A very pleasant sunny day driving and birding in the forests north of Heathcote, Vic.
Starting around Dargile Arboretum, in Lang Track – a Diamond Firetail, several Fantail Cuckoos and a good if brief view of a Horsfield Bronze-cuckoo, a flock of Silvereyes in a Cootamundra Wattle, White-browed Babblers, and a White-naped Honeyeater feeding his mate – presumably courtship. Calls heard from an invisible Flycatcher, probably Leaden, which never appeared.
Further north near intersection of Lang Track and Shippy Track – a pair of Scarlet Robins, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, and a Yellow-tufted Honeyeater.
At Holt’s Flat we were delighted to find and photograph a male Red-capped Robin – the female appeared first but did not stay for a photo. Then we found another pair at the intersection of Welcome Track and Wynott’s Dam Track.
White-winged Choughs were everywhere. The forests are a beautiful sight at present with flowering wattles (Golden, Spreading and Ausfeld’s) and we found a large patch of Rosy Baeckea in flower, with some heath species, along Pavey Rd near Dim Sim Track, plus a group of flowering Leopard Orchids in a previously burnt patch.
If you don’t know the area, try map 45 of the RACV Vicroads Country Street Directory. Roads are generally good gravel but we chickened out of Lang Track where a concrete floodway looked too muddy for 2WD.
Anthea and Brian Fleming
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