Hi All,
I have just finished a 5 day trip to SW QLD, including my first trip to Bowra
Station. Plenty of birds, with highlights as follows:
Day 1: Spent Saturday afternoon driving from Brisbane to St George, listening
to the incredible Grand Final on the radio! Before reaching Toowoomba I had
already seen Cockatiels, and before St George had seen Red-winged Parrots,
Yellow-throated Miners, Emus and surprisingly a Channel-billed Cuckoo very
close to St George.
Day 2: Spent the morning driving St George to Bowra, with a few stops for some
roadside birding. Just outside St George we saw our first Splendid Fairy-Wrens,
Pink Cockatoo, Singing, Spiny-cheeked and Striped Honeyeaters, and a Little
Eagle on a nest. Further on we stopped at a dam just off the road and saw a
group of about 12 Plum-headed Finches along with Double-barred Finches, nesting
White-necked Heron, Plumed Whistling-Duck, Spotted Bowerbird, Little
Woodswallow and Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo amongst others. We arrived at Bowra
around 2pm and after checking in and getting an update from the very helpful
caretakers, Graham and Robyn, headed out birding. We only managed a couple of
hours, and didn't find anything spectacular, with a distant Black-breasted
Buzzard, Hooded Robins and nesting Splendid Fairy-Wrens the highlights. We also
saw an adult Pallid Cuckoo feeding another Pallid Cuckoo in immature plumage,
interesting behaviour that I am sure I read something about somewhere recently.
Day 3: We spent the entire day birding at Bowra, and what a day it was. There
was an incredible amount of activity, most already mentioned in Alana Dare's
post from today. The morning was very productive, as we found our targets
Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrush, Hall's Babbler and Bourke's Parrot. Other birds
included Little, Black-faced, White-breasted, White-browed and Masked
Woodswallows, many Emus, Chestnut-crowned Babbler, and nesting Brown Falcon. In
the afternoon we saw Square-tailed Kite and Little Eagle on the road back from
Cunnamulla, the nesting Ground Cuckoo-Shrikes, and on a spotlighting trip found
Nankeen Night-Heron, as well as hearing Owlet-Nightjar, Spotted Nightjar and
Southern Boobook.
Day 4: We spent the morning at Bowra, finding an obliging party of three
Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrushes, as well as Redthroat and a very vocal Painted
Honeyeater. Near the homestead we found Red-browed Pardalote and Plum-headed
Finch, and also watched the Spotted Bowerbird attending his bower. We left
Bowra mid-morning for Noccundra, stopping at Lake Bindegolly on the way. It was
mid-afternoon so poor timing bird-wise, but we did see our first Budgerigars of
the trip, White-winged and Variegated Fairy-Wrens, Plumed Whistling-Ducks,
Pink-eared Duck, Hardhead, all three grebes, Gull-billed, Whiskered and Caspian
Terns. We also got Little Button-Quail and saw our first Crimson Chats by the
roadside between Thargomindah and the turn-off to Noccundra.
Day 5: We were up very early this morning to get to Cooper's Crossing for
daybreak. Our main target was Grey Grasswren, but in the process we saw a party
of 12 Flock Bronzewings wheeling over, Glossy Ibis, Spotted Harrier and Stubble
Quail. After 5 hours of searching we admitted defeat by the Grey Grasswren,
even though conditions look good at the moment. Perhaps this makes them harder
to find - has anyone seen them there recently? We left Cooper's Crossing and
started heading for home via Eromanga. It was a long afternoon with only a few
additions to the list - Australian Pratincole, three Black Falcons following a
locust swarm, and a party of about 20 Brolgas near Quilpie.
Non-birding highlights during the trip included Euros, Red Kangaroos, hundreds
of Central Bearded Dragons, Burns' Dragon, Central Netted Dragon, Shingleback,
Eastern Bluetongue, Royal Ctenotus, Gidgee Skink, Gould's Goanna, De Vi's
Banded Snake, Green Tree Frog, Spotted Grass Frog, Peron's Tree Frog, Red Tree
Frog, Broad-palmed Frog, Long-thumbed Frog, plus one I'm still figuring out.
If anyone has any questions, or would like any extra information on the birds
seen or sites visited, please let me know!
Good Birding.
Nick Leseberg
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