Leeton/Griffith

[Julie Clark <>]

Hi All,

We also had several days in the Griffith area in the past week. We didn't go to Leeton but did call in at Centenary Lake at Temora  ... highlights there ... 5 Black-tailed Nativehens, 3 Magpie Geese, rufous songlarks, fairy & tree martins ...

We visited Wattle Dam too (water much lower than when I was there in June) ... quite a short early morning visit but bar-shouldered, peaceful & 1 diamond dove came down to drink, as well as spiny-cheeked, striped, white-plumed, brown-headed & 1 white-eared honeyeaters. In addition silvereyes and double-barred finch also visited for a drink. The morning we were there it was blowing a gale and I think that may have been why the parrots didn't come down to the water. 

Elsewhere in the forest we saw Mulga Parrots and rainbow bee-eaters, 2 red-capped robins (1+1), yellow thornbills, southern whiteface, babblers, common bronzewings, splendid fairy-wrens, chestnut-rumped thornbills ..... Len also saw what he thinks were quail walking across the dirt road....

Remembrance Drive .... plenty of Bluebonnets, apostlebirds, babblers, yellow-throated miners, red-rumped parrots, several Major Mitchell's flying over, a few ringnecks ....and some rainbow lorikeets ... a pity ...

Elsewhere, including Yenda Cemetery, Lake Wyangan, Campbell's Swamp ... highlights ....more mulga parrots, spiny-cheeked, striped, singing and blue-faced honeyeaters, white-breasted woodswallows, 1 cockatiel (flying over), red-kneed dotterel, chestnut teal, 1 red-necked stint, 2 Caspian terns, 2 Australasian Bitterns, glossy ibis, blue-billed ducks, Australasian & Baillon's Crakes in numbers and easily seen ...

Even though I missed out on the Turquoise Parrots this time it was still a productive and enjoyable trip (in spite of the 30+ heat each day!) .

I will post lists on Ebird over the next couple of days as I edit photos in case anyone is heading that way and interested.

Cheers

Julie

On Sat, Nov 25, 2017 at 6:01 PM, Wayne Gregson <> wrote:

Just completed a 3 day visit to the Leeton/Griffith area.

 

Fivebough is drying up but still stretches of open water and around 45 species during a 2 hour walk.  Highlight there was a flock of around 100 Glossy Ibis.  No Sharp Tailed Sandpipers evident at Fivebough but they could have been there and not flying.  Suitable water was a long way from our observation points.

 

Tuckerbill was almost devoid of birds and unfortunately no White Backed Swallows in the adjacent disused sand quarry.  It is now some years since I saw them there

 

Campbell’s Swamp outside Griffith provided the highlight in the form of a dozen or so Magpie Geese.  Magpie Geese also present at the Temora recreational Lake but smaller numbers.

 

Wattle Dam at Binya SF is drying up but attracted a few visitors during our short stop there including a solitary Turquoise Parrot  and a White Eared h/e, Brown Headed h/e and spiny cheeked h/e.

 

Elsewhere in Binya we caught Splendid Wren and White Bellied Cuckoo Shrike.

 

Consistent with other trips in that area in the last couple of years we saw very few parrots although there were plenty of Red Rumps and for the first time Superb Parrots at the Oasis Caravan Park in Leeton.  A few Yellow Rosellas and fewer Blue Bonnets.

 

We didn’t see a single Red Capped Robin – perhaps they have all moved east!

 

Also absent were White Necked Herons and we saw only one Apostle Bird on the whole trip.

 

Wayne Gregson

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Julie Clark