31/4/2025 235km
Up early, so with the car mostly packed we were away a bit after 8.00 and came to a stand still not far up the road as the night works on the main road was still happening so it took us 1/2hr to get past the roadworks, it was then the trudge with the peak hour traffic into Geelong where we topped up the fuel tanks at the usual APCO in South Geelong and headed out along the Bacchus Marsh Rd in cold windy showery conditions, not ideal for birding. So when we stopped at Gorman Rd Bullengarook I wasn’t surprised to hear silence, but I found a small feeding group that had both Yellow and Striated Thornbills in it which brightened up my morning. We did a lot of mapping for Hema today, finding dirt roads to get from one survey point to another. Our run with locked gates surfaced a few times though. The next stop was Waterloo Flat Rd Bullengarook where I added White-throated Treecreeper, still haven’t managed a photo of one yet. We had lunch at Birranes Rd Ashburne where I got Spotted Pardalote. Potts Rd Hecket was the second best survey with 10sp including Golden Whistler. Bolgeds Rd Newsham had Yellow-faced Honeyeater, which is the common one in these forests. Cobaw SF Alconds Tk was the best site on the edge of the forest with farmland along the western side, birds seem to love this kind of habitat, so I got 12sp including White-winged Choughs. At the north end of the forest at Cobaw SF Ridge Rd I only got White-throated Treecreeper, this site is higher than the last one and with no edge habitat, but good forest all around, it can be poor birding in the late afternoon. Darlington Rd Baynton had a country garden in one quarter of the site where most of the birds were, adding Silvereye here. At Emu Flat church the wind was howling over the ridge here and it was looking like a no birder until a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles soared right over my head chased by 5 Magpies. We then went to Dargyle Picnic Mt Ida NP to camp and hed 8sp by dark.
1/4 226km
This can be a great spot for birding, but the combination of the time of year and nothing in flower meant that I only got 14sp with no night birds. Not far up the road is Hicks Ln north of Heathcote in edge habitat where the birds were quite active still, early in the morning and I managed 17sp in the 20min. Over to Redcastle cemetery where there was a feeding group, so I got 13sp here. Myola Rd Cornella east is just lines of trees along two roads with a dam that was quite low, I got 12sp here. Lake Cooper south was mostly Coots with quite a few Black-fronted Dotterels and White-fronted Chats along the shore. Wallenjoe Swamp was bone dry with not much happening over lunch. We then scooted over to my friend’s place in Congupna and were soon heading for Loch Gary Swamp where we spent nearly an hour finding 21sp including a large flock of Tree Martins and a lone Azure Kingfisher that zoomed by us. From there we went to Barmah Lakes Camp to set up camp, and spend a pleasant evening with my friends Durham and Vicki.
2/4 103km
Whilst Durham and Vicki went for a bike ride Bev and I headed over to Denys Tk Murray River via the south boundary track that we mapped for Hema. Here I found Buff-rumped Thornbill and managed my first photo of a White-throated Treecreeper. My camera has been playing up, not wanting to focus once I sneak it into digital zoom, so I did a total reset this morning, which seems to have fixed the problem. So far the only thing I’ve changed again is taking off the beep, as it can frighten away a close bird. We went back outside the park to Murray Valley Hwy Yalca north where I found Jacky Winter and Brown Treecreeper. It was then back to Barmah Lakes camp for lunch. Later in the afternoon we pumped up our canoes and went for a paddle on the lakes.
3/4 166km
It was 10.00 when we headed off to Ogdens Rd Barna SF for the first Red-rumped Parrots for the trip. Down through Echuca and east to Murray River boat ramp for 15sp but none of them water birds. Scott Trk Kanspella SF had some Buff Rumped Thornbills. We had a tough time getting in to the site, we tried going in from the south as it showed a track going in there. There was a culvert across the track that I thumped my way through damaging a plastic over-rider on the bull bar, bad design. The track was overgrown, thankfully the fields were dry below the levee where the track was so I was able to get around the worst of it. We eventually got to my site to find that we were on the wrong side of a drain with no way across. I had originally come in from the east to the site. We got lucky though in that when we followed the drain along, it eventually led to the way out a little further east than where we entered the forest. It had taken a long while though, so I had to curtail the afternoons surveys. Tongalla Sewerage was mostly dry with one sludge pan with one White-necked Heron, and a few Black Kites circling overhead hoping I might die. Next stop was Tasker Rd Rochester which has an irrigation channel with no bird life on it, but some Long-billed Corellas in the trees. Bendigo Ck Drummartin had 13sp in the woodland. We camped at Dam on Clay Rd Kanaruka Forest and had 13sp by dark including Fucous Honeyeater. We were camped a bit close to the dam for the kangaroos, some got a drink others waited until dark to drink, but the Common Bronzewings weren’t shy and got their drink before dark.
