Cooby Dam (Groomsville End)

The western end of Cooby Dam, around Groomsville, is one of the birding hotspots in the Toowoomba area, and made for an enjoyable second visit by the Darling Downs Birdlife group.

Although sunny it was windy which definitely accounts for the lower amount of sightings this time around, compared to our first visit here in November last year.

The same sites were surveyed, but troubling internet connections meant everything had to be recorded by hand and not straight into the birdata app.

All up 19 species were sighted – 16 species across our three survey sites and three incidental sightings outside of the survey areas. The three survey sites and results can be viewed here in birdata. The 19 sighted in total are:

Australasian Darter	Anhinga novaehollandiae
Australasian Grebe	Tachybaptus novaehollandiae
Australian Pelican	Pelecanus conspicillatus
Eurasian Coot	Fulica atra
Grey Fantail	Rhipidura fuliginosa
Little Pied Cormorant	Microcarbo melanoleucos
Noisy Friarbird	Philemon corniculatus
Pacific Black Duck	Anas superciliosa
Pied Currawong	Strepera graculina
Rainbow Lorikeet	Trichoglossus moluccanus
Rose Robin	Petroica rosea
Rufous Whistler	Pachycephala rufiventris
Scarlet Honeyeater	Myzomela sanguinolenta
Silvereye	Zosterops lateralis
Superb Fairy-wren	Malurus cyaneus
White-browed Scrubwren	Sericornis frontalis
White-faced Heron	Egretta novaehollandiae
White-throated Honeyeater	Melithreptus albogularis
Yellow Thornbill	Acanthiza nana

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the soaring Australasian darters, and a flock of Little pied cormorants.

Despite the windy conditions it was still a very enjoyable morning.

The mix of birds at this site makes it very interesting to visit, with many woodland birds there as well as waterbirds.

As a side note there was virtually no signs of turtle nesting at the final site, compared to dozens and dozens of the nests and discarded leathery shells the first time we visited. We’re hoping this is just due to the time of year.