Special Visitors to Glenfern...

Local twitchers are very excited over recent sightings of two special visitors, the Fan-tailed Cuckoo and especially the Olive-backed Oriole. This species is not listed on our bird list, which means it hasn’t been sighted at Glenfern since records have been kept from 2001.

To the trained ear, its call gives it away … orri oriole. To the un-trained ear, you may think it is a Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike.

The Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a regular seasonal visitor and no doubt takes advantage of our local birds that build and raise their young in dome shaped nets, such as the White-browed Scrub Wren and Superb Wren. Cuckoos are renown for laying their eggs in other species nests and where the hosts do all the parenting.

These cuckoos were often seen in the area above Echidna Track, pouncing from over hanging branches onto caterpillars that were amongst the long native grass.

We are not 100% sure, but these caterpillars may be the larvae of the Common Brown Butterfly.

Turn up the volume, to enjoy the oriole.
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Words & Video by Mike Sverns

Nest boxes for sugar gliders and kookaburras installed in Glenfern.
At the end of September the Glenfern nest box team installed two kookaburra and six sugar glider boxes. We also reinstalled one parrot boxes that had housed a feral bee colony. We now have 20 boxes installed throughout the reserve. Glenfern has already supplied data and photos to the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (DELWP) regarding feral bee occupation of nest boxes. Many thanks to our great team, particularly Rob, Doug and Lincoln for the tree work.

​Glenfern's resident birder, Mike Sverns, shares with us his recent experience with some special visitors to the reserve, via prose and video...

"It was so exciting to have these small and pretty grey cockatoos resort to our reserve, to feed, drink and roost back in March to April. This is a great reward and a testament to everyone, who have committed so much effort to the reserve over many years.

It became apparent over so many hours of observation, how important the riparian vegetation along Ferny Creek, including the tall mature eucalyptus species were to the Gang-gang Cockatoos.

Many small flocks would form into large ones routinely, flying from different directions, late afternoon after a big day feasting on the introduced Hawthorn Bush. Their favoured seed from the red berry was plentiful in bushes several kilometres away at the southern end of Lysterfield valley.

It must have been a good breeding season too, as most adult pairs had in tow, either a single or two young. The two young would vary from twins of the same sex, or one of each.

This obviously kept both adults busy, disgorging their full crop of seed to top up their young after a well deserved drink from our creek. They then would fly to the high tops of the manna, swamp and messmate that was fruiting at the time, before they would roost and retire, after an affectionate preening and bonding session."

​Well what a surprise! On Wednesday morning our hardy volunteers were hard at work on pitto regrowth when they discovered a painted button quail, well camouflaged in the undergrowth. A new find for Glenfern. Great photos by Anne Comer.

Birds love Glenfern. The older trees along Ferny Creek have many natural hollows that are great nest sites. A family of Kookaburras have a nesting hollow next to Ferny Creek - about opposite Forest Park Reserve. The family is busy today feeding young. The adults come and go every 5 to 15 minutes.

Photos by David Moncrieff

​The New Road car park end of the Reserve received a great tidy up by the Glenfern team this morning. Whipper-snippering, weeding, picking up rubbish and removing bags and stakes makes the area look more friendly and loved. We thought of our friends and long-standing members, Gill and Paul Derezycky who always helped keep this end neat. 
The Ist Upwey Scouts will be assisting us with mulching and planting here at the next working bee. Thanks everyone.

Photos by Linda Fullagar

Photos by Jennifer Scott