Counting Cormorants: Gough Whitlam Park

So there's this little patch of restored native riverine forest by a "billabong" along the Cooks River. It's just off the bike path, and close to the kids' playground at Gough Whitlam Park. There's a cafe across a wooden bridge where you can take your KeepCup and get a discount on your coffee. And there's a wooden picnic table and bench where I sit to sip my long black, and where I like to keep my eyes open for birds.

A female Leaden Flycatcher looks nothing like a male. The female has a reddish throat and breast above a white belly and beneath a blue-grey cap. The male however has a completely blue-grey upper body, and a noticeable crest. I saw my first female in this tiny bit of scrub, and had to look it up in the books. An immature male Golden Whistler looks nothing like a mature male. I first saw one here, and had to look that up as well. An immature Spangled Drongo lacks the red eyes and the iridescent spots of the mature bird. Yep, you guessed it.

It's hard to describe just how small the patch I'm talking about really is. Not much bigger than your backyard probably. Though it's close to a long stretch of restored river bank vegetation and to mangroves, I'm still amazed at all the birds I've seen here while I'm sitting relaxing with coffee. It gives me just that little boost of confidence that, if we restore more of the Cooks River environment, biodiversity will increase. And, of course, if that happens, there'll be different birds for me to look up in my old bird books.