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Just
got back from west of Griffith where I normally see Black HE in the flowering
(Swamp?) Box but this time there were hardly any HE at all (some Blue-faced for
I think the first time and usual Striped but not nesting as far as I could tell)
and no Black HE. No orioles either this year. Some Little Friars but
not many and the usual sh*t a bricks (White-plumed HE) and other bush junk or
'trash birds' as the yanks call them.
Did
see half a dozen maybe ten Orange Chats in one flock - thought they were Yellow
at the time but had the black throat.
Not
many ducks but the ones there were in great condition. 50 odd Glossy Ibis,
heaps of other Ibis, some Sharpies (not like the tens of thousands last year -
hardly any rice), Black fronted and Red kneed dotterels, usual Black winged
stilts plus a couple of dozen Banded Lapwings on the handful of pitiful rice
paddies. Variegated Wrens and one less fox to eat them all but not a
single cat seen! White breasted and White browed Woodswallows (some other
species I didn't bother to id at the time) and all three cuckoo-shrikes.
Thousands of Galahs, heaps of toppies (sorry Crested
Pigeons) and Red rumps feeding on the spilt wheat . Immature & female
Red-capped robins (still haven't seen a male ever), Inland and Yellow rumped
thornbills in mixed feeding flocks with Weebills. Some Zebra finches and
some Rufous whistlers, some Budgies but overall birds 'seemed' down as
expected. Probably other things I have forgot. Oh yeah quite a few raptors
- pretty much all of them but didn't see a Square-tail.
Ha ha
- guess how many birds were in the Apostlebird flock around
camp???????
12 of course.
Stopped in at Ingalba NR on the way there on
Friday morn for a quick look but not much around. Nice veg tho.
Can't remember who posted something about this place a few months back and what
it was about - maybe super on the paddock down from the railway
tracks???
cheers, Alex.
At least one Black Honeyeater still around early
this morning, a female. I was able to watch it for 15 minutes while it preened
and poked around in a dead mistletoe, occasionally making short
sallying flights after insects. It was only 70 metres east of the dam
described by Marnix, on the eastern edge of the adjacent treeline. I also had
very brief views of what may have been a male flying through.
A lot of bird activity in the same general area,
with Little Lorikeets (heard), Rufous Songlark (heard), White-browed
Woodswallows, Jacky Winters carrying food, Brown-headed and White-plumed
Honeyeaters, Spinebills, many Striated Pardalotes, Speckled Warbler, 2 Hooded
Robins, very vocal Trillers etc etc
Thanks Marnix and Maurits, great
find
cheers
Steve
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