COG does Lower Mt Majura

On 15 February 24 members attended the lower slopes of Mount Majura (which actually appears, from the TAMS map, to be in the Mount Ainslie section of Canberra Nature Park).  We were guided through their favourite patch by local residents Chris Ledger and Geoff Alves: many thanks folks- and doubly so for the lemon slice at the conclusion of the walk.

We ended up writing down 33 species of birds, mainly a collection of the commoner bush birds.  The highlights were
  • a juvenile Common Bronzewing picking up Acacia seeds very close to the observers.
  • a female Collared Sparrowhawk displaying its square tail as it soared overhead; and 
  • a troublesome juvenile cuckoo which provided several minutes of entertainment as it flitted - silently -  from tree to tree near the group.  Opinions varied as to whether it was a Fan-tailed cuckoo or a Brush Cuckoo.  The eventual decision was in favour of Brush Cuckoo.
Several honeyeaterspecies (Red Wattlebird, Noisy Friarbird and Brown-headed Honeyeater were enjoying the large amount of Eucalypt blossom, mainly Eucalyptus meliodora (Yellow Box) and E bridgesiana (Apple Box).

A full birdlist will be appended to the entry in the Trips section of the COG website.

For some reason the birds were not keen on being photographed.  The Common Bronzewing, while very close, refused to show itself in a photographable position while the Dollarbird refused to show its red bill!
A Little Pied Cormorant was somewhat more obliging, possible due to being so waterlogged it couldn't fly.
A distant Noisy Friarbird displayed the bump on its beak in a break from dining in/on some Apple Box blossom.
While we didn't see any Mistletoebirds the Amyena miqueli was in nice flower.
On the subject of 'nice' the weather was excellent.  The clouds seemed to be building up by the time Igot home but a bit of rain wouldn't hurt.
I will conclude with a puzzle entitled "What bird did that?" which proves it is always good to wear a hat in the bush.

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
Its obvious which bird did that: - the Green and White Sh*t Bird.
Jokes aside, obviously a good day out.
Amazed you have not been getting any of the rain.
I watched huge clouds over the lower Shoalhaven a few days ago, around Araluen, and Nerriga according to the BoM radar charts at the time.
More "weather" forecast west of the Divide on Friday and Sat.
Maybe you'll get some then.
Cheers
Denis
16 February 2012 at 00:40:00 GMT+11
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