David Mitford and I
have just returned from an enjoyable 4 and ½ day trip in western NSW and SW
QLD seeing a good variety of inland birds with David scoring about
18 lifers and one new bird for myself.
The highlights of the trip included:
BOGAN GATE, NSW (27/12/05)
We saw here about 20 Superb Parrots beside the main road
LAKE CARGELLIGO
(27/12/05)
A brief visit had a few Whiskered Terns on the Lake
and just outside the town a number of White-winged Wrens (at least 2 adult
males with the plainer females/Immature birds), several Brown Songlarks and a Spotted Harrier.
NOMBINNIE NATURE RESERVE, NSW (27-28/12/05)
Here we saw/heard about 12 Southern Scrub-robins, 4 plus Shy Heathwrens, about 50 very obliging Grey-fronted and several
Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters, Crested Bellbirds, Gilberts Whistlers, several
Splendid Wrens, 20 Fork-tailed Swifts (flying overhead with Woodswallows,
Swallows and Martins), many White-browed and a few Masked Woodswallows.
Also heard but not seen were a single Black and a White-fronted Honeyeater. While
spotlighting we also saw a Spotted Nightjar and heard a Barn Owl there at
night.
MT HOPE, NSW (28/12/05)
Here we saw about 10 more Fork-tailed Swifts (again with Woodswallows, Swallows and Martins), a few Crimson Chats
and a pair of Hooded Robins
COBAR, NSW (28/12/05)
On a dam about 50 km north of Cobar we saw a
beautiful adult male Orange Chat with 4 female/young birds, a few more Crimson
Chats, both Diamond and Bar-shouldered Doves, a Red-winged Parrot, a
White-fronted Honeyeater and several Spotted Bowerbirds
BOURKE (28-30/12/05)
We saw at least 7 Red-tailed Black Cockatoos along with a hundred or so
Little Corellas and several Red-winged Parrots beside the Darling
River. Another interesting sighting was a male Red-rumped Parrot with diluted pigmentation almost creamy in colour feeding with a normal coloured
female bird.
Part 2 to follow…..
Edwin Vella
