Three days of benign weather, spectacular coastal scenery comprising rocky headlands, pristine beaches, forests and dunes, with a hundred seen and heard bird species were enjoyed by the fourteen trip participants to Tathra and surrounding region. We are all grateful for: the efficient trip logistics arranged by Prue Watters; eBird logging executed and distributed by Lia Battisson; and expert identification with accompanying commentary on the birds sustained by Sue Lashko and Sandra Henderson. With our first stop on the Monday afternoon, highlights commenced with the first views eastwards over the Tasman Sea from the observation deck at Tathra Headland revealing: humpback whales seen breaching on their southern migration, a pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles soaring, a Black-shouldered Kite hovering over the cliff-top vegetation, numerous Little Wattlebirds busy chasing each other, and on the rocky shoreline, an Eastern Reef Egret (grey morph) displaying its crab-eating abilities. Our next stop that afternoon was at the Tathra sewage works – in addition to numerous Grey and Chestnut Teal resting on the banks of the settling ponds, three Australasian Grebes were engaged in the early stages of constructing a nest in the westernmost pond. Nearby, following the first hundred metres of the start of the “Poo Ponds Mountain Bike Trail”, we encountered numerous small bird species including Lewin’s and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, a Scarlet Myzomela, thornbills and Grey Fantails. Crossing the bridge over the Bega River, we parked the fleet of cars in the Ray Whyman Reserve looking eastwards to the rocky shore of Paspalum Point. Numerous terns, cormorants, and gulls were resting or flying around these rocks. A young, self-declared bird enthusiast approached us and led us across the road towards the Mogareeka boat ramp, and showed us seven Nankeen Night-Herons roosting in the canopy of a number of pine trees next to the ramp. Our group plan for the rest of Tuesday was to travel northwards to Bermagui, and then work southwards visiting bays and headlands en route. But our progress was delayed, firstly before leaving Tathra, with good views of three White-headed Pigeons sitting on a power line and, secondly, by close views of a Buff-banded Rail on the mudflats of the lagoon on the west side of the southern end of the Bega River Road bridge. After journeying north from Tathra, we turned east on Wapengo Street after crossing the Bermagui River, parked close to the junction of this street with the Wallaga Lake Road, and walked eastwards viewing the sandbanks exposed in the river, and thick brush alongside the road. The dominant bird species on the sandbanks and flying above these and the river were Great Crested Terns, Silver Gulls, Royal Spoonbills and Australian Pelicans. And in the brush, both Superb and Variegated Fairy-wrens were actively feeding and calling, together with Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and other species. At the northern end of Bermagui is a lake called North Lagoon by eBird or simply Bermagui Lagoon by Google Maps. We saw 27 species in 40 minutes at this location, walking along the western bank and then on a short boardwalk out over the lagoon – highlights were our first sightings for the trip of Hoary-headed Grebes, nest-building by a pair of Australasian Grebes, two juvenile (fluffy balls) Masked Lapwings accompanied by their vigilant parents, numerous Eurasian Coots, and our first Australian Reed Warbler and Latham’s Snipe. Retracing our route, we headed south pausing at a river crossing or two, and then turned eastwards into Mimosa Rocks National Park. Between the campground of Aragunnu where we had lunch and Mimosa Rock itself, we wandered along the walking track hearing numerous different bird calls and enjoyed sightings of many of these. For example, our first Superb Lyrebirds were spotted – another of these leapt spectacularly across the dirt road on our way out of the Park, with outstretched neck and wonderful trailing tail feathers. Bell Miners, thornbills, honeyeaters, Golden Whistlers, Grey Fantails, and an Eastern Yellow Robin were among the bush birds. ~30 Great and 2 Little Pied Cormorants were seen along the shore. Next stop southwards was Bithry Inlet on Wapengo Creek. It became clear that two pairs of Pied Oystercatchers were fighting off attacks on their nesting patches by Australian Ravens. Spectacular aerobatics were on display by both species of bird, eventually with the ravens retreating to high observation branches of the trees bordering the creek. No doubt, the struggle to survive would continue. Other bird species were dominated by Cormorants, mostly Great with two Little Pied. We headed back to the main Tathra–Bermagui Road, turned south then shortly left the highway to head eastwards again along Gillards Road, stopping short of the campground at the turning for Tommy’s Bay Track.  