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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. Bolgers Ln Newham 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 the damaged area at the centre of the site, 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 Garry 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 Denny’s Dip 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 Bama SF for the first Red-rumped Parrots for the trip. Down through Echuca and east to Murray River Echuca boat ramp for 15sp but none of them water birds. Scott Trk Kanyapella 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 afternoon’s surveys. Tongala 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 Clays Rd Kamarooka SF 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 Clays Trk Kamarooka SF I got Black-chinned Honeyeater, so between the two sites I got nearly all the possible 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. Neilborough Rd park bay Whipstick added Red-capped Robin. Boyds Rd Lockwood had Common Mynas in the rural area. Shelbourne NR O’Barry Trk didn’t have much birdlife, but someone had dumped some clothing recently. It’s the second time I’ve found perfectly good clotes dumped here. Most of it had nothing wrong with it, so I’ll use them 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 Rd 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 Pudder Trk St Arnaud Ranges 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 then headed west to Marnoo Pre Rd 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 pine 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 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 Spears 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. There’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 with 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 Milmed Rock 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 Wyperfeld 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 rather than keep heading for my other site along the edge of the park. The Milmed Rock Track wasn’t in great shape either but although I didn’t enjoy the drive all that much it wasn’t torture like the edge track. We took a look at Hermie Strausses 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 camp Wyperfeld 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 Milmed 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 there 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 up with no problems. We had a brief stop at Milmed 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 Milmed Rock Trk north. We turned north along the Murrayville-Nhill Rd after pumping our tyres back up to road pressure. Lunch was taken at Big Billy Bore Camp where I got Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. We had a few spots of rain as we continued 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 5 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 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 Malleefowl, 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 early 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 track 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 by one of the pink lakes. We exited Sunset Country and went down to Linga Willsmore Rd for a lone Little Raven and Yellow-throated Miner. We checked out Cowangie 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 got 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 Yappara 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 I’ve 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 continued 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 north 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 strong 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 tracks 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 on the track 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 wa20y 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. There’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. Tholobin 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. Willurah 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 too 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 Cooinbil 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 recipe for a mess, but the campsite was clean. Not all boatie fishermen fit my mold. Still, a Horrible with a capital H pastime. Polygonum Swamp Carrathool Rd was dry as is everywhere, only 3sp here. Garowie 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 Blain, 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 kangaroo 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. Cabbage Garden Ck was dry but was a busy area with Apostlebirds and Grey-crowned Babblers as new. 80kph sign Fulong station had Bluebonnets, which we’re getting regularly. Whealbah 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 to my site, 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 consciences these days? Back out of the park and up to Conoble Ck which was dry with only 2sp. Trida rail is poor damaged habitat, but I managed to find a family of White-winged Fairywrens eking out a life here. We camped at Merri Rd north of Roto in Mallee country.
21/4 217km
Only 11sp for the site, though it’s quite dense Mallee there’s not much but grass ground 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 Marooba 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. Warbracaan 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. 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 number plates 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 an 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. Good onya mister farmer! 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 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 as they flew by me together, 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 Waanaring Rd 1 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 6 Emus making a hasty retreat as we arrived. The Roundhill 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 one 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 Wilcannia, and got to Wilcannia 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 Wilcannia 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 Goonalga 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 passerines 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. Elsinore 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 headed 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 Gunderbooka 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 Dry 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 Mays Bend camp not far north from there but there was a flooded 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 we were seranaded by several species of frog. None of them very tunefull. My favourite was the Salmon-striped Frog that sounds like an explosive “What!” We renamed it the Fothergill Frog. As we’re getting older we’re both getting a bit hard of hearing and we’re both softly spoken so we’re forver saying “what?” to each other.
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 but only got a few light showers as we headed north. First stop was Lednappers Crossing Rd 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. 100km 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. As we were still setting up camp several storms came through, with about 10mm of rain but worse was the strong gusty wind that came with them, making putting up the gazebo and gazebo tent rather problematic, but we eventually got it done.
