Marnix (and others).
Answers to your questions.
The white cones at Loghnan will almost certainly be marking Malleefowl mounds
so that they can be picked up from during aerial surveys. If there was no
obvious mound there they are probably very old and inactive for a long time.
The mound that was active near the southern boundary in the 1990s certainly had
a cone nearby but I can't remember the number.
The Dragon sounds like a Nobbi (depends on the size, Mallee Dragons are quite
small - maximum of 15cm total length).
The snake would not be a Death Adder (very rare in western NSW) and Mulga, and
the two Brown Snakes do all occur in the area, but the Eastern Brown is the
commonest species.
The sign refers to a Rankins Springs Bird Trail that a resident of the Springs
was trying to set up. She got money for the signs but nothing (at least last
year) for the brochures or anything else. Carrathool Shire was the council
funding it but not certain what progress has been made.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Peter
> To: > From: > Date:
> Wed, 7 Nov 2007 12:17:04 +1100> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Trip Report -
> Hay-Griffith-Hillston (NSW) - 4-6 Nov 2007 (long) [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]> > > I
> have just returned from a wonderful few days out west visiting birding> spots
> near Griffith, Hay, Hillston and Rankin Springs. I'd like to thank> everyone
> who replied to my requests for information. Overall I picked up 5> 'lifers' -
> Brolga, Australian Pratincole, Chestnut Quail-thrush,> White-browed
> Treecreeper and Major Mitchell's Cockatoo. The White-fronted> Honeyeaters and
> Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters were a highlight as well> considering the dearth of
> honeyeaters around at the moment.> > The weather was varied with unseasonal
> cold plus rain on Sunday. It did not> rise above 14 degrees in Griffith all
> day! After about 3pm the rain set in> and it did not stop. Monday and
> Tuesday, however, were both mild and sunny> - around 21-23 degrees - perfect
> for all day birding, despite the> occasional gusts of wind. The rain did make
> most unsealed tracks muddy and> some impassable, especially in the mallee
> country. On the other hand the> rain produced some flowering of flowers and
> attracted many birds to the> roadside puddles.> > SUNDAY 4 NOVEMBER> > The
> day started, unfortunately, with the sad sight of 3 dead Superb Parrots>
> lying by the Barton Highway just outside of Canberra.> > Junee Wetland and
> Boardwalk> 1 BROWN QUAIL, 1 LITTLE GRASSBIRD (heard).> > Old Junee> 1 SUPERB
> PARROT.> > Narranderra Wetlands> A Koala mum craddling a youngster some 3
> metres up. Wonderful sight. 4> SUPERB PARROTS, 1 WHITE-NECKED HERON.> >
> Oolambeyan National Park> In torrential rain 4 AUSTRALIAN PRATINCOLES and >70
> BANDED LAPWINGS (incl.> 2 dependant young) along eastern boundary fence.
> Several BLACK KITES on> road in.> > Darlington Point> >300 LITTLE CORELLAS, 1
> SUPERB PARROT.> > Fivebough Swamp> 1,000s of GREY TEAL, >500 GLOSSY IBIS,
> >100 BLACK-TAILED NATIVE-HENS, 60> WHISKERED TERNS, 28 RED-NECKED AVOCET, 15
> MARSH SANDPIPERS, 5 SHARP-TAILED> SANDPIPERS, 8 HARDHEAD, 1 CHESTNUT TEAL
> (male), 2 AUSTRALASIAN SHOVELER, 6> WHITE-FRONTED CHATS, 20 RED-KNEED
> DOTTERELS, 3 separate groups of> VARIEGATED FAIRY-WRENS, 3 SPOTTED CRAKES, 1
> BAILLON'S CRAKE, 40 AUSTRALIAN> SHELDUCK, LITTLE GRASSBIRDS and GOLDEN-HEADED
> CISTICOLA were common, 1> SWAMP HARRIER, >50 BLACK-WINGED STILTS,1 GREAT
> EGRET, 2 INTERMEDIATE> EGRETS, 2 CATTLE EGRETS, 3 ROYAL SPOONBILLS,7
> PELICANS, 1 DARTER, 1> HORSFIELD'S BRONZE-CUCKOO, several FAIRY MARTINS. 24
> BROLGA flew into the> ephemeral swamp at dusk. What an awesome sight to
