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| Camel Back Trail in 2011 |
Superb
Lyrebird Survey at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve
Saturday 18 June 2011
The eighth annual survey of
the Superb Lyrebird, designed to provide an index of population numbers since
the 2003 bushfires, was run under cool and unfortunately very windy conditions.
The Reserve had been closed to
the public the day before due to high winds but, despite the survey starting
off under ideal conditions, the wind soon got up with gusts up to 60 km per
hour recorded.
The eight COG members were
joined this year by 23 members of Conservation Volunteer Australia (CVA) who
volunteer their services in the Reserve. We were all assembled at the car park
by 8.00 am and after breaking up into teams soon started to survey the five
main walking trails. For the first time the number of participants allowed us
to form a sixth team and we were able to survey the redesigned
Lyrebird/Cascades Trail.
Taking a minimum count and not
including the Lyrebird/ Cascades trail, 13 individual lyrebirds were recorded
within the Reserve compared with 6, 14, 12, 12, 19, 19-20 and 20 in previous
years (Gibraltar Rocks-2, Devil’s Gap-
0, Fishing Gap-2, Ashbrook-3,
Camel Back-6 and Lyrebird/Cascades-2).
During the survey 33 species
were recorded, similar to previous years, with the number seen depending very
much on the trail walked, with Gibraltar Rocks-26, Devil’s Gap-17, Fishing
Gap-11, Ashbrook-13, Camel Back-8 and Lyrebird/Cascades-6, indicating that the
wetter, eastern facing slopes appeared to be the most affected by the wind.
Although no species were reported on all trails the most frequently recorded
were the Superb Lyrebird, Brown Thornbill, Superb Fairy-wren and White-throated
Treecreeper. Unusual sightings, all along the Gibraltar Rocks trail, were New
Holland Honeyeater, Crescent Honeyeater, Yellow- tufted Honeyeater and three
Hooded Robins. Although the Scarlet Robin was reported, there were no sightings
of Flame Robin or Satin Bowerbird. No raptors were recorded during the survey
although a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagle was seen near the Visitors Centre.
At 1.00 pm the party assembled
in the lecture room at the ‘Depot’ for a presentation by Peter Fullagar and
Chris Davey on the recovery of lyrebirds at Tidbinbilla after the 2003
bushfires.
Many thanks to the
participants, to the authorities for waiving the entry fees, and to David
McDonald, who with his computer came to the rescue of the presentation.
