Eight members of our bird watching group made an enjoyable visit to Killawarra Forest at the northern end of the Warby Ranges on 12 September. Instead of our usual morning outing, this time we each brought lunch to make the most of a lovely place for spring bird watching. As we approached the forest, a magnificent Wedge-tailed Eagle flew up from the roadside, carrying a small rabbit. It flew across the road in front of us, then dropped its prey as it was pursued by a magpie.
 
Our best sighting in the forest was a pair of Hooded Robins flying around Irishtown Track. This is a declining woodland bird that is disappearing from places it has been found in the past. We had good looks at a Pallid Cuckoo calling from high in a dead tree, and were surprised to see a pelican flying over the forest. Some of the other birds we saw included Jacky Winter, Grey Fantail, Rufous Whistler, Dusky Woodswallow and a flock of 18 White-winged Choughs. There were also good numbers of honeyeaters and thornbills which are always a challenge to observe. We also saw a few Leopard Orchids, Pink Fingers and Blue Fingers while walking at the old oval. At one point we were looking for babblers, and someone (was it Bev?) described us as a group of Grey-crowned Babblers. Much laughter.

​Report of visit by Goulburn Valley U3A Bird-watching group to Reef Hills State Park on Wednesday 21 August 2019.

Six members of our Benalla Bird-watching group joined the visitors from the GV U3A, on a visit to Reef Hills. We spent a mild, sunny morning in the south west corner of the park. There was a lot of bird activity here, as a number of White Box trees were flowering, attracting a number of honeyeaters and lorikeets. As we walked along the track we came across a number of smaller bush birds, such as wrens, thornbills, treecreepers and sittellas. Most people headed off about lunch time, but some of us also visited a drier part of the park in Wattle Road, finding a few more birds in that area. It was good to have a chance to chat with another group like ours. Perhaps we can arrange another joint activity sometime in the future.

Here is the link to the bird list for the day, compiled by GV group leader Don Roberts. 31 bird species were recorded.       https://ebird.org/australia/view/checklist/S59168734
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Kathy Costello

​On Thursday 12 September 2019, we will visit Killawarra Forest, a box ironbark forest in the northern section of the Warby-Ovens National Park.

Please meet at 9.30am in the car park behind the Seniors building. Killawarra is a great place to visit in springtime, with lots of bird activity and a lovely display of wattles and other native shrubs. For this reason, we will stay and have lunch in the forest, so bring your lunch and a folding chair if you have one.

​Kathy Costello