Riding to Kama by bicycle is great fun - once you're out of the suburb, there's a superb downhill run of about 200m, levelling out gently before coming to the underpass that takes you to Kama.
having chained up the bike, I set off camera in hand.
The first bird I encountered was a Black Shouldered Kite, a great view of it soaring towards me at eye level, as I stood at the top of the first hill. I lifted the camera and pressed the shutter.
Nothing happened. It usually helps to turn the camera on before taking photos!!!
It was a bit of a shame to miss that shot (the kite had disappeared behind some trees), but as soon as I reached the Kama sign, I ran into a small mixed feeding flock. A female Scarlet Robin, several Yellow-Rumped Thornbills, and a Grey Fantail. Sadly they didn't sit still for good photos, and soon disappeared into the canopy of a nearby tree.
Scarlet Robin, female
Walking down the track, I turned left and crossed to the vehicle track, which leads to one of the dams in the nature reserve.
On the way there, I heard a rustle in the grass, and saw an Eastern Grey Kangaroo lying in the long grass not 5 meters away. I stood still, unsure as to why it hadn't taken off when it saw me. My wondering was quickly resolved, as the 'roo gingerly got to its feet and hobbled off, keeping its right back leg well off the ground. Pretty sad to see, but sometimes you just have to leave it :(. I kept going, giving her a wide berth so as not to make her move around any more.
Injured Eastern Grey Kangaroo
After accidentally giving some Grey Teal a heart attack (and them returning the favour, neither of us were expecting to run into each other at the top of the dam wall!), I noticed a lot of alarm calls a short distance off.
I followed the noise to a large eucalyptus, hoping to find an owl being mobbed by small birds. Sadly no owl was there, but I did find a ver large (and noisy) mixed feeding flock. Brown Thornbills, Yellow Rumped Thornbills, Weebills, Spotted & Striated Pardalotes, Grey Fantail, White Eared Honeyeater, Brown Headed Honeyeater, and Superb Fairy Wrens.
White Eared Honeyeater
Brown Headed Honeyeater
The flock started to move off, and since I wanted some pictures better than the terrible ones above, I followed. I quickly lost the flock, but in a stand of small eucalypts I found several small, fast-moving birds. I didn't get a good look, but from their calls I'm reasonably confident in saying they were Varied Sittellas. If only I'd gotten a better look, these would be a much-needed year tick! Next time.
I began to move back across to the main walking track. on the way, I found a solitary female White Throated Treecreeper, which I noticed was banded. I'm not aware of any banding programs in Kama, so I'm interested to find out who/where banded it, especially with colour bands!
Colour Banded White Throated Treecreeper
Finally getting to the main track, I debated the long walk down to the small cliffs near the Molonglo River. I decided against it, despite the fact that it's a fairly reliable spot for Skylark and Australian Pipit, plus I've always wanted to search some of the loose rocky hillside for fossils. However, it's a long walk, and all uphill on the way back. Since I had a long uphill ride home, I decided to save it for a time when I had a car ride!
Walking back up the hill, I disturbed a pair of Eastern Rosellas which had been feeding on the ground. A Laughing Kookaburra flew over just as I got to the second dam.
On the dam, the Grey Teal I'd disturbed earlier were mixing with a pair of Pacific Black Ducks, and a pair of Australasian Grebes.
Eclipse plumage Australasian Grebe
As I crested the hill and began the short descent back to my bike, I noticed the Black Shouldered Kites were still hanging around, a short distance off towards the road. I walked over, keen for some photographs. As I walked there, a Grey Shrike Thrush was hopping around in the bushes, and a Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike flew over calling.
The kite wasn't at all bothered by me, and allowed me to get fairly close. That gave me a nice finishing point, before the ride home!!
Black Shouldered Kite
Open Grassy Woodland habitat at Kama Nature Reserve
No comments:
Post a Comment