birding-aus

RFI: Victorian Mallee, current conditions etc.

To: <>, birding-aus threads <>
Subject: RFI: Victorian Mallee, current conditions etc.
From: martin cachard <>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 00:13:10 +1030
Hi Ed
 
Others down that way may have more up to date info, but being an ex-Victorian & 
having been to Hattah a lot, hopefully the following from my trips there help 
you out a little....
 
Lake Tyrrell is great for Rufous Fieldwren & Redthroat - take the track that 
skirts the eastern side of the lake & drive slowly down that all the way out 
(not sure of conditions lately, it's been 5 years since I've been there). If 
that's no good for driving on, just walk it for a while & you should get 
something bobbing up. Otherwise, try the north end of Lake Walpool just to the 
east, you can drive straight to the saltbush areas - I've had both these guys 
there before as well, but it's not as reliable as the good long drive you get 
along Lake Tyrell.
 
Regent Parrots can be found at Lake Mournpal in Hattah-Kulkyne NP, esp late in 
the day - this site is where I've always camped when in Hattah as it's good for 
this species & very close to some other hot-spots in the mallee ares nearby. 
Drive the sandy tracks that go through the Kulkyne section to the NE of here 
late in afternoon & you should get some Regents flying about, or keep your 
fingers crossed at the camp as they sometimes turn-up there at dusk.
 
Mallee Emu-wren & Striated Grasswrens have usually performed for me in the 
mallee between Lake Mournpal & the Nowingi Track. Also the northern end of 
Nowingi Tr is a good area to hunt down the grasswren. Crested Bellbird & 
Chestnut QThrush are quite common anywhere in the mallee from Lake M to/& along 
Nowingi Track. 
 
You also have a very good chance of Mallefowl if you walk slowly along the 
tracks here as well. 
 
For BE Miners, I haven't seen one there for 30 years, but someone else could 
add to this for the latest best area - note that a BE Miner pic was posted on 
Eremaea birdline today seen near Lake Mournpal - it appears to be a hybrid to 
me from the pic, but the pic resolution is not good enough to get a really good 
look at the salient features to see how much of a BE Miner it is - maybe one of 
the birdline moderators (Tim??) can comment further on this...
 
Try the area west of Hattah store into the salt lakes area, as the mallee in 
this area has been very good to me in the past for Mallee Emu-wrens as well. 
The salt pans here could help you with the fieldwren & Redthroat too, plus the 
Belah/Bulokes there used to be great for Major Mitchell Cockatoos at times - 
further into the Sunset Country from here could also get you a Red-lored 
Whistler too.... worth a look if I were you...
 
Hope this helps...good luck !
 
Cheers
 
Martin Cachard
Cairns
0428 782 808

 
 
> From: 
> To: 
> Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 13:04:34 +0000
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] RFI: Victorian Mallee, current conditions etc.
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I am planning a weekend trip up to the Victorian Mallee next weekend. My main 
> mission is to get a mate as many inland birds as possible (their first trip 
> inland) combined with a few target species for me.
> 
> I was planning to go Lake Tyrrell, Bronzewing Reserve and Hattah-Kulkyne and 
> have checked out Tim Dolby's book, eremaea etc, but wondered if anyone had 
> been up there recently so would have the up to date info. Limiting fact or is 
> that we'll only be in a 2WD so I know a lot of tracks will be out.
> 
> 5 target species would be Regent Parrot, Rufous Fieldwren, Mallee Emu-wren, 
> Crested Bellbird, Chestnut Quail-thrush and an outside chance on Striated 
> Grasswren (although there seem to be no recent reports). 
> 
> (Love to get Malleefowl and Black-eared miners but I'm not holding my hopes 
> up there...)
> 
> Anyway, any info that anyone can give would be really appreciated.
> 
> Thanks all,
> 
> Ed Williams
> Seddon VIC
> 
> ===============================
> 
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to: 
> 
> http://birding-aus.org
> ===============================
                                          
===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU