Search Results for 'wood duck'

Murrumbidgee River, Hay, NSW

December 2008 New South Wales Trip Report #2

After the disappointing lack of birds as we drove over to Hay from home in Murray Bridge I was less than keen to do any birding around the outback town of Hay. After tea we left our caravan park cabin and went for a walk along the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. This walk was partly to get exercise and partly to get out of the very hot cabin.

I didn’t take my binoculars or my camera.

Big mistake.

Rule #1: Always take your camera – just in case.

In the cool of the evening the birds emerged in numbers. We saw dozens of Galahs feeding on the ground. Several babies sat in the gum trees overhead giving their very annoying and persistent begging calls. A small flock of about six Red Rumped Parrots flew overhead. Crested Pigeons strutted along the track in front of us and a Laughing Kookaburra watched us from his perch on a dead branch.

Blue-faced Honeyeater

One of the highlights was seeing and hearing several Blue-faced Honeyeaters, always a good bird to see. Another highlight was the sighting of one Noisy Friarbird, another species of honeyeater and one I have rarely seen over the years. It had been over eight years since my last views of this species. I could have taken several good photos of the Black-backed Magpies also feeding on the ground. Two White Ibis flew overhead and two Yellow Rosellas flew from a nearby tree and across the river. Overhead several dozen Dusky Woodswallows drifted northwards on the breeze.

Murrumbidgee River, Hay, NSW

As we were returning to the cabin we passed a flock of about forty Australian Wood Ducks feeding on the front lawn of a local resident who obviously throws them pieces of bread at regular intervals. Earlier we had seen two adults leading three ducklings across the river.

Yesterday we took a non-birding trip to Loxton, about a two hour journey from home. This is the town where I grew up and I still have quite a few relatives living there. The occasion was to celebrate my sister-in-law’s 70th birthday. We see each other so infrequently these days that we make a special effort to attend these family get togethers. An added bonus was seeing my niece and her daughter who came all the way from Perth, Western Australia, for the event. I see them only every two years or so.

The road to Loxton traverses mainly wheat and sheep farming country in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. Although the winter was drier than usual the country is not looking as poor as some parts of Australia suffering prolonged drought. I had a long talk to my wheat farmer nephew who was quite pleased with the yield this last season despite the poor rainfall.

We didn’t stop anywhere along the route to specifically watch birds, though we did have brief rest for a cuppa on the way. I didn’t make an extensive list as we drove along but merely noted some of the common species seen. Australian Magpies, both Black-backed and White-backed, were by far the most common bird seen. The roadside verges are also a favourite haunt of the numerous White-winged Choughs we saw.

I observed numerous Little Ravens feeding in the paddocks as we drove along, and on the return journey I am sure I saw an Australian Raven. I couldn’t be absolutely certain but it seemed much larger than the Little Ravens we have here in Murray Bridge. Small flocks of Galahs were also seen, either flying overhead or feeding on the grass in the fields. The occasional Common Bronzewing Pigeon was seen sitting on the side of the road.

Common Bronzewing Pigeon

Probably the highlight of the trip up to Loxton was seeing three Wedge-tailed Eagles soaring low over the road. This species is more often seen gliding many hundreds of metres above the ground; seeing them only a few metres above the treetops is always a delight. Another highlight was a brief glimpse of three Blue Bonnet Parrots flying across the road and scattering into the bushes on the other side of the road.

Another very common species along this route is the Crested Pigeon. It some places they outnumbered the magpies. On many occasions I saw ten to fifteen sitting in a loose flock on fencing wires or on power lines. As we commenced our journey home we saw a flock of ten sitting on the road just a few metres from the main street. They reluctantly few off as our car approached.

On our arrival in Loxton we were about a half hour early for the family lunch at one of the local clubs, so we detoured via the river front. There is a track running along the banks of the River Murray and this is a popular spot for people fishing, swimming, canoeing, skiing and having picnics. The bird life was relatively quiet but I did see plenty of Noisy Miners and Australian Wood Ducks. I heard a Laughing Kookaburra and a Superb Blue Wren. Several small flocks of Red-rumped Parrots were seen flying and I think I heard several Yellow Rosellas. I saw a few Magpie Larks and two Australian Pelicans were swimming on the water.

We had a great time with family and seeing all these birds was a bonus.

Further reading:

• Birding on a trip to Loxton – another article I wrote about this topic.
• Birding in Loxton, South Australia
• Yellow Rosellas
  

2007 Australian Capital Territory trip report # 15

On our final morning in Canberra, we packed the car and left earlier than we normally do. We had a long day of travelling ahead of us. I had planned for us to travel due south from Canberra, through Cooma, Cann River, Orbost, Bairnsdale, Sale and Traralgon heading towards Melbourne.

We like stopping frequently along the way to look for birds and native wildflowers. Unfortunately we were not able to do this today because we needed to get as close to Melbourne as possible. This was because we needed extra time on the following day for the activities I’d planned for that day. More about that in a future post. In all we covered 560 kilometres which is quite enough for one day.

We left Canberra in fine but cloudy conditions. As we motored south the weather deteriorated rapidly. Heavy clouds threatened poor conditions ahead. Snow was forecast for the highlands and the biting wind indicated that this was indeed happening.

The road south was unexciting from a bird watching point of view. Australian Magpies were seen frequently in the farming country we were passing through. Less common were the Australian Ravens and Galahs. We saw the occasional small flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos feeding in the paddocks. Wherever there was a dam or creek we would see the occasional small flock of Australian Wood Ducks.

Australian Wood Duck (male)

We made a short stop at the small village of Nimitabel for a cuppa and morning tea. We stopped at the picnic ground by an artificial lake on the southern edge of town. We set up at a picnic table but soon retired back into the car. The wind – sorry, gale – was bitterly cold. Highlight of this delightful but cold spot was a pair of Blue-billed Ducks.

As we drove further south I was able to add Dusky Woodswallow to the trip list and I saw a Richard’s Pipit for only the second time during this holiday. We continued to travel through Cooma and on south towards the south coast. At one point we crossed the Great Dividing Range at 1100 metres. No wonder it was cold. Fortunately we only had a few showers along the way so driving was easy.

Dusky Woodswallow