Last week I had the opportunity to take two days to drive from Melbourne to
Canberra. I stayed overnight at a serviceable and cheap hotel/motel at The
Rock, a small town about 30 kms south of Wagga Wagga in Southern NSW. The
aim was to spend an hour or two in the nature reserve surrounding Hanging
Rock, after which the town is named, before continuing on my way. The
reserve is largely Cypress Pine and Eucalypt.
I got to the park at about 6.45 AM, and soon found a dam containing a bit
of water. To get to it, go to the signposted car park in the reserve, then
follow the (only) walking trail for a few hundred metres past a sharp left
hand bend with a sign indicating the direction of the track. At an equally
sharp right hand bend in a scrubby area, head off to the left about 50 m to
the dam.
Birds at the dam were dominated by Fuscous Honeyeaters, though a reasonable
variety was present. The highlight was a pair of Turquoise Parrots, which
hung around for circa 30 mins. Wonderful... A full (I think) species list
is appended below.
Other highlights of the trip included a Chestnut-rumped Heathwren at the
Aboriginal Water Hole in the Whroo Historical Area in central Victoria
between Heathcote and Rushworth.
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Birds seen at the dam in The Rock Nature Reserve in no particualr order
Crested Shrike-tit
Black-faced Woodswallow
Superb Fairy-wren
Speckled Warbler
Silvereye
White plumed Honeyeater
Fuscous Honeyeater
Red-browed Firetail
Double-barred Finch
Eastern Rosella
Turquoise Parrot
Restless Flycatcher
Willy Wagtail
Grey Fantail
Magpie
Peaceful Dove
White-throated Treecreeper
Eastern Yellow Robin
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Rufous Whistler
Kookaburra
Rainbow Bee-eater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Galah
White-browed Babbler
Red-rumped Parrot
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John Gibson Email:
Antarctic CRC Phone: +61 3 6224 8457
University of Tasmania Fax: +61 3 6226 2973
GPO Box 252-80
Hobart
Tasmania 7001
Australia
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