Three of us (myself, Stuart Dashper & Klaus Nielsen) made a weekend trip to
the Whipstick and Mount Terrick Terrick, both north of Bendigo. Klaus was
visiting from Denmark on business and, with only 2 days to spare, naturally
he wanted to see as many species as possible. Despite the weather being
very warm, causing things to slow down noticeably in the middle of the day,
we had remarkable success, proving yet again what a great area this is.
Things started well with a quick stop in a valley just south of Bendigo
where we always have luck with raptors. 5 species in one small valley -
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Little Eagle, Whistling Kite, Black Kite & Brown
Falcon.
Up at the Whipstick sightings of particular note were Chestnut-rumped & Shy
Hylacola (within less than a km of each other), large numbers of
Tawny-crowned HE in the mallee areas, Noisy Friarbird, Purple-gaped HE and
a flock of Zebra Finches at the Bendigo Pooh Farm. We saw 16 species of
honeyeater altogether!
At Terrick Terrick on Sunday we recorded the usual Hooded & Red-capped
Robins, Southern Whiteface, Gilbert's Whistler and loads of Diamond
Firetails. But the really special birds for the trip were a pair of Painted
HEs feeding in an Acacia around the back of the mountain. (I hope Klaus
realised how lucky he was to see this on a weekend trip to Oz ;-) After
consulting the erudite Mr Conole, we think this may be the 1st record for
TT. This is a very exciting sighting given that there is talk of Terrick
Terrick being upgraded to national park status. (Phil Maher found
Plainswanderer in an area to the north of the park which has now been
incorporated within the park boundary).
Susan Myers
Email:Susan Myers
(Bendigo is about 2 hours directly north of Melbourne, the Whipstick is a
state park just north of Bendigo & Terrick Terrick State Park is about an
hours drive north of Bendigo near Mitiamo)
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