Our return walk along this track took about 50 minutes in the course of which we saw 24 species. The distinctive calls of Shining Bronze- and Fan-tailed Cuckoos were heard, and a Spotted Pardalote was seen entering and leaving a nesting hole in piled-up dirt from grading of the Track. A few hundred metres further east along Gillards Road and at the end of the Campground, we strolled along Tommys Bay Walk to the beach. Returning to the vehicles, our eagle-eyed spotter Brendah alerted us to a pair of Fan-tailed Cuckoos, busy feeding off a multitude of flying termites whose mound had been disrupted by a fallen tree. While I had been spending first light on Tuesday morning at Tathra Headland, Sandra had walked around the forest surrounding the Kianinny Bush Cottage reserve, sighting a large number of species. Accordingly, the group decided to repeat her walk on Wednesday morning. In about an hour, we observed 27 species, of which Brown Gerygone were the largest number of individuals followed by Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and Grey Fantails. After breakfast, we headed southwards along Sapphire Coast Drive turning eastwards at Wallagoot Lake Road. At our first stop close to the first cluster of houses on the north side of the road, we saw a remarkable raft of 64 Hoary-headed Grebes, a hundred metres offshore. Closer to us were various groups of Black Swans with numerous Yellow-faced and White-naped Honeyeaters in the trees near the shoreline. Eastwards again, we stopped close to the Wallagoot Lake Boat Club buildings, attracted by the numerous calls of Bell Miners, and succeeded in close-up views of this species. At the edge of the lake and flying by were many Little Pied Cormorants, a few Great Cormorants, and a number of White-faced Herons.  An Australian Magpie and Welcome Swallows were sitting on respective nests. We continued along the road to the Turingal Head picnic area, where we parked the vehicles, and walked towards Moncks Creek and Wallagoot Beach. Close to the beach, a large goanna (Varanus sp) was sunning itself just off the track. At the beach itself, binoculars and scopes were trained on the sand dunes in a search for Hooded Plover. Red-capped Plover were the first to be seen, shortly followed by Brendah espying the prime target – one of which had a tag Y2 on its left leg. Alarmingly, the population of Hooded Plovers in NSW now comprises only a hundred individuals. As we paused by the striking view over Wallagoot Gap and the Tasman Sea, a Whistling Kite flew overhead followed shortly by a White-bellied Sea-Eagle. Our sightings of raptors were augmented by a distant Collared Sparrowhawk overhead at the carpark as we ate lunch. Back to Sapphire Coast Drive, then southwards followed by a turn on to Bournda Road and then north along Scotts Bay Road to the south side of Wallagoot Lake. In 30 minutes, we saw 14 species, including 16 Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and 3 Scarlet Myzomelas. We followed Bournda Road to its end at Hobart Beach Campground, also on the shores of Wallagoot Lake. Bell Miners dominated the bird population there. Twenty-one other bird species were observed in 30 minutes. Then we headed for the Tasman Sea coast, crossing a large dune en route, and with views back north-eastwards to Turingal Head and southwards to Tura Beach. An identification challenge presented itself as a large raptor flew overhead – despite the dark brown colouration and wedge-tailed appearance, our collective conclusion was we had seen a juvenile White-bellied Sea-Eagle. For our final walk in the vicinity of the lagoon that backs Bournda Beach, we headed south-westwards along a track that borders the Bondi Lagoon’s western shore. There is no access to the lagoon from this track. We returned to Kianinny Bush Cottages, voting to patronise the Tathra Bowling Club for dinner. Later that evening, because Sue Lashko had heard a Greater Sooty Owl outside her cabin the previous night, some of us assembled at the same cabin at about 8.30 pm hoping to catch a glimpse of it, but without luck. On our final morning, Thursday 18 September, we again drove south along Sapphire Coast Road, turned northwest on Wallagoot Lane, parked the cars and walked down Jellat Road towards the Sapphire Coast Turf Club. The primary interest in terms of birds seen were three White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike flying then resting high in bare branches. On the way to Tathra at the beginning of the field trip, several participants had stopped at the southeastern outskirts of Bega and visited the pond at Glebe Park. On their advice, others visited this Park on the return to Canberra. A remarkable number of bird species were seen there, including numerous Freckled Ducks, Royal Spoonbills and a Great Egret. In conclusion, an excellent, superbly run and organised field trip, enjoyed by all participants. Richard Arculus