4/4 155km
26sp was the tally for the site with Yellow-tufted Honeyeater probably the most interesting, but most birds were high in the canopy so too dificult to shoot. Just back up the track at Camp Rd Clay Trk Kamarooka Sf I got Black-chinned Honeyeater, so between the two sites I got nearly all the posible honeyeaters of the area. We headed on south to Millwood Rd Greater bendogo NP for more Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. Boiler Dam Whipstick Forest was it’s usual poor self with only a handful of birds. Maryborough Rd park bay Whipstick added Red-capped Robin. Boyds Rd Lockwood had Common Mynas on in the rural area. Shelbourne NR Uderm Trk didn’t have much birdlife, but someone had dumped some clothing recently, most of it had nothing wrong with it, so I’ll use some it and what we don’t use we’ll take to an opshop, much more responsible, and really not a hard thing to do don’t you think? Comers Rs Woodstock West had a Brown Falcon, as usual with this species we see them quite regularly by the side of the road but only occasionally manage to get them on a survey. Evans La Lower Homebush was as dry as, had 9sp but not many birds in the rural area. We then drove in to Avoca to camp on the common. The others came later and we all went to the pub for dinner, I had the chicken parma which was okay.
5/4
Today was the Unearthed Wine and Food Festival in Avoca. A good number of wineries from around the region came and gave samples of their wines. I had a taste of some and found most of them quite nice, especially the $50 a bottle ones. Bev tried a Muscato and found it quite nice, but we didn’t buy any wines. We did buy some produce like cheese and olive oil, made in the region too. In the evening we all went to the pub again and I had the Avoca hamburger, definitely one of the better ones I’ve had for $28 with good chips. We then walked out to the silo art which is of a Barking Owl which used to be common here, I never heard any during our stay here. The draw card for it is that the background is made of light sensitive paint, so when you shine a spotlight on it from the nearby shed, then turn it off the background glows, well worth a look. On our way back to camp Russell spotted a skytrain of Starlink satellites heading into position.
6/4 216km
Daylight saving finished last night so it got light earlier, but it was still 11.00 when we hit the road and headed north to Puddle Trk St Arnaud NP where Fuscous Honeyeaters and Jacky Winters were found. Russell and Josie got out their metal detector. I had more success than they did. In to St Arnaud for shopping, whilst they were doing that I had a walk around town and updated some points of interest for Hema. We had lunch at the silo art the headed west to Marnoo Pde 5k west of Marnoo and found a trough with water that had a few birds around it. The area around here is very dry. Today has had a strong westerly that was picking up the dust from the fields and blowing it along the road. Not a healthy landscape. We had a look at Horsham Rail where there were a handful of birds and more silo art. Then it was out to Wail SF camp 1 by the Wimmera River that had water in it, probably backed up from the weir downstream. Had 10sp by dark including the first Restless Flycatcher for the trip.
7/4 216km
24sp was the tally for the site. It was only a few months ago now that The Little Desert, which is just across the river was severely burnt out. The fire didn’t make it across the river here for the most part, but I suspect that it’s had an effect on the bird life in general for the area. We had a look at my site at Wimmera SF Wail, where there’s a pone plantation, so we didn’t get much, then into Dimboola which is gearing up for the Steampunk Festival which has breathed new life into this town to such an extent that it’s almost a themed town now. Down to the Dimboola Weir for 15sp, then we did our run up the Wimmera River, starting at Wimmera River Western hwy which being next to the highway, despite good forest was noisily quiet. Wimmera River Rd crossing had a Gilbert’s Whistler that I so nearly managed a photo of along with Peaceful Dove. We took the Wimmera Trk north which unsurprisingly follows the river closely as it winds its way through the trees. Nice but slow drive. Wimmera River Spara crossing had Spimy-cheeked Honeyeater. Wimmera River Antwerp had some White-browed Woodswallows. Wimmera River Tarrangeverk had Great Cormorant. This was the first cormorant that we got along the river suggesting that there’s not many fish in here. Wimmera River gypsum Rd only had a few birds. Wimmera River at Jeparit had the first Purple-backed fairywren and Purple Swamphen. We camped at lake Hindmarsh Storey Point. Ther;s no water in the lake here but the bush is pretty good.