Photos from Bowra
1/6 211km
Our time at Bowra has come to an end. I’ve been doing daily bird surveys as well as getting as many of their 2ha sites surveyed as we could. We’ve had several rain events closing the roads for a few days afterwards limiting our exploration. I managed 119sp for the month. We’ve also been doing some odd jobs like painting and erecting track signs. Both of us have a Golden Staph infection that has got beyond the skin where they are supposed to stay. We are both on antibiotics, but Bev has been having daily treatment at the hospital, today was the last day as we made a detour into town for the last apppointment. We topped up the tank at the IOR deisel only card only servo and headed off west. We mapped the dead end road that if it went through would end up on Bowra, so linked in with the locked gate that we noted on Bowra Hema users can see that the road doesn’t go through. Back to the main road and on westward. First stop was Moonjaree Crossing where I found a Diamond Dove, on westward to Hungerford road junction which had a swamp on the west side, but no water birds, there were a few Little Friarbirds chortling away with lots of Spiny-cheeks and White-plumes. Just down the road is mud springs Bulloo Development Rd, they used to be a vent for the artesian water but they’re largely inactive now. There was another swamp around the mound, and there must be something in the water because there was a pair of White-necked Herons that chased each other around grunting away for the entire survey, and there was a group of 6 Australian Ringnecks doing the same thing. Capsize Ck had some pools with 14sp. This site always has a good count. We got to Lake Bindegolly at 14.30, enough time for me to have a good look around. The lake is filling up from the south where there were lots of Grey Teal and some Brolgas. North of the road there was only water in the channel, but despite the cattle having access to it it was looking pretty good and I found a Blue-winged Parrot
2/6 180km
32sp for the site including a pair of Pied Honeyeaters, a short way west along the road is Lake Bindegolly 1.5km west of the causeway where I heard then found some Black Honeyeaters. I’d never been into Currawinya NP from the north, the track needed mapping so down we went. It’s little used, and a slow but pleasant drive with no one else seen for the whole day. We came across a pair of Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrushes on Weriwilka Rd so did a 20min survey on the rocky slope but didn’t find much else. It took over 2hrs to get from there to Myminya waterhole for lunch with the Budgerigars being unhappy with our presence. We got to the Hungerford Rd and headed north and passed through a rainstorm with huge drops of rain and mercifully small hailstones. My site at Carwarra Ck had just had the rain, the sun was out and the birds were active with a lot of birdsong, amid the busy site was a lone Painted Honeyeater, so we had a good day with 4 sought after birds in one day. We arrived at Corni Paroo waterhole to camp at 15.45 and had 19sp by dark.
3/6 427km
A fog descended on us overnight so air traffic control grounded all the Masked Woodswallows, festooning their roosting trees. Not far from where we were camping was a pair of Yellow-billed Spoonbills nesting with a chick seen through its loose stick nest. The most common and noisiest of the birds here were the Little Friarbirds, chasing everything that moved, especially the two Whistling Kites. The fog lifted as we drove south to find that the Lakes Rd to my old sites in the park was flooded. The site at Lakes Rd dam Currawinya NP was mostly under water with a pair of Pink-eared Ducks foraging where the track should be. There was a late calling Barking Owl here. We headed south to Hungerford and weren’t surprised to find we couldn’t go south as the road to Bourke has been damaged, so back north we headed stopping at Wittenburra Rd south of Eulo where I found Bourke’s Parrot. In to Cunnamulla and we decided to treat ourelves to a Camelburger at the cafe. No chips with it, and it only had a slightly different taste to beef, but enjoyable and at $16 each probably not too bad value these days. We did a swap and go with our exhausted gas bottle at the BP servo and headed north to Coongoola which had Common Myna, this invasive pest is certainly spreading far and wide. We headed east through Charlotte Vale to get to my site at little creek near Nebine Ck arriving at 17.30 just before dark, with no chance to enjoy the site as the mozzies immediately descended.
4/6 387km
Being a rural setting and with the late last night arrival I didn’t expect much from the site. The only bird of any note was a Banded Lapwing that flew in calling just on dawn, 27sp isn’t too bad for variety though. We headed east on the Ballone Hwy to Theodore Tank for 11sp then down the Dirrenbanji Rd to Glencoe Water Facility where I found a Hooded Robin amidst the Buffel and Love grasses. Down the Castlereigh Hwy to Narran River NE of Hebel for some Variegated/Purple-backed Fairywrens. I found that my site at Angahook Lake SE is now fenced off with a lock on the gate, so back-tracked a bit and headed down the Angahook Rd towards Collarembri. The top end was rather slushy, chopped up by the cattle trucks. We stopped for lunch at Narran River Yeranbah Bridge. The road got better as we drove on eventually turning to bitumen before Collarembri. We camped at Barwon River east of Collarembri and had some Glossy Black Cockatoos and White-bellied Cuckoo Shrikes come through before dark.
