Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Thirlmere Lakes

It's still relatively chilly down here in Sydney so we've been kept out of the sea in recent times but I have managed to get back out into the bush on the last couple of weekends.

Brown Quail (pic. J. Amoore)

Jarrod just bought himself a flash new camera so we headed out to the west of Sydney to give it a test run. There wasn't much action with the cold keeping the reptiles away and it was also pretty dead on the bird front but we did pick up a Glossy Ibis and a Crested Shrike-tit which aren't seen all the time around here, and we also bumped into a nice family group of Brown Quail. It also didn't help that my window stuck open at the motorway toll-booth on the way out which meant things were a tad cold for the rest of the day!

Thirlmere Lakes NP

I managed to get a replacement window mechanism installed mid-week and last weekend I went down to the southern highlands to stay with Palli and Fleur. I did a spot of birding at Thirlmere Lakes NP on the way down which turns out to be a lovely spot. The woods were packed with birds and I managed to stumble across a flock of six Gang-Gang Cockatoos and I can't remember seeing one of them since Easter 2003. Great stuff.

Palli and Fleur

Gang-Gang Cockatoo