Grey Kangaroos and Flame Robins

Eastern Grey Kangaroo - at rest!

Male Flame Robin

Yankee Hat

Afternoon walk on August 24th 2008

A pleasant afternoon walk across the grasslands from the car park at Yankee Hat, Namadgi Nature Reserve, to as far as a liitle beyond the first hill after the Gudgenby river crossing. Mavis Russell was visiting from Nowra and we decided to go looking for some robins. so we drove down to the bottom of Namadgi Nature Reserve.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

A chill light breeze was blowing from the north but it was calm on the southern sides of the ridges. It was a cool (ca 9C) but sunny afternoon. Large numbers of Eastern Grey Kangaroo were grazing with many of them close to the trail. We estimated at least 300 but quite possibly there might have been more. However, we saw no robins until a Flame Robin was spotted at the point where we had decided to turn back. A brilliant male but he appeared to be on the move and quickly disappeared northwards. A lone Spotted Pardalote called briefly from the somewhere at the top of the wooded hilltop just before we saw this Flame Robin but precious little else was seen or heard except for a large mob of Yellow-rumped Thornbills (ca 20) nearer to the Gudgenby and probably three bands of Superb Blue Wrens, with only one definite male although he was only just beginning to colour-up. Surprisingly, we did not come across any honeyeaters or Silvereyes. A few Little Raven (ca 10) were foraging about in the marshy area upstream from the boardwalk across the river but at least two Australian Raven were heard calling in the distance to the east and a pair of Brown Falcon were noisily displaying far to the south of this point as we began to saunter back to the car. A few Crinia signifera were calling near the slow moving stream that was the Gudgenby and most of the extensive wetland area upstrwam from the bridge still looked very dry and brown.

Little Raven

We were perhaps 300 m from the trail-head when we came across a whole lot of birds ! A large party of noisy Eastern Rosella was moving about from tree to tree on the skyline to the north and we spotted at least three Common Bronzewings together on the ground but probably 5 birds in total if two others seen flying a few moments earlier were not part of that group. Suddenly we saw a male Flame Robin not far in front of us close to the path but he too was soon passed us going northwards. almost immediately we then came upon another three males and at least three females but these birds seemed to be more interested in feeding and behaved more typically as they foraged on the sloes near the trail.

Female Flame Robins

More male Flame Robins

We also recorded a Laughing Kookaburra, one or two Pied Currawong, a similar number of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, a dozen or so Australian Magpies, a few Common Starling, a single Australian Pipit and a splendid party of 10-15 Diamond Firetail finches first noticed when feeding on the pathway a short way ahead of us. An enjoyable and rewarding walk. We had started a little after 1400 and we were back at the car shortly after 1700.

Diamond Firetails

Magnificent gnarled gums at the back of the car park