Welcome to eNews December 2017

We have just finished planning and publishing our

Outings Schedule for 2018.

You can download and print the file from here.

Karoonda Park Camp Nov.2017

A very successful camp was held from 6 -10 November. The base was Karoonda Park in and three full day trips were made to Willis, Native Dog Flat and McKillops Bridge.

A short article can be found on our Latest News page by clicking here and once you are on that webpage, you can click to the Activities page for the full Report on the Camp.The Report is a pdf file which you can download and print.

Photo left: Diamond Firetail at Suggan Buggan. Jack Winterbottom

Kookaburra eating a seahorse.

Is this a first? Photo from , Robert Wright

Bird Life on Fraser Island, 1916

Article provided by Helen Martin

Extract from The Field Naturalist – Journal of the Field Naturalists’ Club of , Vol. XXIII, 1916-17, p.18

This report can be seen here:

My new favourite little bird – Ken Russell

The Cisticlolas (apparently pronounced similar to testicular) are great little birds. I first came across them while in NT a few years ago and a fellow birder sent me a photo of a small bird they had seen in Kakadu. We finally settled on Zitting Cisticola.

My wife and I were going to Kakadu so I thought I would have a look while there and I did find some in Jabiru, at the dam in town, mixed in with finches and wrens.

Fast forward to last year while on a BirdLife EG outing to Macleod Morass, one of the members reported a Golden-headed Cisticola. I also heard and saw my first Little Grassbirds and did get some photos which were not good. So I decided to return to the Morass in a couple of days for hopefully better shots.

I got there on daylight and found the Little Grassbirds and had worn long gumboots this time to get a little closer. While snapping the grassbirds I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and looking very intently at me was a Golden-headed Cisticola around 4 to 6 meters away.

I swung the camera around and took the customary 500 photos (slightly exaggerated) It was a male and the perfect model, showing absolutely no fear of me and the light was excellent. I followed him around for the next ten minutes but could not get him in the right light again. I came back to the Morass in another couple of days and was walking where I had been previously and lo and behold the Cisticola appeared. He came very close, so close I could not focus the camera on him and had to back away.

Again another large number of photos! (Theory is, if you take enough photos there will sometimes be a standout). I thought about him later and decided that he did not really like me as I would have liked to think, but maybe was nesting there and warning or distracting me to protect his young. Anyway whatever his intent he endeared himself to me and is in my opinion, a standout little bird.

Golden-headed Cisticola. Photo Ken Russell

Raymond Island News

Ron reports that a pair of Tawny Frogmouth successfully used the nest that they used last year, and he also discovered that an Island Kookaburra nest, that he thought had been abandoned, actually had young.

Join Ron here for his report and photos of these two breeding events.

Annual General Meeting & Ordinary General Meeting

These meetings will be held on

19 February 2018 DELWP Offices Main St 9.00 am - 12 noon

The AGM will begin at 9.00 and will include Election of Office Bearers for 2018 and Reports from Office Bearers for 2017.

The OGM will follow and will include Items of Business as submitted for the Agenda.

Please submit items to Pam Hutchison [email protected] by 12 February 2018

Your eNews is published by:

Pam Hutchison | Secretary/Editor

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