8/4 111km
It was a cold clear night last night so it took the birds a bit to get going ending with 17sp with a big flock of White-winged Choughs and a pair of Emus. We drove the lakeside track, needing to let the tyres down at the north end of the track. Pumped them up and did the last bit of track only to find more soft sand, but I charged my way through that with the car bucking around getting through without getting stuck. Amy Johnton Hwy Birdcage south had Purple-gaped Honeyeater for the first time. It would show up on most surveys for the rest of the day, as it did at Amy Johnston Hwy birdcage north. We met back up Russell and Josie at Lake Hindmarsh outlet where I added Australian Ringneck. At Heinrich Rd near Wyperfeld I was able to show Russell the Purple-gaped Honeyeaters. At Wyperfeld NP Melmet Tk 1 There was a Red Wattlebird which hasn’t been as common as I’d thought it should be. We then took the 4wd track to Wypergeld NP edge 2. The track was used for a buggy race recently and they have wrecked the track with and endless series of moguls for the car to hiccup over. So much so that After I’d done the survey and had a quick lunch we decided to turn back. The Melmet Rock Track wasn’t in great shape either but although I didn’t enjoy the drive all that much it wasn’t torture. We took a look at Hermie Strauses Garden which is just an open area now in the forest, but I found a rusting old contraption in the scrub. We camped at Round Swamp where a Chestnut Quail-thrush wandered by the edge of camp, and there were a few Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters, this being Mallee forest is their prime habitat.
9/4 153km
17sp for the site. We headed off up the Melmet Rock Track, stopping at Arnold Springs where there was a pool of water in one of the holes that the animals keep scraping deeper to keep active. Just past the is the biggest of the sand dunes to climb, so I got bev to walk up and video me driving up, just to make sure I didn’t get stuck and it worked again with the car getting with no problems. We had a brief stop at Melmet Rock which isn’t all that spectacular but gets you just above the tree top for a bit of a view. We found some Emus on the track at Melmet Rock Trk north. Lunch was taken at Big Billy Bore Camp where I got Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. We had a few spots of rain as we headed north. Big Desert SF 1 had Red-capped Robin. Russell and Josie went in to Murrayville whilst Bev and I drove around the nearby flora reserve to map the tracks, some of which ended up on the golf course, no whizzing golf balls today. North Chain Rd Murrayville is mostly farmland so didn’t get much. No 6 Bore Rd North is on the southern edge of Sunset Country where there still wasn’t much in the late afternoon. We camped at Sunset Trk west end.
10/4 109km
Bev and I headed off early to head east along Sunset Trk, and did Sunset Trk 1, Sunset track west, Sunset Trk middle and sunset Trk east where all we got were White-eared Honeyeaters and Weebills with the odd extra species at some sites. It was then back pick up Russell and Josie and head up the South Bore Trk to South Bore Trk south where there wasn’t much change from the Sunset Trk. We had lunch at The Crater which is mostly grassland and got a Brown Songlark at the end of the survey. From there we headed south along North South Trk and got Pied Butcherbird at North South Trk south of Settlement Rd. North South Trk Sunset NP middle had a feeding group with Hooded Robin Weebill, Brown Treecreeper, Crested Bellbird, Jacky Winter, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater and Hooded Robin, so a nice find. Two smaller feeding groups at North South Trk south both had Inland Thornbills. We headed east along Pheeny’s Trk to camp at Pheeny’s Trk camp where we got Red-lored Whistler calling after it had cooled down some from the 30C day I went for a look around and found a Mallee Fowl, and near on dark a Southern Scrub-robin called a few times, so some nice birds around here.
