JanBert Brouwer
The joint outing with the Birdlife Horsham branch on Sunday July 3rd started with a bleak weather outlook following rain and low lying clouds. Not something that is likely to make the birds put on an active show. However a large-turn out of bird observers often means many keen eyes to detect birdlife.
The Birdlife group always prepares their trips very thoroughly with a reconnaissance visit preceding the outing to find interesting birds. Tim Mintern and Ian Morgan had recently sighted emu wrens near the air strip in the western part of the park but these birds proved to be too elusive for this outing. However the Scarlet Robin put on a splendid display there and was a real highlight. It was surprising that even water birds were very scarce on the Moora Moora Reservoir.
Hennie and Bill Neve hosted us for our lunch break at their home in Wartook. A wonderful warm environment on this wintery day for some lively social interaction that is such an important part of both clubs.
All in all, the group managed to sight 53 different bird species that day although I must admit that my tally was way down as usual. A remarkably high number for these weather conditions. A few notable examples were also close encounters with the White-Throated and the Brown Tree Creepers, the Restless Flycatcher, Spotted and Striated Pardalotes, and several different Thornbills (Brown, Buff-rumped, Yellow and Yellow-rumped) with a final appearance of the Eastern Spinebill.