Winton to Clermont

Red-backed Kingfisher

From Winton I headed east along the Capricorn Highway through towns where I spent my childhood. In Aramac, where my grandparents lived I came across this Kingfisher outside the little tramways museum. In Barcaldine I camped at the Showground where every evening the trees filled with Cockatoos, Corellas and Lorikeets.

Little Corella

Rainbow Lorikeet

I camped outside Clermont at the Theresa Creek Dam, built since I moved south to provide water for the Blackwater and Blair Athol mines. Whistling Kites soared and called, Pale-headed Rosellas and Rainbow Lorikeet came down to drink, and good numbers of Egrets, Ducks, Coots, Native Hens, Morehens and Swamphens edged the water. Comb-crested Jacana walked on the water lillies, and Apostlebirds and Grey-crowned Babbler fussed around in the shrubs.

Comb-crested Jacana

Grey-crowned Babbler

Apostlebirds

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Winton

Long Waterhole

Cockatiel

The Winton Visitor Information Centre publishes a useful guide to bird watching locations in the shire so armed with this we set off for the Long Waterhole, about 2k out of town on the Jundah road. There were a good number of people camping here but the birds were still plentiful.  It was good to abandon my problem camera and just sit and watch: Spinifex Pigeon, Budgerigar, Zebra Finch, Australian Pratincole, Brown Falcon, Australian Wood Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Crested Pigeon.

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Brown Honeyeater

Brown Quail

Emu

White-necked Heron

Pelican Waterhole

The settlement was originally at Pelican Waterhole, but was moved as the danger of flooding became apparent. The only pelican was a commemorative statue, but there were good numbers of Black-faced, White-browed and Masked Woodswallows, and a group of half-a-dozen Brolga, plus Jacky Winter and White-plumed Honeyeater.

Jacky Winter

Masked Woodswallow

Brolga

Cooling Dams

Near the Showgrounds are a series of ponds where the artesian water is cooled for town use. 

Galah

White-plumed Honeyeater

Black-fronted Dotterel

Blackall

Blackhall has a "Bird Watching Trail" between anabranches of the Barcoo River, marked by this rather splendid The Eagle and Nest sculpture by Richard Moffat. The sculpture is made of  railway dog spikes and timber and bolts from the old bridge. The trail is also a fitness track with some rather state-of-the-art fitness equipment along the way, but luckily it was as well used as most of these things are so there was no disruption to the bird watching.

Pale Headed Rosella

The Pale Headed Rosella was my nemesis bird of the trip. There were several on the trail, and good numbers in several other places on the trip, but nowhere did I manage a decent photo of one. Trail bird list:

• Wedge-tailed Eagle    
• Whistling Kite               
• Crested Pigeon           
• Budgerigar                   
• Pied Butcherbird         
• Australasian Magpie  
• Apostlebird
• Yellow Rumped Thornbill 
• Pale Headed Rosella

White-breasted Woodswallow

In the caravan park Woodswallows used the sprinklers to hawk for insects, and a Spotted Bowerbird picked berries in a shrub on the other side of the fence.

Manilla Road

Little Corellas, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Galahs

On the road from Lake Keepit to Manilla a grain truck had spilled part of its load on a sharp bend in the road, attracting large numbers of birds. The big parrots claimed the lion's share, but smaller birds including Plum-headed, Zebra and Red-browed Finches managed to eat their fill and raptors took their place in the food chain.

Zebra and Plum-headed Finch

Australian Pipit

Spotted Harrier

Red-rumped Parrot

Black-winged Kite

Lake Glenbawn: Apple Tree Flat

Sunset

Lake Glenbawn is nestled in the shadows of the Barrington Tops, just off the New England Highway via Aberdeen or Scone. It was formed in the late fifties by damming the Hunter River with a wall of rock and earth fill which looks inadequate for the job. It is popular with water skiers and fisherpeople at weekends, but mid week we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

On the lake were Pacific Black, Maned and Hardhead Ducks, Dusky Moorhens and Australian Coots, Australian Grebes and Great Crested Grebe and assorted Cormorants. On shore were Eastern Rosellas, Red-rumped Parrots, King Parrots, several varieties of Thornbill, Bronzewings, and all the usual suspects. All of these photos were taken without moving from my campsite.

Noisy Miner

Red-rumped Parrot

Eastern Rosella

Fitzpatrick Trackhead

Gang Gang Cockatoos tend to prefer the ranges and tablelands, so we seldom see them on the coast. It was quite a thrill when this group flew in as we were watching the fairywrens. They hung around for a couple of days, feeding in the low trees. Not sure what they were eating, they were nibbling on leaves, perhaps insect larvae? The reserve also had large numbers of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, while across the road at Billy Grace hundreds of Galahs came in to roost each day.