11/4 233km
Ended the survey with 17sp, which I think is pretty good considering the time of year and how dry it is around here. Just as we were about to leave I found a Chestnut Quail-thrush standing by Russell’s camper, it didn’t move as we rounded the camper, so I called over Bev and Josie and we all got close up photos of the bird that never moved, so there’s likely to be something wrong with it, but there was nothing obvious. Bev and I headed off ealy again to corner Pheeny’s and Underbool Trks where I managed a good photo of a Striped Honeyeater. We turned south to Mt Crozier Trk camp where there were some White-browed Woodswallows overhead. Mt Crozier dry lake didn’t look promising but ended with six species in the surrounding woodland. Mt Crozier Trk had 5sp and we had lunch at Crozier lake camp which is one of the pink lakes. We exited Sunset ountry and went down to Linga Willsmere Rd for a lone Little Raven and Yellow-throated Miner. We checked out Cowange Sf Purdue Rd where there were some Bluebonnets and a few other species, none of which were using the park, but were in the tree by the road. We camped at Pine Hut Soak Camp
12/4 121km
Only 13sp here which being in the park is a bit low, but again it’s dry and a non-active time of year for the birds. Again Bev and I headed off early and got to Cox’s Windmill Scorpion Springs CP for 5sp. We did the short walk to Fish Ponds with only 3sp on the way, no water. Then further east to Scorpion Springs which had a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, which has been missing. No water again. The last sand dune before the springs needed low tyre pressure which makes the track a medium difficulty. It was marked as an easy track, so we mapped it as we returned west, stopping to take a look at Nanam Well which in keeping with the theme here was dry, the stone I dropped in making a definite thump as it reached the bottom some 12m down. When we go to the T junction we headed south to Ngarkat Centre Trk north where there were some White-browed Babblers which haven’t been encountered many times. Pertendi Trk Ngarkat was birdless in the 31C heat. Pertendi Bore had 5sp despite being, you guessed it, dry. We had lunch here near the hut and pumped up the tyres then headed up north to Yoppara South School site where I got some Yellow-rumped Thornbills, another bird that’s been light on. We camped at Baan Hill Reserve.
13/4 175km
16sp here which considering how ratty the site looks is a good number. Once again we headed off south early and did Ngarkat CP Baan Hill Rd north for the two species that Iv’e found most regularly, Weebill and White-eared Honeyeater. Both have been on most surveys. Ngarkat Baan Hill Rd south had the Weebill but swapped the White-eared for Yellow-plumed Honeyeater. Ngarkat Emu Springs Trk east only had White-eared Honeyeater and Ngarkat Emu Springs Trk centre was birdless, as was Ngarkat Emu Springs Trk west and Ngarkat Jimmy’s Well Trk north. Somewhere in there Russell and Josie headed off, as they have to work tomorrow, we continuned on south at our leisurely pace to Ngarkat Jimmy’s Well Trk south for a lone Yellow-plumed Honeyeater. Mt Rescue CP Jimmy’s Well Trk was back to the usual two, and Mt Rescue Jimmy’s Trk centre had a Southern Scrub Robin. Mt Rescue CP Jimmy’s Well Trk south lacked the Weebill, but had the honeyeater. We had lunch at Mt Rescue CP Bucks camp with Red-capped Robins. The track south has been at the hard end of easy but not all that difficult and I didn’t need to let the tyres down. The exit track to the west was quite chopped up so was closer to a medium difficulty than an easy. We exited the park at about 14.30 and went south to Cockatoo Lake Keppoch to camp. It had got to 34C today so with a a stong westerly wind coming across the lake it was nice to cool down before the day came to an end.
14/4 447km
Most of the nights so far have had Owlet Nightjar, last night it was a Boobook Owl calling which has been absent for a while. Had a good count for the lake and surrounds with good sized flocks of White-fronted Chats and Black-tailed Native Hens. Just up the road is Morambro Ck The Gap which was dry and had a Crecent Honeyeater, which I don’t usually find in these dry open forests. We then tracked east through Franses, to Edenhope Sewage which had lots of Pink-eared Ducks. Lunch was taken at Mt Dundas 2 for ordinary woodland species. We topped up the tanks at the Mobil servo in Dunkeld which was cheaper than the APCO in Geelong, fuel app saving us again. Through Skipton and into Geelong where we bought an Aiwa tablet from Big W to do our mapping for Hema on. It should work better than the mobile phone. It was then back to Ocean Grove.
15/4 123km
It was 15.20 when we departed Ocean Grove after a repack of the car and trailer which we are taking with us. We picked up the gazebo from the storage unit and headed up to Bacchus marsh for some fish and chips from Georges, the shop on the corner, that’s been there it seems for ever. We then mapped a few track in the dark to get to Firth Envornmental Park, but the few flat spots were taken and there was a noisy group, so we decided to go back to the main road and found a small loop off the road that was flat, so that’s where we stopped.
