Conimbla National Park, NSW

2007 New South Wales trip report #17

We headed through the town of Grenfell without stopping. The countryside approaching Cowra, a much larger centre, showed evidence of much better rainfall over recent months, to my untrained eye of course. The bright green wheat crops contrasted with the brilliant yellow of the canola in full flower with the blue mountain ranges all around. After so much dead flat country to the west of the state it was a pleasure to have a few hills to traverse.

Close to Cowra we came to the sign pointing the way to the Conimbla National Park. This we accessed some 15 kilometres along a narrow but well paved road – until we reached the park where it became a rough gravel road. No problem for our 4WD.

I had no prior knowledge of this park and its facilities, so we were driving into the unknown. After about another ten kilometres of a mixed pine and eucalypt forest we came to a small clearing where we were able to turn around and park safely. It was a very quiet part of the park and the bird life not too promising. A few more Brown Treecreepers, Striated Pardalotes, White-plumed Honeyeaters and one Grey Shrike-thrush were the main attractions while we had afternoon tea.

Grey Shrike-Thrush

On our journey back out again we saw a single kangaroo. I’m not sure which species of roo – I’d left my mammal identification book at home. We were soon in Cowra and settling into our cabin for the night.

Cowra Caravan Park, New South Wales

While we’d had some highlights during the day, it was largely a transit day putting us a few hundred kilometres closer to our first main destination, Sydney. Over the course of the day’s birding I’d added another 15 species to the Trip List. It now stands at 97. With a goal of 150 for the 23 day trip, I am increasingly confident of reaching my goal.