TSR #21 Mudgee

The travelling stock route and reserves network (TSR network) in New South Wales and Queensland is an extensive network of public land that was established for the droving of sheep and cattle during early European colonisation, often along traditional Aboriginal pathways through the landscape. Travelling stock routes are roads along which livestock can legally be driven, and usually have wide verges on which cattle can graze. Travelling stock reserves include stock routes as well as fenced areas for camping with or watering stock overnight. Because TSRs have remained publicly owned and generally have not been cleared, many protect remnants of woodland vegetation in the otherwise highly-cleared wheat and sheep farming belts.

The administration of NSW TSRs is complex, and differs between the geographic divisions of the state. In the west the TSRs are leased by private landholders with the condition that they provide access to travelling stock. In the east the Livestock Health and Pest Authorities currently oversee management, the collection of rates and the movement of stock, and are under increasing pressure to provide a clear economic case for the value of TSRs under their care. A range of uses are permitted including picnicking and walking, but this varies from reserve to reserve. There is a concern that some TSRs may be sold to neighbouring land holders, leading to the further break-up of the TSR network, loss of access for current users and the probable loss of key network functions. The TSR Network also faces a range of other threats, including overgrazing, invasive species, firewood collection, and mining.

Travelling Stock Reserves, with remnant vegetation and permanent water, play an important role in protecting bird species whose habitat has been reduced by broad scale farming.

Declining songbirds of the NSW sheep-wheat belt:
Brown Treecreeper Climacteris picumnus
Speckled Warbler Chthonicola sagittata
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza uropygialis
Southern Whiteface Aphelocephala leucopsis
Grey-crowned Babbler Pomatostomus temporalis
White-browed Babbler Pomatostomus superciliosus
Varied Sittella Daphoenositta chrysoptera
Crested Shrike-tit Falcunculus frontatus
Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris
Crested Bellbird Oreoica gutteralis
Restless Flycatcher Myiagra inquieta
Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans
Red-capped Robin Petroica goodenovii
Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata
Eastern Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis
Diamond Firetail Stagonopleura guttata

To get to Travelling Stock Reserve #21 head out of Mudgee towards Gulgong on the Castlereagh Highway. Pass Cullenbone Lane on the left and the TSR is on the right 0.7km further on, just before the crest of a hill. Driving over the crest there is a driveway on the left where you can safely turn to come back to the gate. Close the gate as there may be stock in the reserve. The track down to the river is rough but easily negotiated in 2WD. 

Striated Pardalote

Eastern Rosellas

Red-Browed Finch

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos

Surrounding Area

Central Coast, NSW

While backyard bird feeders are a well established garden addition in the northern hemisphere, here in Australia we are generally discouraged from providing food for wild birds, other than through growing bird attracting plants.

Among the arguments against backyard feeders are:

• It encourages larger birds, reducing diversity in the area.
• It can open birds up to predation by habituating them to the urban environment.
• Birds may become dependent on the easy food source and become less inclined to forage.
• The food may not be of sufficient quality or variety to provide adequate nutrition.
• Diseases can be transmitted at feeding stations.

However I do put out food on occasion for the Rainbow Lorikeets. I buy wild-bird nectar and also put out grapes, watermelon and other soft fruit. Generally I only do so if the birds gather in my trees of a morning, and often I won’t see them for weeks so I assume there is plentiful nectar and pollen in the area. The are the clowns of the bird world, and it is great to see them in in the garden. Eventually my shrubs will have grown to where they can provide all the birds’ needs.

We have had a week of very heavy rain, and this morning there was a huge flock waiting when I went outside, so I put out some thick nectar porridge and a selection of grapes and blueberries.

 

Adventure Bay

It was raining solidly as we skirted Adventure Bay, but we pulled over to check out the memorial at the spot where Captain Cook landed. Two Pacific Gulls were also pondering how different things might have been (the Dutch, French and Spanish also ‘discovered’ Australia). The garden across the road was a riot of cottage plants and New Holland Honeyeaters were taking advantage of the nectar on offer. Baby birds were demanding their share from the shrubs on the other side of the road.

As we watched the honeyeaters a group of parrots flew into the beach-side trees and pushing our way through the wet undergrowth we came across a group of feasting Green Rosellas. Not sure what the plant is, but it certainly occupied the Rosellas, and we were able to watch for some time and leave them still munching.

The sun came out so we made our way down to the beach, where a sign warned us of nesting Hooded Plovers. There were White-face Heron perched on an abandoned boat and European Starling pecking at flotsam. A fenced off area announced that that section of beach was reserved for the Hooded Plover, but either the plovers had not read the sign, or they didn’t appreciate the gesture.

Another heavy shower sent us to the nearby Bruny Island Berry Farm where we were able to while away the time working through the menu: berry coulis and fresh yoghurt, scones with home-made jam and cream, toasted focaccia filled with local smoked salmon and Tasmanian brie, and mixed berries in champagne jelly. Tasmanian Native Hens scratched around on the sodden lawn. A movement in a blackberry bush turned out to be an introduced Greenfinch.