16/4 182km
Walked back to the camping ground and found that people had left lots of bags of rubbish piled up against the toilet block, my bet it that it’s the large noisy group camped nearby, no bush etiquet at all. Birdwise the most interesting bird was a lone Gang Gang Cockatoo. We took the blackberry lined Kelly’s Swamp Rd to get to my site where there were a few White-browed Scrubrens in the blackberry bushes. We mapped the road until right near the end where a tree was across the track with no way around it, so I had to back the trailer back along the narrow track for several hunderd metres. So a bad start to the day. We headed east to get to Stockyard Ck Blackwood north for 5sp. From there we did Birranes Rd Ashburne. I walked down from the road because I was afraid of there not being a turn around spot for the trailer, but of course there was, with a small track leading off into the bush at my site. Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are the dominant honeyeater here. Lauriston Coliban dams only had three species, but I managed to record some Common Eastern Froglets down by the bottom of the outflow. We wound our way through too many roadworks to Lake Epalock Capella Cove for lunch with Blue-faced Honeyeaters. On north to Fosterville Rd 3km east of Fosterville where I got 5sp of honeyeater including Black-chinned. Ther’s no flowering happening so they’re all after insects. Just up the road is Fosterville Huntly Rd, which looked better habitat with some Ironbarks, but there were hardly any birds here. On north to Mt Pleasant Ck Elmore for a huge flock of 40 White-winged Choughs. A bit further north is Aysons Reserve on the Campaspe River, where there were wall to wall campers. We camped at the north end where we got a bit of elbow room. I met a fellow birdo here, we’d both heard of each other, and I’m sure I’ve met him before. 16sp before dark.
17/4 192km
34sp for the site including the first Little Friarbird. In Rochester we topped up the tank at the United servo, being super cheap and with the discount from the United app, even cheaper. Over to Tasker Rd Rochester which we did only a few days ago, but we got Darter and Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike which we didn’t get last time. Campaspe River Strathallan had 18sp with no stand-outs. Ampol roundabout Echuca had 4 town species. I’ve run out of oil in the engine again, so went and got some whilst Bev did the shopping for Easter, then we headed up to Moira Sf Coolamon Rd. There had been a fatality on the Cobb Hwy so we mapped some of the roads on the detour to get to the site which had a pair of Stubble Quail crossing the road as we arrived. We had lunch here then to Borella Thomlinson Rds for only 3sp. Cavanagh Rd west of Deniliquin had only 3sp but one was the first Zebra Finch, another was the first White-winged Fairywren and the last was the first Pipit. We camped at Lawson Siphon Rd boat ramp on the Edward River. As I sat waiting for birds to pass by a fisherman came and fished from the pontoon. He broke his line twice in the hour or so he was there, which means that there are two lots of line in the bottom of the river potentially entangling passing wildlife. I wonder if any fisherman stops to think about the damage they do whilst they’re having fun trying to kill wild creatures. Horrible pastime.
18/4 240km
24sp the tally for here with Yellow Rosella, Yellow Thornbill and more Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Little Friarbirds. Tholonbin Rd north of Deniliquin had a flooded field with a whopping 57 White-faced Herons and a flock of 28 Common Mynas, this invasive species is doing far too well. Forest Ck south of Conargo had water in it with a Reedwarbler in the reeds. The creek north of the road is fenced off, so the cattle can’t get access to it so it’s riparian vegetation is largely intact. The creek south of the road isn’t fenced off, so presumably the cattle have access to the creek, but the habitat looked to be intact here too. Cattle always trash the area around any water source so maybe they don’t have cattle in there. But just up the road the farmer is so desperate to feed his cattle that he’s got them feeding by the busy roadside. It’s really dry throughout the region. On north to Delta Ck NW of Conargo which was dry and had House Sparrow, which I wasn’t expecting here in a dry creek. Willura Rd north of Conargo had Pipit, Zebra Finch and White-winged Fairywren, bit of deja-vu there. Coleambally outflow had