This was my first visit to Campbell Park Woodland. I had heard about this site for a while and I knew it would be quiet as far as the office buildings were concerned. Because this site backs onto office blocks used by the Australian Department of Defence there is a lot of parking at the site as well as intimidating signs warning visitors of trespassing. On. my walk to where the woodland began behind a fence I was worried I may have been misled about the site as there did not appear to be much birdlife. I decided to head towards a small dam I could see on my Google Maps app because all animals need water. That was when the morning lived up to its deserved reputation. Just around this small dam I saw a treecreeper, a woodswallow as well as Dollarbirds. I was told by somebody I met at the dam that there was another dam further on that is also good. Unfortunately, I ran out of time so could not get to the second dam. That will be for another day, and I will use the Canberra Ornithologists Group Campbell Park Woodland map as a guide. I hope you enjoy the photos below.
As I was approaching the dam, a blur of brown caught my attention when a Female White-throated Treecreeper (Cormobates-leucophaea) flew to a tree I was walking past. I have seen a male before but not a female. The female is denoted by the orange spot on her cheek. She was looking for food and in a different shot she catches an ant, the usual prey. I suspect she was eating for herself as the ant was gone in a later photo but she was still circling up the tree.
The female of the White-throated Treecreeper is identified by the orange spots on its cheeks
There was a single Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus) initially perched in a dead tree but it moved around a few trees in the area near the dam. I did not see any other woodswallows in the area, which I found interesting as these are normally flocking birds.
A lone Dusky Woodswallow with its third eyelid partially shut
I took the picture below and decided to include it because I thought it was a good, dramatic shot of a bird, in his case a male Magpie Lark (Grallina cyanoleuca).
Looking back westwards from the dam I heard a number of small birds come through the low trees. Some of them were Striated Pardalotes (Pardalotus striatus). They were moving from tree to tree, probably looking for food, especially Lerp.
An adult Striated Pardalote searching for Lerp
Seemingly in the same group. although possibly it was two groups coincidentally targeting the same tree were some Yellow-rumped Thornbills (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa), also probably looking for their morning meal.
A Yellow-rumped Thornbill during its searching through a tree
There was also a very small flock of Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in a dead tree. They were not aggressive to other birds and did not stay long.
Two Common Starlings in a dead tree
I was a bit uncertain about the identification of this bird but the wonderful at the Canberra Nature Map pointed out that it was juvenile Common Starling.
Although Galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus) are very common birds I think they are a beautiful looking bird, despite other parrots having more colourful plumage. These galahs flew in from the east straight to a number of trees around the dam where they called while preening themselves. There is something very comforting hearing galahs calling away in a tee.
The flock of Galahs
One of the Galahs
While I was speaking to another person out taking photographs I noticed a Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) fly into a nearby tee. I was a little rude to that person when I abruptly finished our conversation with a single word, ”Dollarbird.” I did wish him a successful morning as I turned to have the sun better positioned for photographing the Dollarbird. When I first noticed the bird I only saw a single Dollarbird but then a second one arrived. One of the birds flew from the tree to catch an insect in flight. It returned to the other Dollarbird on the branch, still with the insect. I thought it may be about to feed a young bird in the tree but it flew off to the south to another strand of trees. The second bird also disappeared. If there were young they were not in the tree I was at.
The Dollarbird pair, with an insect, but the nest was not obvious
Walking away from the dam a Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) alighted on a branch. Even though they are common birds I thought it was an opportunity too good to miss. I did like the stance of the bird, even if the sun was not in the best position.
A Willie Wagtail
Walking back towards the car I heard a lovely melodic call coming from a small bird, which the wonderful moderators at Canberra Nature Map pointed out was a female Rufous Whistler. My first shots were in shadow but the bird flew to a better lit position allowing me to obtain some better shots. I was amazed at the call coming from what was a small bird.
A female Rufous Whistler
The bird calling, taken from the front
There was also this beautifuly coloured Caper White butterfly (Belenois java) feeding on the introduced Wild Mustard.
A Caper White butterfly