Hi Steve and others,
just back from a couple of days birding
throughout north east and northern Victoria. Spent a half a day at Chiltern-Mt
Pilot National Park on Friday and met up with Eileen Collins from the Friends
of Chiltern Box-Ironbark NP. Spent about 1-2 hours around Green Hill Road
(north of the highway) looking for Regents, Swift Parrots and other woodland
birds. Very few Eucalypts are in flower at the moment (different to that
around Horsham and Dadswell Bridge where a number of trees are flowering well)
but hopefully after the recent rains condtions will improve. Many of the
Stringybarks and wattles throughout the Park are dead due to the drought.
Although up to seven Regent Honeyeaters were regularly seen a couple of weeks
ago no birds were seen this time - the birds have most likely moved after the
rains. In April, Eileen and others regularly observed Regent's, Black
Honeyeaters and White-fronted HE's at the same location. After having a good
look through this area we then went south of the Highway to Honeyeater Picnic
Area. Cyanide Dam is still dry and has been since January but there were still
a few birds getting around. Some of the birds recorded during the day include
Black-chinned Honeyeater, White-plumed HE, Fuscus HE, Yellow-tufted HE,
Brown-headed HE, Eastern Spinebill, Eastern Yellow Robin, Turquoise Parrot,
White-browed Babbler, Little Lorikeet, Mistletoebird, White-winged Chuff, Noisy
Friarbird, Goldern Whistler, Crested Shrike-tit, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike
and Peaceful Dove to name a few. The recent rains have also stimulated frogs
such as Spotted Marsh Frog and Plains Froglet to call etc. Check out
information on birding in the Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park at
http://www.tourisminternet.com.au/chbirdn1.htm
Yeaterday (Saturday) headed to Terrick Terrick National Park to have a look
around. Only had a couple of hours before it got dark to race around and do
some birdwatching. As mentioned by Steve the area has certainly greened up and
the dams have filled after the recent rain. Some of the birds recorded include
Austalian Ringneck (2), Zebra Finch (10), Red-rumped Parrots (30+) along
Mitiamo-Forest Road, Red-capped Robin (2), Hooded Robin (1) and White-winged
Chuff (30-40) to name a few in the native White Cypruss Woodland. Had a quick
look over the grassland areas but nothing interesting seen.
Hope to head up there for a few days in either Spring or Summer to do some bird
watching and frog and herp searching.
On the way from Benella through to Echuca, and then to Terrick Terrick NP l was
keeping an eye out for Brolgas but no such luck.
Cheers
Aaron Organ
Zoologist
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-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Clark
Sent: Fri 16/05/2003 3:40 AM
To:
Cc:
Subject: [BIRDING-AUS] Terrick Terrick and a Barking Owl
G'day all
I'm just back from some field work (establishment of bluebush under
cereal crops) up near Terrick Terrick National Park. (Northen Plains,
Victoria). Naturally I found a few hours to do some birding in the
park. My first visit to this oasis so I mostly stayed around the
southern end near the picnic area. Lots of nice dry country birds we
don't get down Hamilton way. I saw about 40 species in and around the
park. Highlights were Zebra Finch, Peaceful Dove, Black-faced
Woodswallow, Hooded Robin, Red-capped Robin, Ringneck, Southern
Whiteface and Black-chinned Honeyeater. Other good birds seen while
travelling around the area: Brolga (pair west of Mitiamo), Banded
Lapwing and a Barking Owl.
The Barking Owl was flushed from a roadside she-oak and flew into a
peppercorn. It sat there in clear view while I got my binoculars and
then let us look closely for several minutes until we thought we should
leave it in piece. My first Barking Owl in Victoria and only my second
sighting (first was a pair in the Darwin bot gardens a couple of years
ago). My colleagues were most impressed with this handsome bird.
We wandered around in the national park grasslands for a while yesterday
afternoon but couldn't conjure up a Plains Wanderer. What do they do
during the day? Do they flush like quail or sneak away? Lots of rain
on the plains on Wednesday night - up to 30 mm and 20+ was common. It
should be a good season for the grasslands and the birds.
Cheers
Steve Clark
Hamilton, Vic
http://members.datafast.net.au/clarkja/sw_birds.htm
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