5 December 2024

We arrived at the Botanical Gardens on an overcast day and made our way to the dam. Wrong timing as the yearly Christmas lights show was starting the next day and there was food truck/tent heaven. We found a spot on the end looking down the dam and quickly listed some of the regulars. 

Pink-backed Pelicans and Black-headed Herons were breeding in the tall trees, and Egyptian Goose were plentiful on the lawns around. A Pied Kingfisher was active over the water and covering the whole dam.

A raptor caught my eye, and it landed in a large pine tree in clear view – a Palmnut Vulture! Everyone enjoyed good views of it.

The garden workers then came to ask and told us that we had to move as they wanted to cut down some dodgy branches on the tree near us (nothing like leaving to the last minute for garden maintenance to the last minute). So, we moved through tent city to the side which ended up to be very good for bird sightings with a number of the smaller species showing up. Some people were lucky enough to see Red-headed Finch (but not all).

The lotus flowers at the end were alive with activity and Thick-billed Weavers were around as were the Village Weavers. Southern Red Bishops buzzed around being very busy.

We were remarking on all the herons being Black-headed when suddenly a Grey Heron flew in and landed in the water near us! A Malachite Kingfisher also kept us very entertained.

It ended up as a very successful outing with 47 species recorded.

Report by Jenny Norman