My first visit to Round Hill Nature Reserve

2007 New South Wales Trip Report #11

Round Hill Nature Reserve

On returning to the Tourist Information Centre well after the scheduled opening time, we found it still closed. So we headed down the street to the Shire Council Office. The workers there were most helpful and provided maps and information about birding in the district.

We headed off north to the small, sleepy township of Euabalong and then west towards its twin hamlet of Euabalong West. Just before reaching it we stopped down by a creek for morning tea and to investigate what birds and plants were present. I saw nothing out of the ordinary but did manage to add Yellow Thornbill to the rapidly growing list for the trip.

Round Hill Nature Reserve, central NSW

A short drive on further west brought us to the Round Hill Nature Reserve. I had wanted to visit here for a long time, ever since reading about it from other birders on Birding-Aus. Along the way we stopped to take some photos of flowering plants on the side of the road. I managed to get several great shots of a very cooperative male Red-capped Robin.

Red-capped Robin (male)

We drove to the lookout near the top of Round Hill. Actually, there is no official lookout. The road goes over the ridge near the top of the hill and the view is great. We then backtracked a few hundred metres to a dirt track leading off the main road. We drove along this track for a few hundred metres before finding a suitable spot for our picnic lunch.

During lunch, I observed several more Red-capped Robins, Southern Whiteface, Willie Wagtail and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters. Striped Honeyeaters were calling everywhere but I only managed to see one of them. Crested Pigeons fed on the ground nearby and Striated Pardalotes in the trees above. A male Mistletoebird also posed long enough for me to focus my binoculars on him, but not my camera.

As we drove off a Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo was calling nearby. Immediately a Pallid Cuckoo joined in. We drove about a hundred metres until my wife pointed out a bird sitting on a branch of a dead, fallen tree. I was delighted to get a good photo of the Pallid Cuckoo.

Pallid Cuckoo, Round Hill Nature Reserve

We drove on for a few minutes before turning around and heading out to the main road again. I suspected that the track we had been following might go all the way through to another main road, but the map I had did not show the track so I could not be sure.

Update: this article was updated on May 30th, 2019.