Over the recent long weekend we spent a couple of days in bushland near the
Southern edge of the Paddy Ranges Park near Maryborough, Victoria (approx 120
km north-west of Melbourne).
This is typical goldfields country, having predominantly box-ironbark trees
with a wattle-cassinia understorey. The area seems to have become significantly
drier over the last 10-15 years, much reducing the herb/grass layer of the
forest. Added to this are other impacts such as beekeeping (feral bees taking
over scarce hollows), woodcutting (loss of older and hollow-bearing trees) and
mining (destructive clearing and poor rehabilitation processes). Also a program
of fuel reduction burning has started since the cataclysmic bushfire of 1985.
In spite of these detractions, the area remains a valuable wildlife habitat,
which with better protection could be a superb wildlife habitat. Over our
recent stay, the highlights were:
Black-chinned Honeyeater - inc. juveniles
Hooded Robin - 1 female
Crested Bellbird
Diamond Firetail - 1 only
other sightings included:
Hoary-headed Grebe
Australian Wood Duck
Brown Goshawk
Little Eagle
Brown Quail
Masked Lapwing
Common Bronzewing
Peaceful Dove
Crimson Rosella
Eastern Rosella
Red-rumped Parrot
Galah
Musk Lorikeet
Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo
Australian Owlet-nightjar
Superb Fairy-wren
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater
Fuscous Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Red Wattlebird
Eastern Yellow Robin
Crested Shrike-tit
Rufous Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
White-browed Babbler
White-winged Chough
Willie Wagtail
Australian Raven
Dusky Woodswallow
Australian Magpie
Grey Currawong
Magpie-lark
Welcome Swallow
European Goldfinch
Not bad for country in the grip of serious drought again (or should I say
'still'!)
good birding,
Jan Flack
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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