a string of pools, but no waterbirds. There were some White-browed Woodswallows and Tree Martins swirling around high in the sky. East to ephemeral wetlands Northern Boundary Rd, which was dry and thick with impenetrable vegetation, which could be hiding anything, but all we got was a Magpie. South now to Delta Ck north of Conargo where we had lunch. The farmer is pumping water into a dam here that is overflowing into the creekline where the Zebra Finches were lurking in the shrubs and making quick sorties to the water. There was a dead Emu by the roadside here. There are an unfair amount of kangaroo carcasses by the roadsides in the area, a lot to many for how quiet the roads are, so I suspect that the farmers are out there shooting them, as they see them as competition for their stock. We’re just not good at sharing our spaces with wildlife are we? The Mabins Well Rd site had some sparse dry woodland where I found Red-capped Robin and Singing Honeyeater, neither have been as common as they should be. At Delta Ck Woods Rd Bev found a Mistletoebird, another bird that’s been absent from too many surveys. North now to Coinbil Ck which was dry and birdless. We camped at Gum Ck north of Conargo where there was a huge flock of 55 Red-rumped Parrots in the dry woodland
19/4 207km
23sp for the site, not bad for a dry woodland and I missed at least one thornbill sized bird that just wouldn’t let me see it as they fed silently and then sped off. We mapped the road into the Oolambayan NP to the homestead where there were quite a few birds including Brown Falcon and Southern Whiteface. My site though is a bit back up the track at the first sandune. Here there were too many rabbits doing damage to the grassland, but I still found some Southern Whitefaces and Bev got some Bluebonnets. Up to Rudds Point Murrumbidgee River where a boatie fisherman had just left his campsite. It’s usually a toxic mix and a recepie for a mess, but the campsite was clean. Not all boatie fishermen fit my mold. Still a Horrible pastime. Polygonum Swamp Mirool Ck was dry as is everywhere, only 3sp hereGarowie Swamp TR only had 2sp as did Bullocks Head Swamp. Old Gunbar Rd had the first Apostlebirds, small group of 9 though. Wah Wah Swamp has a bit of woodland with Restless Flycatcher and Jacky Winter. Greenhills Rd Merriwagga had Grey-crowned Babbler for the first time. We camped at Sylvanham TR by the memorial to Barbara Blaine, who’s burnt body was the beginning of the Black Stump legend, I think that’s the third explanation of the black stump legend that I’ve heard. I just hope her ghost still doesn’t reside here.
20/4 224km
Yesterday as we were heading into the site that turned into our campsite, I noticed a large male kangaroo strung up on a fence. The farmer had made an extra high fence in order to keep the kangaroos out, but his one thought he was up to the challenge and paid for his mistake with what would have been a long slow death. The kanagroo wasn’t there when we drove out this morning, presumably taken down by the farmer, there won’t be enough shame though to change his fencing. We don’t share our land well with our wildlife do we? 21sp for the site with the return of Owlet Nightjar and Striated Honeyeater. Northwards then to McKinley Rd McKinley where there were some Pipits, Jacky Winter, Grey Fantail and Red-capped Robins foraging in the field across from the woodland, where all but the pipits should be. Cabbage Garden Ck was dry but was a busy area with Apostlebirds and Grey-crowned Babblers as new. 80kph sign Furlong station had Bluebonnets, which we’re getting regularly. Wealbah Rd grid had Emu and Nankeen Kestrel. We went in to Willandra NP camp for lunch. The camp is closed so I had to walk down, there were a few birds in the weir and Silvereye and Yellow Thornbills in the woodland. We met the ranger who said he was trying to find some shooters who had cut their way into the national park with bolt cutters, and presumably were shooting illegally. If there’s one group of people who consistently behave badly in the bush it’s shooters, there are probably responsible shooters out there somewhere, but there are a lot of bad eggs out there killing animals for fun, and too often they shoot things they shouldn’t in places they shouldn’t. Do people have no conciences these days? Back out of thre park and up to Conoble Ck which was dry with only 2sp. Trida rail is poor damaged habitat and was appropriately birdless. We camped at Merri Rd Roto in Mallee country.
