities and lower levels of suitable bird habitat in Canberra’s newer suburbs.