More from James Kennerley’s visit

James Kennerley from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology helped with a range of surveys in addition to his cuckoo research at the block in November 2025. James and committee ecologist Sam Lostrom took a few walks, finding a spotted nightjar and chick during a night walk and a children’s python while exploring the granite! They also completed the full set of avifauna census points to add to baseline monitoring data, measured seedlings and opened mist nets to continue avifauna population monitoring.

Seedlings had grown substantially since the last monitoring! Most of the 14 monitored seedlings planted in 2023 were in excellent condition and had grown over a third taller since April 2025. The 24 seedlings planted in 2024 increased in height aside from three, most by over a third while some had more than doubled! Only one seedling showed evidence of damage, so it seems they are escaping grazing pressure from animals like rabbits and kangaroos.

Bird banding yielded fewer results given it occurred in a dryer less productive time of the year. However it was still nice to catch species such as the grey shrike-thrush and white-browed babbler.