Last Thursday I left for Bourke to try to catch the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos in their famous seasonal attack on the fruit of the White Cedars. As it happened I was a bit late, and lucky to find them at all. The trees had been thoroughly worked over, with only a few remnant fruit here and there. Moreover. Bourke is the BARKING DOG capital of Australia. 2 houses out of 3 have at least one barker that gives tongue if you approach within 50m of its boundary, generally setting off a few others in the vicinity. The stalking of feeding cockatoos in front and back yards is generally conducted against a din of woofs, howls and unfriendly growls, which apart from anything else must annoy the local residents who, rarely being seen on the streets, must be out of sight engaged in some indoor pursuit.
Having found nil BCs on the morning of the second day I left for a bit of camping out of town. The Yandra site on the Darling off the Louth road is certainly picturesque, but the birds there were what you can find around here. The site is administered as part of Gundabooka NP and a helpful ranger advised me to try a spot in the park proper, using the upgraded road in that leaves the Louth road near the Yandra site. The road was fine, but not a lot of bird life where I tried; in fact I didn’t sight an MM Cockatoo or emu on the whole trip, and only the more common honeyeaters. I therefore set off for Lake Cargelligo, a quaint township which for some reason has received more than its fair share of mentions on this chatline. [NEXT: to Lake Cargelligo]
