Albury Wedding Trip - 1st Instalment (it's long enough anyway!!)

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Hi everyone,

 

Just got back from a wedding trip to Albury and managed to get heaps of birding and botany in as well.

 

Arrived Thursday arvo and after dress fittings etc (my fiancé was a bridesmaid and eldest daughter (3.5yo) the flower girl) saw a Blue-faced HE whilst checking into the hotel.  I know this in nothing out of sorts but still very nice for me.  I then managed to get dropped off at the causeway just over the river into Wodonga.  Went for a walk upstream starting off well with a Shrike tit in the river red gums and a pair of Little Friarbirds a bit further on the only birds worthy of note but did get great enjoyment out of some Brush tailed Possums playing chaseys up and down the massive trees (it was getting quite dark by this stage)

 

Got up early on Fri and went down to the Box-Ironbark NP opposite the highway from Chiltern.  I've been meaning to do this for years as I have literally gone past it a hundred times and never stopped for a look for various reasons.

Met an elderly English birder on the 1st cnr where there were no Painted HE's around but I did hear the only White-eared HE for the trip.  He did say he saw a Yellow Plumed HE there too but I didn't see it and didn't see any others for the trip.

 

Then on the way to Cyanide dam I heard lorikeets - and lots of them.  Got out and there were mobs of Little Lori's going this way and that maybe over 100 birds all up.  Got some great views of them perched in the early morning sun and it was a lifer for the English birder so he was quite 'chuffed'. 

 

Got to the Honeyeater Picnic ground next to Cyanide dam and found out why it is named so.  Absolutely amazing and nearly overwhelming.  Saw some Black Chinned HE and a possible Regent HE amongst the hundreds of Yellow tufted and Fuscous HEs.  Thought there was Brown Headed HE as well but they could've been immature Black chinned HE???  The possible Regent was coming down for a drink and of course flushed as soon as I got my bins to my eyes but I got a flash of yellowish/orange/red colour and it appeared a largish black bird with the naked eye from about 10 metres???  I had a quick look in the area it flew to but couldn't find it and didn't really want to chase it away from a drink if it was a Regent.  The more I think about there is nothing else it could've been except an upright looking male Blackbird but what the chance of that?!!!  It was nice to see White browed babblers around the carpark and watch their antics for a while.  Lots of Brown Treecreepers, juveniles included, with one adult landing on a trunk at eye height less than half a metre away from us.  Great views of a shrike tit coming down to drink which the English fella was quite impressed by also.  Also heard a Peaceful Dove but it stopped calling before I could chase up on it so it may have been an oriole mimicking.  Waxlips, (late) early nancy's, sundew and Stackhousia blooming and the local grevillea was pretty too (it looked just like the ones here so I presume G. alpina).  Only one flowering gum around the dam - a big white box that had heaps of Noisy Friars and Olive backed Orioles in it chasing everything else away.  It seemed to me that the Orioles were feeding on the flowers?? I didn't know they did this.  I've never seen so many orioles either in one spot there must've been at least ten around the dam, some in immature plumage and some adults.  Also heaps of Eastern Yellow Robins.  The lovely English bloke had to leave by 8am to get on the road to Sydney so he left me there. Dipped out on Turquoise Parrot unfortunately.

 

I then drove slowly on thru the park with the windows down stopping to check out any flowering box or strange calls etc.  Up on the ridge at the top of the cyanide dam watershed I found a lone sitella, dusky woodswallows, a pair of little cuckoo shrikes and finally found some thornbills.  Also another group of white browed babblers.  I also checked out Skeleton Hill track but couldn't see or hear any Chestnut Rumped Heathwrens.

 

I then drove N-NNE along Black Dog rd or Deep creek rd (one or the other) on to Mt Pilot NP and in the NW cnr of the park met some lovely elderly female amateur botanists who showed me heaps of orchids etc.  Spider Orchids nearly up to my knees!!!  Blue Diuris (donkey orchids) of some sort which are apparently rare and very beautiful and yellow ones but diff to the ones here.  Lots of other things too but my mind was getting frazzled by this stage and I left the dig cam in Canberra!!!  The park was totally devastated by the 2003 fires but in the regrowth there was White throated and Western Gerygones calling, at this stage I must admit I was over birdwatching and much more interested in the flora.  There was a smaller species of Twining Fringe Lily with flowers about half the size of the ones up here, apparently they will come out soon.  After that I couldn't be bothered going on the Mt Pilot so went back to cyanide dam to sit down and see if the possible Regent would come back - which it didn't.  That's about all I can remember at the moment but I'm sure I think of more to put in the next instalment tomorrow!

 

cheers, Alex.