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Breelong National Park NSW

To: Birding Aus <>
Subject: Breelong National Park NSW
From: Penny Brockman <>
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:34:50 +1100

Just spent 3.5 days helping with bird surveys in this new national park just north of Eumungerie and Dubbo, NSW. It's a thickly wooded area with mainly calitris, ironbark and Pillaga Box, logged in the past and so a lot of regrowth. The Castlereagh River forms part of the northern boundary. Owling at night produced Boobooks, and Owlet Nightjar called each night over my tent. 3 Glossy Black Cockatoos visited a nearby jam one evening, one on the other two evenings.

Birds were as expected - Red-cap Robins, Speckled Warblers, lots of Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Striped Honeyeaters, Noisy and Little Friarbirds - some of the box was in flower as well as mistletoe. Lots of White-throated Treecreepers but only two Brown TCs heard. One Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, and large parties of Grey-crowned Babblers in most areas, and a very large party of White-browed Babblers at one site. Another surveyor saw a male Turquoise Parrot. Few raptors and these in the properties adjoining the park - Wedge-tailed Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite, kestrel and presumed Brown Goshawk - looking into sun early morning.

The most unusual sighting was a flock of around 80 Eastern Rosellas on the north-east boundary, feeding on a very over-grazed paddock adjoining the park. It had just rained and the birds were flying from the national park trees into the paddock, many settling on a wire fence about 50m in from the park fence (counted 42 on this fence at one time), and many more on the ground foraging and flying back and forth from the trees.

Also nearby were about 60 White-Winged Chough.

Other groups were collecting plants and insects, and turning over logs hoping to find reptiles, and setting mammal and bat traps etc, but things were rather quiet in the reptile/mammal area mainly I guess due to time of year. I think our bird total was about 64 species.

Would be good to spend time there in spring or when the ironbarks are flowering. Nat.Parks staff are keen to encourage people to visit but have yet to set up official camping area/s with toilets (we had two portables) and shelters.
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