On the 8th of June, John Brickhill and Isobel Crawford led a large group of field naturalists to Jarramlee Pond, just above Ginninderra Creek, in the suburb of Dunlop. It was the morning of a long-weekend public holiday Monday, and the weather was not wintery at all. It was warm and sunny and calm.
No sooner had we started, than we came across some interesting fungi. The mild temperatures after a wet finish to autumn were providing good conditions for fungus.
However, it was the birds that stole the show. There were Eastern Cattle Egrets in the grassland, Australasian Swamphens, Dusky Moorhens and Hardheads on the water, along with a Little Pied Cormorant and a Spoonbill at the pond, and in the shrub plantings upstream were many small birds, such as Eastern Spinebills and Grey Fantails, but a highlight was a large flock of Red-browed Finches that included a few Double-barred Finches. An unusual sighting for that time of year was a pair of Crested Pigeons at a nest in a nearby deciduous tree. It was presumed they were opportunistic breeders that had been triggered by favourable weather.
Young Daniel’s eagle eyes discovered some mystery items that appeared to be snail plugs.
Not forgetting the geology, Rupert pointed out some very interesting rocks. Unlike the high-silica igneous rocks often found in the ACT, these were more mafic. They looked to be in situ rocks, but we couldn’t be certain.
After looping back to the far side of Jarramlee Pond, we had morning tea at a picnic table near the shore.
We also learnt a bit about the adjacent Jarramlee-West MacGregor Grasslands Nature Reserve from David. It had been set aside as an off-set area for urban developments at West MacGregor and Ginninderry, but faces a carve-out from an extension to Ginninderra Drive that will require another off-set.
It was a very enjoyable morning. Thanks so much John and Isobel!
– John Stein
