Beautiful birds during a cold lunch

Crimson Rosella

Sydney Trip Report June 2011

The first day of our trip home was freezing cold. We had altered our route home to avoid the snow closed roads around Bathurst and followed the same route home we’d used on our way over. The sky gradually changed from bright sunshine in Sydney heavy cloud by lunch time. We had a picnic lunch with us and pulled into the Thomas Derrick VC Rest Area, hoping to get a few minutes of sunshine while sitting at one of the picnic tables there. We ended up eating lunch in the car because the wind was still freezing, and it was threatening to rain at any moment.

This rest area, like others in the region, commemorates the brave deeds of some of our soldiers. The “VC” after his name indicates that he was awarded Australia’s highest order for bravery in battle, a Victoria Cross. He was decorated because of his actions against the Japanese in New Guinea and you can read more about his interesting life here.

Thomas Derrick VC Rest Area, NSW

While eating lunch I was able to list a few birds out and about, an once I’d finished I braved the very cold conditions to get a few photos.  The most interesting species present was a flock of about 20 Crimson Rosellas. I tried to photograph a family of White-winged Choughs, but they flew off before I could close enough. There were also many Noisy Miners in the picnic ground, but seeing I have plenty of photos of them I didn’t bother chasing them up. Truth be known, it was too cold to spend too much time out of the warmth of the car!

Crimson Rosella

Crimson Rosella