A crowd of 20 enjoyed a wonderful morning of bird watching on Saturday the 14th of November. The day was the first of two bird field days held by the Molonglo Catchment Group that are revisiting properties originally surveyed in Greening Australia’s Bring Back Birds program. The group gathered at the Begbies’ property in Rossi at 8am and were welcomed by the president of the Molonglo Catchment Group, Lynton Bond. Lynton gave a brief introduction explaining that the field day was part of the groups Sustainability on Small Farms project funded by the Australian Governments Caring for our Country. Lynton then introduced the presenter for the mornings activities, the very knowledgeable Nicki Taws. Nicki explained to the group that we would be looking at the different species of birds that can be observed in remnant vegetation and revegetation areas - the host’s property had two excellent examples of such areas, and that these had been surveyed previously. This would demonstrate the wide diversity of bird life that can be found in revegetation sites and retained remnants.

At the 1ha remnant Snow Gum Woodland, Nicki remarked that we could have spent the entire morning at this site such was the abundance of birds. The group were treated to the sights and sounds of 20 species of birds with a further 10 species (including 2 introduced species) heard calling from outside the remnant. The diversity of species using such a small area was remarkable with highlights including the observation of the White-winged Triller, a species which hadn’t been seen on the property before, a pair of Diamond Firetails (listed as vulnerable in NSW), the Pallid Cuckoos calling loudly and playfully chasing each other. The remnant demonstrated excellent structural variety with large hollow bearing trees, very good native ground cover and understorey vegetation along with 2 flowing streams. This variety of established habitat for birds was the reason for such a extensivel list of species observed (see below).

The group then visited a revegetation area on the property. As this site was not as well established as the remnant vegetation the difference in habitat was readily apparent. The key differences were the lack of hollow bearing trees, less developed understorey and ground cover and the more even age of the canopy species. Despite this the site provided plenty of excitement for the group with three Diamond Firetails observed flittering about showing off their beautiful markings, building a nest in a tree top along the fence line. The very active Yellow-Rumped Thornbills were busily bouncing around the leaf litter and hovering around the shrub layer as they foraged for invertebrates to feed their young and provided the group with much entertainment. Nicki explained to the group that while the revegetation site lacked the hollows to support some species the structure of the community offered habitat that would still support a range of bird life. Amongst the delightful songs of the 11 species of birds in the revegetation sites, the sound of grandchildren playing could be heard, a reminder that through the revegetation work carried out many years ago the next generation are now able to play amongst a diverse population of birds rather than a bare paddock. It is not just the environment that benefits from these projects.

A big thank you to Nicki Taws for her informative and engrossing presentations throughout the day and to Richard and Carla Begbie for allowing us to use their beautiful property for the morning’s activity. The property is an excellent illustration of the range of benefits of retaining remnants and undertaking revegetation to improve an area’s biodiversity.

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