> behold from the Hooey Rd> Lookout. Pairs and small groups flew off and over
> the swamp all morning the> next day.> > MONDAY 5 NOVEMBER> > Spent the night
> in Griffith. I revisited Fivebough Swamp in the morning and> have merged
> sightings from both visits above.> > Griffith> 1 MAJOR MITCHELL'S COCKATOO.>
> > Binya State Forest> 2 BAR-SHOULDERED DOVES (Along Whitton Stock Route by
> puddle in middle of> road), 2 WHITE-BROWED TREECREEPERS (Along road to Mt
> Brogden Walking Track,> 500m from Whitton Stock Route), Black-eared Cuckoo
> (possibly heard at bend> in road towards Spring Hill), BROWN TREECREEPERS
> (nesting in large euc. at> crossroads of Whitton Stock Route, Mallee Rd,
> Spring Hill Rd), 3> SPINY-CHEEKED HONEYEATERS (at start of road to Mt Brogden
> Walking Track), 2> HOODED ROBINS (male and juvenile), plenty of other birds
> such as TRILLERS,> CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILLS, RED-CAPPED & YELLOW ROBINS,
> WHITE-BROWED> BABBLERS, SITTELLAS, SPECKLED WARBLERS, WHITEFACES.> > Yenda> 1
> CATTLE EGRET (br. plumage).> > Campbell's Swamp> There was surprisingly some
> water present after the rains. 4 COCKATIEL, 2> SWAMP HARRIERS, 2
> WHITE-BREASTED WOODSWALLOWS (nesting), 1 SINGING> HONEYEATER,
> MISTLETOEBIRDS.> > Nericon Swamp> Bone dry. Only birds were several
> MISTLETOEBIRDS and WEEBILLS.> > Lake Wyangan> All seen in drying patch of
> lake along causeway between northern and> southern lakes: 10 SPOTTED CRAKES,
> 1 MARSH SANDPIPER, 1 SHARP-TAILED> SANDPIPER, 5 RED-KNEED DOTTERELS, 1 GREAT
> EGRET, 2 CHESTNUT TEAL, 1> BLACK-FRONTED DOTTEREL, 2 DARTERS, LITTLE
> GRASSBIRD (heard), >30> BLACK-TAILED NATIVE-HENS, 2 LITTLE EGRETS, 9
> PELICANS, 11 BLACK-TAILED> NATIVE-HENS.> > Merriwagga State Forest> 1
> Shingleback Skink.> > Langtree> 1 dead Major Mitchell's Cockatoo along
> highway.> > Kidman Way> The section of road between Hillston and Matakana
> produced an EMU, several> Western Grey Kangaroos, 6 COCKATIEL, several
> GREY-CROWNED BABBLERS, RAINBOW> BEE-EATERS and a BLACK KITE. 2 BROWN
> TREECREEPERS and a BLACK KITE by the> Lachlan River.> > Nombinnie Nature
> Reserve> I explored the mallee along One Eye Fire Trail looking for
> Malleefowl and> spent an hour at a woodland site in the water supply reserve
> just off the> Kidman Way. In the woodland the grassland was carpeted in
> flowers which had> attracted many birds to feed on the insects. In the mallee
> I found CRESTED> BELLBIRD, INLAND THORNBILL, SPLENDED FAIRY-WREN, MULGA
> PARROTS and> RED-CAPPED ROBINS. In the grassy woodland I had RAINBOW
> BEE-EATERS,> WHITE-BROWED WOODSWALLOWS, BLUE BONNETS, MASKED WOODSWALLOWS,
> SITTELLAS,> WHITEFACE, RESTLESS FLYCATCHER, HORSFIELD'S BRONZE-CUCKOO,
> TRILLERS, JACKY> WINTER, STRIPED HONEYEATERS, SPINY-CHEEKED HONEYEATER, BROWN
> FALCON and> GREY-CROWNED BABBLERS.> > TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER> > Spent the night
> in Hillston.> > Lake Woorabinda (Hillston)> A picturesque but drying lake
> along the Lachlan River. >200 LITTLE> CORELLAS, 150 GLOSSY IBIS plus both
> other ibis species, 2 LITTLE EGRETS, 3> INTERMEDIATE EGRETS, 6 GREAT EGRETS,
> 12 PELICANS, 22 YELLOW-BILLED> SPOONBILLS, 18 ROYAL SPOONBILLS, 3
> BLACK-FRONTED DOTTERELS (incl. 1 young),> 3 RED-KNEED DOTTERELS (incl. 1
> juvenile), 100 BLACK-WINGED STILTS, 1> WHITE-NECKED HERON, 2 MARSH
> SANDPIPERS, 10 SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPERS. Along> the shore and river were
> LITTLE FRIARBIRDS, SACRED KINGFISHER, YELLOW> ROSELLAS and GREY-CROWNED
> BABBLERS.> > Loughnan Nature Reserve> I spent almost 4 hours in the morning
> exploring the 365 ha mallee reserve.> I did not find any sign of Malleefowl.
