Birdlife at Blue Range Creek

Our last Delatite Landcare Group - Up2Us Bird watching/listening/identifying event for 2025 was held near Blue Range Creek picnic area and provided a great observing experience for our group. An early highlight was a sighting of a Dollar bird, a relatively rare seasonal visitor to the district.  This was followed up by a pair of Gang Gang cockatoos feeding young high-up in their tree-hollow nest, and even more engagingly by their mutual preening nearby (see pic, male with red crest, “more please..”).

Another new experience for most of us followed when a Flycatcher was first heard then located at its nest that was firmly anchored into a high tree-branch fork.  The nest itself is an engineering marvel held together with spider web and the surface covered in “tiles” of broken dry gum leaves matching the appearance of the host tree’s bark. Clever bird! As we were watching, the male and female swapped sitting duty – what a privilege for us.

Overall, we identified 27 different bird species, a great day and great learning experience.  Keep a look-out for information on some possible new events in 2026.

By John Gras, Delatite Landcare Group