I took a three day trip to Hattah this weekend. Highlights were:
Hattah: mallee very dry and birdless, not a squeak from the Striated
Grasswrens, who may well not be breeding in such conditions, but I had a
very lucky view of a male Mallee Emu-Wren in full breeding plumage, carrying
what seemed to be either food or nesting material.
Other highlights were: Crested Bellbird, Chestnut Quail-thrush, Splendid
Fairy-wren, Regent Parrot.
On the road between Hay and Balranald there were large numbers of corvids, a
high proportion of which were Little Crows, many more than usual?perhaps
indicative of drought conditons further west. Also near Hay hundreds of
Marsh Terns following a plough.
On the road north of Balranald (towards Ivanhoe), after about 25kms there's
good saltbush, where I readily found White-winged Fairywren, also Red-capped
Robin and White-fronted Chats.
On the road between Hay and Narrandera, early in the morning, many parties
of Superb Parrots (probably between 100-150 in total, spread over many kms),
flying bewtween the arable fields and the riverine woodland.
Finally, at Leeton Swamp: lots of goodies including large numbers of
Avocets, Sharp-tailed and Marsh Sandpipers, a big flock of Red-kneed
Dotterel, Glossy Ibis and, best of all, a Spotless Crake.
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Dr John Leonard
PO Box 243, Woden,
ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA
'The pavement-coloured dog
Sniffs the pavement-kerb.'
Robert Graves
http://spirit.net.au/~jleonard
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