birding-aus
Birding in Autumn can be difficult. Not all the birds call, nesting is
mostly over, some migrants have gone north already and species counts are
usually lower than Spring. However we addicts still need to bird and a
change is as good as a holiday.
We spent the weekend at Munghorn Gap, an excellent bird watching spot
between Mudgee & Sandy Hollow. Approximately 30 minutes from Mudgee, one
enters a winding avenue of trees of the poorer soils of the Great Dividing
Range. The road rises to 685 metres and there are many minor habitat
changes on the descent to the Moolaben Picnic Area. This is an ideal
campsite with tables, bar-b-ques and toilet surrounded by large Rough-barked
Apple trees (Angophora floribunda) beside a dry creek bed.
This is the site of many a bird club campout, bird banders regularly spend
time here, and when I was young enough to stay awake for 24 hours, our team
started its Twitchathon here, such is the wealth of birds.
Where to watch:
1) From the campsite there is a track leading across the creekbed and up the
hill to a marked water supply which must come from a spring. On the hot
part of the afternoon we watched many species come to drink including a Rock
Warbler. This must be almost the western limit of this bird. It did a
spectacular dance each time before bathing in a shallow puddle then flitting
to a rock to dry itself.
2) Along the road near the campsite
3) Towards Sandy Hollow from the campsite there is a paddock called
Honeyeater Flat. There is mention on a sign that permission is required
from a number in Mudgee to enter here. This is a good area should you go
in. There is also a good campsite at the end of the track.
4) Back toward Mudgee there is a walk along a ridge called the Castle Rock
track. There is a picnic table at start of this track. One wanders through
some of the best Scribbly Gums and Grey Gums competing to show more colour
as they shed their bark. We were watching a Little Friarbird while hearing
two Superb Lyrebirds, surrounded by Sittellas, several species of
honeyeater, Rosellas abound and many wattles were just coming out.
5) The entrance and exit forest margins.
We drove into Mudgee for dinner so we could spotlight our way back to camp.
Saw four foxes, no owls, no Frogmouths and heard one owlet-nightjar and saw
one brush-tailed possum. But many a time we have seen all of the above and
more.
The following is a list of the species seen this weekend. Others I know and
I have seen many more species here.
Australasian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae
Maned Duck Chenonetta jubata
Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis
Little Eagle Hieraaetus morphnoides
Australian Kestrel Falco cenchroides
Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles
Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans
Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius
Red-rumped Parrot Psephotus haematonotus
Galah Eolophus roseicapillus
Australian Owlet-Nightjar Aegotheles cristatus
Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae
Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus
Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis
White-throated Treecreeper Cormobates leucophaeus
Brown Treecreeper Climacteris picumnus
Superb Lyrebird Menura novaehollandiae
Satin Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus violaceus
Superb Fairywren Malurus cyaneus
Variegated Fairywren Malurus lamberti
Spotted Pardalote Pardalotus punctatus
Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus
Rock Warbler Origma solitaria
White-browed Scrubwren Sericornis frontalis
Speckled Warbler Chthonicola sagittatus
Buff-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza reguloides
Brown Thornbill Acanthiza pusilla
Yellow-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza chrysorrhoa
Striated Thornbill Acanthiza lineata
White-throated Gerygone Gerygone olivacea
Yellow-faced Honeyeater Lichenostomus chrysops
White-eared Honeyeater Lichenostomus leucotis
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops
White-plumed Honeyeater Lichenostomus penicillatus
White-naped Honeyeater Melithreptus lunatus
Little Friarbird Philemon citreogularis
Noisy Friarbird Philemon corniculatus
Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala
Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata
Jacky-winter Microeca fascinans
Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata
Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis
Varied Sittella Daphoenositta chrysoptera
Crested Shrike-tit Falcunculus frontatus
Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris
Grey Shrike-Thrush Colluricincla harmonica
White-winged Chough Corcorax melanorhamphos
Willie-wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys
Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa
Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus
Pied Butcherbird Cracticus nigrogularis
Australasian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen
Pied Currawong Strepera graculina
Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Coracina novaehollandiae
Common Cicadabird Coracina tenuirostris
White-winged Triller Lalage tricolor
Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena
Silver-eye Zosterops lateralis
Red-browed Firetail Neochmia temporalis
Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum
62 SPECIES
Trevor & Annie Quested
Sydney, Australia
Phone +61 2 9955 6266
Fax + 61 2 9959 4005
Trevor & Annie Quested
Sydney, Australia
Phone +61 2 9955 6266
Fax + 61 2 9959 4005
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