The Kawana Forest Walking Trail is a short easy walk in Meridan
Plains that borders the suburb known as Kawana Forest. It starts opposite
Tulipwood Court, loops into remnant paperbark and eucalypt forest and comes out
again at Lillypilly Court. We extended the walk by taking the pathway east to
Kawana Wetlands. Before we even entered the walk we saw Pale-headed Rosellas and Brown Cuckoo-Doves feeding on the forest edge.
 |
| Pale-headed Rosella |
 |
| Brown Cuckoo-Dove |
It was a good morning for butterfly sightings.
 |
| Monarch Danaus plexippus |
 |
| Brown Ringlet Hypocysta metirius |
 |
| Regent Skipper Euschemon rafflesia |
The forest is a habitat for endangered microbats and nesting
boxes have been provided for their use. I think it would be a great walk to do
at night; be on the lookout for microbats and sugar gliders. Groves of
Piccabeen Palm and Cabbage Palm can be seen on the walk. In
the forest we saw Golden Whistlers, Olive-backed Orioles and Grey
Shrike-thrush.
 |
| Piccabeen Palms |
 |
| Cabbage Palm |
We came back out of the forest and walked along the path to
the wetlands area. Scarlet Honeyeaters were feeding on flowering native plants.
 |
| Scarlet Honeyeater, male |
 |
| Scarlet Honeyeater, female |
In the wetlands area we saw Great Egret, Royal Spoonbills and Purple Swamphens.
 |
| Royal Spoonbill and Great Egret |
 |
| Royal Spoobills |
Wow, never realised how a Great Egret dwarfs a Spoonbill, which itself is a rather hefty bird!
ReplyDeleteThat Regent Skipper is gorgeous - I've never seen one before.
I would love to get to know microbats better or survey them but you really need to be able to mistnet or record and analyse their calls for definite ID and I hate guessing!
Sometimes if I don't have photographic proof I don't feel I can claim I saw something, which is just silly really.
ReplyDelete