Description: The Yanununbeyan SCA is a very nice area of woodland near to Captains Flat. I propose to visit two sites within the SCA – one being Apple Box Flat and the other being the south end of Woolcara Lane, near the junction with Spring Creek Trail. Note that Woolcara Lane is unsealed, narrow and a little uneven in places. The road is best suited to AWDs/4WDs. We may see a good range of woodland birds, including White-eared Honeyeater and Scarlet Robin. As it is mid-winter, please bring warm clothes. Please bring some morning tea.
Meeting time and place: We will meet at 8.30am at the Spotlight Car Park in Queanbeyan for carpooling.
Name of leader and contact details: To participate, please register with David Dedenczuk by email on david.dedenczuk@gmail.com or text to 0417 222 154 – please include your name, mobile number, and emergency contact name and number.
Bright and early on a cold, but clear and sunny June morning, 12 COG members and guests left Queanbeyan for the little-known and -visited Yanunubeyan State Conservation Area (SCA). The convoy of three vehicles negotiated the narrow unsealed Woolcara Lane, crossing several cattle grids and traversing a little mud before reaching the lovely sub-alpine woodland of the SCA. We did a circuit of a very frosty Apple Box Flat, noting the clear air, the blue sky, the lovely box trees and ice on the dam. Perhaps because of the cold conditions, birds were subdued and more were heard than seen. Nonetheless, at this site, we saw and heard 15 species, with a highlight being an Eastern Whipbird – the first eBird listing for the location. The avifauna seemed to be mainly that of wet sclerophyll, with White-Eared Honeyeaters, Striated and Brown Thornbills, and Superb Lyrebird observed or heard.
Thereafter the party drove the few kilometres south to the more open Spring Creek area with its expansive views of the forest-mantled hills of the nearby Yanunubeyan National Park. Here too, birds were few in number, but we persevered, crossing the creek and walking three kilometres to the end of the road. The woodland changed in character somewhat, with Brittle Gums becoming dominant. By this time, birds had warmed up, growing more active and were more apparent to the party. A pair of Scarlet Robins was a highlight of the 17 species seen in this second location. All in all, a very enjoyable mid-winter morning in a new destination.
