CANCELLED DUE TO WET WEATHER
An easy evening walk, with a chance of seeing or hearing Bush Stone-curlews and other nocturnal species. Meet at 7.30pm at the reserve entry on Eric Wright St, Forde, where there are parking bays. Sturdy shoes and a torch are essential; insect repellent may be handy. Please register with Sandra at shirmax2931@gmail.com with your name and contact number, and name and number for an emergency contact.
Since I’d seen no night birds on a trial run a few weeks earlier, I was not especially optimistic about our chances for this Wednesday walk, which had already been postponed from January because of rain. Sixteen people joined me for the walk on a pleasantly cool evening, including some new members and visitors.
At the first dam we found a pair of Australasian Grebes with three youngsters, one of which was very noisy. An echidna ambled by near the edge of the dam – a treat for some who’d never seen one in the wild. The walk followed the Dam Track and returned on the Old Coach Road, and it was not long after passing the further entry into the dam area that we heard the eerie calls of Bush Stone-curlews. Although we did not see the birds, there was obviously more than one, and we heard the calls on three occasions. Along the Old Coach Road, a Tawny Frogmouth was sitting on a dead branch close to the track, and shortly after we heard a Southern Boobook calling from some distance away. White-throated Treecreepers were heard several times in near darkness. Apart from the echidna, brush-tailed possums, wallabies and kangaroos were out and about, and we had fleeting glimpses of Eastern Bettongs on a couple of occasions.