5/6 358km
Didn’t add much on my morning round, but had a pleasnat stroll on a very cold sunny morning along the bank of the river. We took the dirt road south to Cryon, it wasn’t wuite as bad as yesterday’s road but I added another layer or two of mud to the car and trailer. Did a survey of Cryon at the railway crossing for not many species and headed on south on more muddy roads but we were determined to get to Come By Chance. A surprise stretch of bitumen aided the cause and we got to the Come By Chance Racecourse in time to find Double-barred Finch and Brown Songlark. We then wound our way along increasingly better drier roads to Weetalibah Ck for lunch where I found another Common Myna. We picked up some food and fuel in Conamble and headed on south. We couldn’t get to my site at Merri Merri State Forest because the farmer has fenced it off so his cattle can graze in there… sigh. I’d planned to camp here so we had to change plans and kept on heading south. Not far down the road is Hughenden Station where a few bigtrees by the roadside held flock of noisy Noisy Miners. Not far out of Warren we found a small flock of Superb Parrots, but by the time I’d stopped they were gone. We camped by the Maquarie River north of Warren. Bev had just started cooking when the table on the side of the car let go with everything tumbling to the ground, in the process damaging the gas line between stove and bottle, so we broke out a small solid fuel stove that I’ve been carrying around for 40 odd years and to our surprise it worked well enough to boil some water for pasta for dinner. Come dark I heard some Eastern Sign Bearing Frogs calling neaby in the grasses so got a recording with FrogID
6/6 266km
21sp was the tally for the site with a highlight being an Olive-backed Oriole. We did my survey at Warren Sewerage Pond which was mostly dry. The wetland next door was a bit better with Great Egret and Hobby Falcon, but no ducks. We stopped at the toilet block to do the usual, and the unusual for us. Yesterday at Cryon I discovered a box full of used syringes and another one lying by the side of the road, so I picked them up to dispose of them responsibly at the toilets that had a syringe disposal container, I mean, I mean how hard can it be to do the right thing? I’m so sick and tired of seeing the results of someone acting irresponsibly. We headed over to Bogan River Mudall Bridge, it was lunch time by the time we got here. Then due south to 48km south of Nyngan where I was expecting a no bird survey in the monocultured treeless except for one landscape, but I found a pair of Variegated/Purple-backed Fairywrens and then a Wedge-tailed Eagle overflew me which upset about 100 Galahs in the field that were hidden by the crop. At Central NSW Cairn I found a pair of Superb Parrot females, not as colourful as the male, but a nice find nonetheless. Below Mt Suzanna was a feeding group of Yellow Thornbills, Inland Thrornbills, a Striated Pardalote and a Yellow-plumed Honeyeater. On south to Mt Nobby SF which had a small group of 6 Apostlebirds and a group of 4 Grey-crowned Babblers. In to Condobolin where we searched for a gas hose in vain, so we got ourselves a new Primus two burner stove. The old Companion stove has been with us for 7 years of almost constant use so owed us nothing, so it was time to retire it. It was a short drive east to Gum Bend Lake camp for the night.
7/6 240km
Last night before went to bed I went for a shower, usually when a shower is timed it goes for 5min or so before shutting off, this one went for about 10sec, so the shower was very disjointed, but I did manage to get myself clean in pleasantly warm water. 25sp was the tally for here, including a stream of about 300 Little Corellas that came in as I was having breakfast. We headed out west to Talebong Rd junction that was busy with parrots, 5sp of them. Booberoi Ck Euabalong West had an Australian Grebe that sat out in the middle of the creek motionless, so I got a shot of it. South now back to Lachlan River Euabalong which had a huge flock of 400 Little Corellas. They were originally in town just to the west of my site, but I heard a shot and they all vacated east. On south to Lake Cargelligo Reserve St on the north shore of the lake, we had lunch here with a stiff cold wind coming across the lake, with most of the water birds taking shelter in a cove to the west of my site. There was a steady stream of Great Cormorants coming in from the north. One flight came in quite high and made a loud whoosh as they swooped in. We topped up the tank in Lake Cargelligo town where I have a site that adds Starling and House Sparrow to my trip list. Further south is Yelkin SF 1 where Bev found a Speckled Warbler. The very next site at Jumberoo SF 1 I found one that responded to my pishing with a cocked head, trying to figure out whether this strange sounding creature standing before it was a threat. I managed a shot whilst it was trying to figure me out before it moved on. We camped at Cocoparra Nature Reserve 2 where I managed 11sp before dark in the Calitris Pine forest. There is a wheat field here that a few birds were coming to feed on around the edge of the forest including a larger than average flock of 20 Yellow-rumped Thornbills. Edge habitat is often more productive than dense forest or open ground.