> The land is crisscrossed with roo> tracks and I saw both Western Grey
> Kangaroo and Red Kangaroos (Are they> found here?). I couldn't even find a
> track which led to the inactive mound> in the SW corner. I entered the
> reserve at the SW corner and explored a> large section, then I drove to the
> NW corner and explored a section there,> and finally I entered the reserve
> just south of an open wooded spot and> explored there. The undoubted
> highlight was a single female CHESTNUT> QUAIL-THRUSH. I later flushed what I
> think was the same bird further in.> All up Loughnan was very quite and
> required a lot more work to find birds> than I suspect Round Hill would for
> example have taken. Despite this my> persistence paid some dividends with
> good close views of a male CRESTED> BELLBIRD in a mallee, a single
> YELLOW-PLUMED HONEYEATER, 3 STRIATED> PARDALOTES (I was hoping to see the
> Yellow-rumped race of Spotted), both> INLAND and CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILLS
> and many groups of SPLENDID> FAIRY-WRENS and RED-CAPPED ROBINS. Also
> RINGNECKS and MULGA PARROTS,> BEE-EATERS, BROWN-HEADED HONEYEATERS, a WESTERN
> GERYGONE and WEEBILLS. A> BROWN SONGLARK was in a field across the road. No
> sign of any Shy> Heathwrens unfortunately. The mallee I saw did not seem
> dense enough to> support Southern Scrub-robin either.> > Near the SW corner I
> found some large white cones with numbers on them. The> first one had 08, the
> second 65. I couldn't find anymore. I wonder if> anyone has any idea what
> they could mean?> > Other highlights were a dragon with a bright yellow
> dorsal stripe and a> possible second thinner, vaguer stripe nearer its belly.
> Could this be a> Mallee Dragon or was it just a Nobbi Dragon (ssp. coggeri)?
> The tail end of> a snake disappearing down a burrow at the base of a shrub.
> It was a dark> sand to brown-red colour with lighter bands. It didn't look
> like a Death> Adder. What could it have been? Do Western Browns occur this
> far east? Do> Mulga Snakes occur here? Or was it just an Eastern Brown?> Also
> the biggest native cockroaches I have ever seen. There were quite a> number
> around, some disappearing down burrows. I took a photo of one in> case anyone
> can identify them. Happy to forward it.> > Monia Gap Road> This unsealed road
> runs for 91 kms from Hillston to Rankin Springs. More> common roadside birds
> were RINGNECKS, BLUE BONNETS, APOSTLEBIRDS and> YELLOW-THROATED MINERS. An
> Echidna was crossing the road at one point. I> then found a hotspot some 28
> kms before Rankin Springs with roadside> plantings(?) of acacia and other
> shrubs among some pines. Water had> collected in roadside puddles attracting
> birds and a large Eremophila was> flowering nearby. Feeding from the flowers
> were 3 WHITE-FRONTED HONEYEATERS> and many YELLOW-THROATED MINERS. Nearby
> were MULGA PARROTS and an EMU with> 2 chicks and another Shingleback Skink.
> At an empty dam nearby there was a> strange sign: "Half Way Dam - Bird Watch
> No.7'. I wonder what this could> mean? Is this a stop on a known birdwatching
> route? I have never heard of> it.> > Rankin Springs> 4 EMU> > Taleeban
> Mallee> The road in was wet and muddy and I had to park a km short and walk
> in the> rest of the way. At the NW corner the area was flooded. When I
> finally got> in I obtained good views of CRESTED BELLBIRD, SPLENDID
> FAIRY-WREN,> VARIEGATED FAIRY-WREN, CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILL, RED-CAPPED
> ROBIN,> RINGNECKS and many YELLOW-PLUMED HONEYEATERS. This species was by far
> the> most common honeyeater present. Overhead I watched a LITTLE EAGLE. I>
> believe I heard a Gilbert's Whistler as well but couldn't track it down.>
> Unfortunately I could only spend an hour here. I would have liked to spend>
> longer as I had seen Shy Heathwren and Spotted Nightjar at this site in>
> spring 2003.> > Yiddah Creek (West Wyalong)> 1 ROYAL SPOONBILL, 1 GREAT
> EGRET.> > Combaning> 2 SUPERB PARROTS, 2 COCKATIEL.> > Yeo Yeo (Jindalee)> 1
> COCKATIEL.> > Gidginbung> 6 COCKATIEL.> > Wallendbeen> 1 BROWN SONGLARK.> > >
> Cheers> > Marnix Zwankhuizen> Senior Analyst/Programmer> Java Enterprise
> Technology> IT Branch> Australian Electoral Commission> > Ph: 02 6271 4465>
> Fax: 02 6271 4644> Email: > > > > > DISCLAIMER:>
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> of information in the email or attachments. > >
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