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"FOLLOW THAT BIRD" TOUR TO
BARRABA NSW 5-9 NOVEMBER 2003
A group of ten birders visited
Barraba, on the North-west Slopes of NSW during the period 5-9 November 2003 for
the purpose of checking out the "Birding Routes" of Barraba, a location
synonomous these days as being a place where one is likely to see the
Regent Honeyeater. This trip was centred around the historic beef and sheep
property "Oakhampton", now also an award winning B&B, located between
Manilla and Barraba and close to Split Rock Dam. The 1700 ha property has plenty
of its own White Box woodlands, some of which had commenced to flower and thus
attracting Little & Musk Lorikeets, and Noisy and Little Friarbirds. The
property also has a beautiful homestead garden with both native and European
trees and shrubs so that there were plenty of birds to see there as well. Good
stands of Bottlebrushes in the garden along with several flowering Mugga
Ironbarks, not only attracted the aforementioned birds, but also Brown,
Striped, Spiney-cheeked & White-plumed Honeyeaters,
and Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Zebra Finches and Southern Whitefaces fed on
the ground. Even a male Koel and 2 Channel-billed Cuckoos visited the house
garden each day! Two large dams on the property attracted Red-kneed Dotterels,
Yellow-billed Spoonbills, Black-winged Stilts and the usual array of ducks,
Coots & Moorhens, but also Peregrine Falcon, Whistling Kite, Brown Falcon,
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Little Eagle, Brown Goshawk & Kestrel. Turquoise Parrots
were also located in the woodlands.
The first full day there was spent
checking out the Borah & Tarpoley Travelling Stock Reserve (TSR) in Barraba
and Adams Reserve in Manilla Shire. White-winged Trillers, Rufous Songlarks,
Brown Treecreepers, Sacred Kingfishers, Rufous Whistlers, Masked and
White-browed Woodswallows were a feature of every site we visted in Barraba
Shire and nests were found of most species. In addition at Tarpoley TSR (Bird
Route No 8) we also found some Crested Shrike-tits and Hooded Robins, Jacky
Winters and Peaceful Doves.
At the well known Borah TSR (Bird
Route No 9), where we lunched under the shade of the creek side vegetation, we
saw more Turquoise Parrots, as well as Fuscous Honeyeaters, White-bellied
Cuckoo-shrikes, a Little Lorikeet feeding two nestlings in the tree
hollow, and a nice group of Double-barred & Plum-headed Finches and Diamond
Firetails, and nearby there was a Pallid Cuckoo. Dollarbirds, Bee-eaters, Yellow
Robins & Mistlebirds were present in the creekside vegetation. From here we
finished the day at Adams Reserve where a Black Falcon was seen dive bombing a
Little Eagle, and Spiney-cheeked Honeyeaters and Olive-backed Orioles attracted
our attention.
Next day (7/11/03) we birded along
the Cobbadah-Upper Horton Bird Routes (No.12) stopping at a number of places in
the White Box woodlands along this route. Plenty of White Box in flower so that
Little, Musk, Scakly-breasted and even a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets in Upper
Horton were the order of the day. Once again Turquoise Parrots we found in two
locations as were Black-chinned Honeyeaters, while Jacky Winter, Fuscous
Honeyeater, Yellow Robin, Willie Wagtails and Sacred Kingfishers were all
found nesting. Good view were had of King & Red-winged Parrots and Dusky
Woodswallows. Spotted Bowerbirds were found in Upper Horton village, while
Zebra, Red-browed, Double-banded & Plum-headed Finches were found along the
Horton River and Choughs, Fairy Martins, Apostlebirds and Striated Pardalotes
were found nesting. In the afternoon we visited Little Creek TSR ( No 6) where
in the rain and drizzle we ate our lunch and watched Brown-headed Honeyeaters,
White-throated Gerygones and Restless Flycatchers, while a visit to
Plumthorpe TSR (No.5) gave us good views of Wedge-tailed Eagles, Common
Bronzewings and a Hobby, not to mention just about all of the above birds. While
at Upper Horton we checked out the Paulina Trees in a private yard where Regent
Honeyeaters had been reported for several days earlier but saw none. A quick
visit to the Mille TSR (No 3) found more Diamond Firetails, Dusky Woodswallow
feeding flying young, and nest of the Rufous Songlark with 3
young.
Our final full day at Barraba saw us
travelling along the Garibaldi TSR (No. 11) & the Nangagrah & Conoor
TSRs (No.10). Conditions here in the eastern part of the Shirev turned out to be
much drier than the western side but in the Gulf Creek and Coonoor sites, some
Mugga Ironbark, c. 15% was in flower, while around the Woodsreef area there was
some White Box and Yellow Box flowering. Alas no Regent Honeyeaters were found
but we did get good views of Little & Wedge-tailed Eagles at Gulf Creek
Sports Ground along with Musk Lorikeets feeding young, and a Fantailed Cuckoo.
At Garbaldi TSR our first Grey Fantail for the trip was seen; while at Conoor
TSR we had great views of a number of White-throated Gerygones including one
building a nest. Finally at Nangahrah TSR we located nesting Weebills and
Black-fronted Dotterels on the common at Woodsreef. On the way back, we call in
at the Winery, some 3 km north of Barraba to replenish our supplies only to
learn from the proprietor that at 1000hrs that morning 10 Regent Honeyeaters
came unexpectedly into his clump of flowering bottlebrush (the property adjoins
Mille Reserve)! Alas we were heading home next day so that those Regents will
have to wait for another visit.
We returned home travelling from
Manilla via the Moore Creek Rd to Bendemeer, then along the Thunderbolt Way
through Walcha, Nowendoc, Bretti Camping Reserve, Gloucester, Newcastle to
Sydney through some great country. Conditons between Walcha and Nowendoc were
very green and lush, and we were able to have some good sightings of Azure
Kingfisher, Satin Bowerbird, Scarlet Honeyeater and other coastal birds. All up
123 species were seen in the Barraba District while 143 species in total were
seen for the trip, a special feature of this trip was the number of nests and
birds feeding young that were located.. Accomdation at "Oakhampton" was
excellent while the meals prepared and served by our hosts there, Belinda Nixon
& family (6th generation owners of the property) was a memorial feature of
the trip, and while wew were there we were able to watch Australia beat Scotland
in the Rugby! Barraba is well worth a visit, and a repeat visit for those who
have been there before. Don't forget to check out the winery for its birds and
its wines, we particularly liked the Cabernet Sauvignon! The people of Barraba
are very happy to welcome visitors to their Shire.
Alan Morris
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