21/4 217km
Only 11sp for the site, though it’s quite dense Mallee there’s not much but grass gound cover with no recruitment of young Mallee trees, so it looks okay habitat, but the long dry is having an effect. As we headed north today we began to see signs that it has rained recently, not enough to keep water in the creeks but a wash of green covers the roadside in many areas. Yathong Rd Dundooboo Range did have a small dam with water in it where we found Pink Cockatoo and a Hobby Falcon trying to catch breakfast, it left the area empty bellied with a lot of relieved birds who eventually stopped giving off alarm calls. Roto-Yathong Rd Marooda Range is Calitris Pine country which doesn’t support much birdlife, so we only got 2sp 1 bird of each. Merrimerriwagga Ra Yathong Rd south had more Apostlebirds, as did Merrimerriwagga Yathong Rd north. Yathong NR north had a feeding group of thornbills, fairywrens, whistlers and robins. Warbrecaan Station fire break is recovering from a fire, the habitat still looks damaged with only 3sp using it. Yathong Rd Bindi is in the process of being cleared by the farmer. To the north is mostly cleared, to the south there has been some knocking down of trees, but at the moment is still largely intact. I got a tree-skink here in the area slowly being cleared. I’m guessing that the farmer has no idea that if he keeps clearing the trees the tree-skinks will become locally extinct. I wonder if he knew what effect he was going to have on this and probably other species he would change his mind, or does having more grass for his sheep to feed on so he can potentially have more sheep matter more? We’re not good at sharing the land with our wildlife are we? 130km north of Roto was lunch with not much happening around us as we ate. There was even less happening at 63km south of Cobar. The dam at Ghost Tank TR had some water in it and was the site of the day. In the mid afternoon with a cold wind blowing from the west we found 19sp in the 20min survey including Crested Bellbird, Southern Whiteface and some Mistletoebirds. It was then into Cobar to do the shopping for the rest of the trip, fill up the tanks at 197.9cpl and went to Old reservoir Cobar to camp. There were quite a few people here including quite a few kids on noisy motorbikes with no numberplates hooning about the place. Noisome people. Despite that there was a Pipit hiding in the grasses and a Black-fronted Doterrel on the shore.
22/4 217km
For such a busy place there was a surprising lack of rubbish around, apart from a wrecked car most of it was small incidental stuff, just carelessness rather than wilfulness. There was a thick fog over the area early in the morning but it soon cleared to another fine sunny day. In the fog a silhouette of a pair of Red-winged Parrots zoomed by, luckily Bev had reminded me that they were in the area otherwise I probably wouldn’t have recognized them, We went to Cobar Settling Ponds or Lake Newey where there was an old sign stating no camping. There was a council worker cleaning the BBQ so I asked him if the campground was going to open again and he seemed to think that it was open but that the sign hadn’t been taken down yet. Apparently and old councilman didn’t like the idea of people free camping here. Anyway the lake was pretty full, and full of birds adding Bar-shouldered Dove and White-breasted Woodswallow, 27sp in the 20min survey. We headed up the Louth Rd stopping at 85km south of Louth where the farmer has ruined my site, putting fencelines on either side of the road with a wide firebreak to the woodland beyond, so it’s nearly 100m from the woodland on one side of the road to the other. Farmers just love to destroy woodland it seems to me. The farmer south of here closer to Cobar was even worse erecting a tall kangaroo fence that I wrote about the other day. On the other hand the farmer at 40km south of Louth was much more wildlife friendly. There were still fences but the top wire wasn’t barbed and the land around the fences wasn’t cleared. I got 2 small feeding groups here that included Buff-rumped and Yellow-rumped Thornbills and the usual Red-capped Robin. We had lunch at Darling River Louth which was above it’s normal height but still well below the banks with a good flow and quite a bit of detritus in the stream. We took the northern track along the Darling, stopping at Tara Homestead culvert for zero birds in the totally cleared land. Darling River at Tilpa didn’t have much in the small settlement. We noted that the road we wanted to go on was closed but we decided to take it anyway and see how far we could get. We got all the way the Paroo River Overflow where the water level was 1.2m, too high for me, so we decided to camp by the flowing water. It was no surprise to find quite a few mozzies around, but I decided to go take a bath in the middle of the road as it got dark, and paid quite a price in bites.