8/6
We had some light rain overnight, and it still cold, windy with low cloud in the morning so I didn’t add much to last night, the large flock of Yellow-rumped Thornbills were out in the field again but they wouldn’t let me anywhere near them. Cocoparra Nat Res 1 had a feeding group of Chestnut-rumped Thornbill and Yellow Thornbill. The sun started to peep out at Mcpherson Reserve north of Griffith but the wind was bitter coming across the fields so most birds were hunkered down so we only got 3sp here. Back to Boundary Rd Cocoparra on the edge of the national park where I got another feeding group of Chestnut-rumped Thornbill and Yellow Thornbill, but this one also had Inland Thornbill and Silvereye. Griffith rail in the centre of town had a few town birds such as Australian Magpie. On southwards, ever southwards to Willbriggie Rail where the weather started to close in again. We had lunch in cold blustery condidtions, I still managed 10sp here including a flock of 23 Yellow-throated Miners with a Mistletoe bird following them around. We had a reprieve from the wind at Boona SF Catanagh Rd where I got an usually large flock of 30 Pacific Black Duck in the shallow water of the large drain here. The showers started as we headed for Colombo Ck Murindah and as we headed south into increasing rain I regretted not stopping there for the night. We ended up At Lonesome Pine SF. We took the longer route around to come in from the east hoping that the road would be okay, and most of it was but about 1km from my site was a boggy section, I had Rudolph in 4wd but I still lost control in some deep holes that pushed me off to the side, gunning it I managed to forge my way out on to firmer ground and we got through, but I’m not looking forward to going back through tomorrow morning. The rain died down and the wind was gone by early evening.
9/6 115km
Another close to freezing night, but we’ve both got good enough sleeping bags to keep warm. I decided to walk the track part of the way out the other way out of here. I knew it would be a little used track, but it doesn’t look like it’s been used in years. It looked passable though and we took a gamble that the rest of the track would be passable too past the couple of kilometres I’d walked, as so it proved to be as we made it out onto the bitumen without any hassles. On my walk I found a pair of Scarlet Robins but it was far too gloomy to get a good shot of them. We went to Oiltree Lagoon which is another site that is fenced off, but is doable from the road. The lagoon doesn’t hold water, at least not that I’ve seen, so it was just a few robust birds braving the cold weather. Kentucky SF Balldale had both White-winged Choughs and Apostlebirds and the first Grey Fantail for a while. Murray River Howlong had a Pied Currawong. We had lunch at Indigo Cemetery Chiltern NP where we found that we were definitely in Red Wattlebird territory with 10 of the cackling away in the treetops making quite a racket. From there we drove through a misty Mt Pilot Chiltern NP to get to Everton Hills to catch up with my friends there for the night.
10/6 148km
There was a blanket of fog in the valleys below us in the morning. I had a quick look around finding lots of Scarlet and Flame Robins as well as some Jacky Winters and Yellow-rumped Thornbills in the grazed paddocks. We met Nicki who runs the quarterly 20min survey around the dam that I set up 25 years ago during the first Birds On Farms project that I cut my teeth on getting experience bird surveying. We found Southern Whiteface which I find is an indicator of good grassland. It was 11.30 when we said our goodbyes to Helen and Darren and headed off up the hill to where my first house was in Stanley. The house is still there and has had a fresh coat of paint so is looking good. I found King Parrot here, but only a brief fly by. We wound our way along back roads to Lurg Survey 28. These surveys were put in many years ago now whilst on an organized weekend to search for Grey-crowned Babblers in the area. Didn’t find any, but got 11sp on a day that never got above 8C, so not too bad methinks. We went to Stringybark Creek camp Wombat SF to camp. I had a stroll down to the creek and day use area and found to my surprise that the is the Springybark Creek. It’s where the Kelly Gang ambushed and killed 3 policemen for which Ned Kelly was eventually hanged for in the Old Melbourne Gaol.
11/6 170km
In the morning as soon as I got out of the car some Magpies, Pied Currawongs and a pair of Satin Bowerbirds came over, camp birds hoping to scavange food, as usual they left disppointed. It was cold and quiet in the forest with only 13sp for the survey. We found some interesting bush tracks to get us over to Lake Nillahcoote which had some Buff-rumped Thornbills in the parkland. The water level was low. There was a fisherman here with 6 lines in the water, the last time I was here there was also a fisherman with 6 lines in the water, neither were catching anything. There were no waterbirds here, which is a sign that there’s not much life in there. Down the main road to Bonnie Doon Picnic. There’s an island here that emerges when the water level is low. There were Pelicans, Darters and a Pied Cormorant roosting there. Lunch was taken at Parsons lane Fawcett with 10sp of rural birds like Eastern Rosella and Little Corella. Down to Bulls lane Rubicon SF where there were some Brown Thornbills feeding in the trees on a cold afternoon. We went to North Rd Narbethong for the night and warmed up by Jude’s fireside.
12/6 200km
A cold foggy morning greeted me as I strode out soon after sun up. 18sp was all I could find including some Cattle Egrets that shouldn’t be here this time of year. We left mid morning and went down to Fernshaw Picnic area where I found a tame Lyrebird foraging on the edge of the forest, I never got a clear shot at it though. Yarra Glen wetland had a few waterbirds, 16sp all up. We had lunch at Sugarloaf Reservoir where it was pretty quiet in the cold sunny conditions, the only bird I saw was a female Flame Robin and heard a few others. We drove to Fontaine Ct Ocean Grove for a few days rest before we head to China and Mongolia on Monday. Be sure to read that one!
