A delightful birding break
2 Comments »28th September, 2007; Category: Trip reports
2007 New South Wales trip report
Lachlan River crossing, Waroo
We stopped briefly at Condobolin for supplies; fuel for the car and food for the body – from the local bakery. (Visiting local bakeries in small towns is something of an addiction of ours; not all that healthy but oh so delicious. We compare everyone’s vanilla slices with the bakery at home; few come even close for flavour. But I digress.)
The birds along this stretch of road were very similar to the previous stretch from Lake Cargelligo to Condobolin. One new addition was several Laughing Kookaburras. We were also disappointed to see a dead Echidna on the side of the road, another road-kill victim. Driving over an Echidna is potentially dangerous for drivers, as my daughter can attest. She didn’t kill the little animal but it punctured her tyre.
About halfway along this stretch of road we looked for a suitable morning tea stop. A narrow road leading off the main road crossed a very old bridge and we found a lovely park-like spot next to the Lachlan River. Actually, because of the prolonged drought in this area the “river†is not much more than a narrow, shallow pool of murky mud.
Lachlan River crossing, Waroo, NSW
The tall gum trees all around supported a vibrant population of birds. Galahs, Cockatoos, Magpies, Ravens and Red-rumped Parrots were in abundance. I also saw three Peaceful Doves, always a lovely species to encounter. A new species for the trip list was several Brown Treecreepers.
It was a delightful break from driving.
A small accident
No Comments »27th September, 2007; Category: Trip reports
2007 New South Wales Trip report #14
The next day we were on our way bright and early – for us that is. It was another bright, sunny day with a few clouds and a cool, gentle breeze. Corinne drove for the first leg to Condobolin, seeing I’d done most of the driving yesterday.
The wheat farming district from Lake Cargelligo to Condobolin is largely open, lightly timbered with some remnant vegetation on the roadside. Despite the general sparsity of trees and bushes the birdlife is still quite interesting. Because my wife was driving I could keep a detailed list of species seen as we went along.
Apostlebirds were very numerous, small groups of four to ten were seen every kilometre or so. So were the Australian Magpies, though these were more often encountered singly or in twos and threes. Australian Ravens seem more interested in walking the roadside verges than in flying. This is also true of the many White-winged Choughs seen along this stretch of road. They also seem unafraid of traffic, barely moving out of way of oncoming vehicles.
Apostlebird
Crested Pigeons do very well in this district, indicating they have reliable seed producing plants. We also saw small flocks of Galahs and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos along the way. Two Blue Bonnet Parrots flew in front of the car at one point. Magpie Larks feed along the edges of the road too, along with Noisy Miners and Willie Wagtails.
The only raptors we saw on this leg of our journey were several Nankeen Kestrels. More than once I saw one dive from a height of five or more metres into the grass. It was hard to see what each one caught for lunch as we hurtled along the highway at 100kph. It was probably a small reptile, grasshopper or mouse.
Just a short distance from Condobolin we had a small accident. A small flock of four Galahs feeding on the edge of the road was a little slow taking off. One unfortunately hit the passenger-side corner of the windscreen. I didn’t look back, but there is no way it could have survived. The impact even took a small chip out of the glass but it did not crack the glass. If it had shattered – highly unlikely – I would have received a face full of glass, feathers and blood.
Road kills are a frequent occurrence here in Australia unfortunately. Our own record is lower than most; this was only the fourth bird I can recall either of us hitting in nearly forty years of driving.
A Splendid result
2007 New South Wales trip report #13
A little further on in the Round Hill Nature Reserve we came to another narrow track, this one leading back towards the area we had stopped for lunch. We drove through the thick scrub, disturbing a Common Bronzewing Pigeon as we went along. We heard a few parrots and another Grey Butcherbird calling.
After about a kilometre or so of driving a little more than walking pace, I asked my wife if she had seen enough of this part of the park. We agreed that there seemed to be nothing new or interesting here, so I found a spot to turn around. It turned out that I saw our tyres tracks from where we had turned around about an hour earlier. We had come full circle! Now we know that track goes all the way through that part of the park.
Just before reaching the main road again we found a likely place to stop for afternoon tea. I retrieved the folding picnic chairs from the back of the car and we sat there enjoying the bushland and birds around us. We had almost finished when we both heard a familiar sound. Wrens!
I grabbed the camera and headed off in the direction of the call. I spent the next half hour dancing around a small patch of bushes trying to get a good view of the wrens. One of the problems was to get between the birds and the afternoon sun. I wanted the sun at my back for the best chance of a good photo. Within a few minutes, I knew I had a male and several female Splendid Wrens in the bushes near me.
Splendid Wren (male)
Eventually, the colourful male showed himself in the sunlight long enough for me to get off a few shots. They aren’t brilliant, but at least I have finally captured this elusive but stunningly beautiful bird.
Splendid Wren (male)
It was a fitting end to a wonderful day of birding. I had added 28 species to my trip list, which now stands at 82.
On the journey back to our cabin we saw our first kangaroos for the trip. Previously we had seen many dead roos on the side of the road; these were alive.
Update: this article was updated on May 30th 2019.
Birding in Nombinnie Nature Reserve
No Comments »25th September, 2007; Category: Trip reports
2007 New South Wales Trip report #12
As we were starting to head back towards
I stopped, trained the binoculars on the bird thinking it was a Grey Shrike-thrush. Wrong. It turned out to be a Black-eared Cuckoo, the third cuckoo I’d see in about ten minutes. Even better was the fact that I had only seen this species on a handful of occasions, the last time nearly ten years ago.
The bird flew before I could get the camera ready.
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.