23/4 378km
The day started out nicely with 25sp for the survey including Black Swan, Diamond Dove, Chirruping Wedgebill and a pair of Pink Cockatoos trying hard to become Galahs, but I wasn’t fooled. We had further luck when the road from Norma to Wilcania was open all the way. The water hadn’t yet reached the road, which has a bridge over it anyway. We turned right to head to Waanaring, which is where we went wrong. We got to Paroo Darling NP 1 Wilcania area which had more Chirruping Wedgebills associating with some Chestnut-crowned Babblers and there were some Black-faced Woodswallows and Southern Whiteface. Peery Lake was dry with a group of 6Emus making a hasty retreat as we arrived. The Round Hill Tank Paroo Darling NP was dry but had a big flowering mistletoe with a Mistletoebird sweetly singing from within. North from there we came to the intersection where we would have come out yesterday but for the pleasant interference of the water, which dutifully had a road closed sign, but there was also on on the Waanaring Road, the first one we’d seen. So we went up the short distance to my site at Lake Tongo, which was dry with only Yellow-throated Miners and a White-plumed Honeyeater keeping the goats company. From there we turned around and started the drive back to Wilcania, and got to Wilcania Waanaring Rd 1 before it was time to call it a day. The local farmer spotted us and since we didn’t have guns or dogs he let us stay, but told us that there’s still a lot of water making its way south with many roads closed, with more rain due over the weekend, so we may have to change plans.
24/4 318km
16sp was the tally here including an Owlet Nightjar that made me jump out of my skin when it called not two feet from my ear from the tree right next to where we’re camped. There were also Pink Cockatoos and Emu so not a bad spot for farmland woodland. We got back to Wilcania to find that the road to Waanaring was only caution, but when we checked other roads from Waanaring there were too many closed roads and with rain on the way we didn’t want to get stuck out there, so after a long while doing internet stuff we headed off on the sealed road to Cobar, first stop was Coonalga Ck for 4sp, Barrier Hwy stack (an area where councils store road making materiel) had a cooperative Chestnut-rumped Thornbill which I managed a passable shot after a few tries, small paserines are difficult to shoot as they flit around in the trees. Culvert north of Lake Barnarto had some Grey-crowned Babblers which had made a truce with the Yellow-throated Miners sharing the same tree. Miners would normally chase nearly every other bird off. Elsinor Tr had a Jacky Winter, and there was a bit of flowering happening at Amphitheatre Tr creek so got 4sp of honeyeater. We then drove to Cobar settling ponds to camp and got 23sp in the hour or so before dark. Which means of course that we’ve gone nowhere in three days, but we’ve had a bit of fun mapping and frogging and of course birding.
25/4 215km
37sp was the tally for the site. We’d parked the car right next to a patch of prickles, that despite our best attemps managed to invade the car so we spent a bit of time cleaning so we didn’t transport them onto Bowra, where we head tommorrow. That meant we left late, and just as we were packing up a rather nasty woman arrived and proceeded to berate us for camping here. Everyone else had been genial in their greetings. I told the woman about the chap who told us the site was now available for camping but she kept on at us, and so I started to rip into her and told her to go away, thankully she did and we were soon on our way north. First stop was 32km north of Cobar where the birds were still feeding, 12sp. Next stop north was Kidman Way north where it was a lot quieter but I found a feeding group so got 11sp. By 108km north of Cobar things were very quiet but still managed 5sp. We had lunch at Cry Tank Camp Gundabooka NP where there was a flock of 29 very noisy Apostlebirds. Billabong Polygonum Bourke was flooded with the arm flowing for the first time that I’ve seen it with a handful of water birds like Great egret and Black Swan. We tried to get into May Point not far north from there but there was a flood arm of the Darling River along the track in so we camped on the side of it a bit short of the main camp. As it got dark were were seranaded by several species of frog. None of them very tunefull.
26/4
22sp for this site which is farmland with reasonable tree coverage, but of course no good ground cover. With the Darling in flood this usually dry arm is also flooded, so we got a few waterbirds as well as the frogs last night which apart from the marsh frogs all went to bed quite early. We got out onto the main road north just as the storms started rolling in and only got a few light showers as we headed north. First stop was Lednappers Rd 1 which is down an unused track but is in excellent habitat so in our 20min survey we got 18sp the highlight being a Spotted Bowerbird which Bev got. Gravel stack north of Enngonia is mostly cleared land with a Buffel Grass cover so only 3sp one being Pied Butcherbirds being their beautifully tunefull best. 110km south of Cunnamulla was looking like a no-birder when I flushed a Brown Quail from my feet and then found a pair of Zebra Finch in a small shrub. We had a look at Warrego River Barringun which was running at 0.4m, we had lunch here where a Black-breasted Buzzard circled overhead a few times and headed off. Tuen Ck was also flowing with 14sp in the survey including some Fairy Martins. We then drove through Cunnamulla and out to Bowra, an Australian Wildlife Conservancy property where we’re volunteering for the month of May.
